Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/547

1555.] to make the most of Elizabeth. Setting her marriage aside, it was doubtful whether the people would permit her longer confinement after the Queen's disappointment; and, willingly or unwillingly, Mary must be forced to receive her at Court again.

The Princess was still at Woodstock, where she had remained for a year, under the harsh surveillance of Sir Henry Bedingfield. Lord William Howard's visit may have consoled her with the knowledge that she was not forgotten by the nobility; but her health had suffered from her long imprisonment, and the first symptom of an approaching change in her position was the appearance of the Queen's physician to take charge of her.

A last effort was made to betray her into an acknowledgment of guilt. 'A secret friend' entreated her to 'submit herself to the Queen's mercy.' Elizabeth saw the snare. She would not ask for mercy, she said, where she had committed no offence; if she was guilty, she desired justice, not mercy; and she knew well she would have found none, could evidence have been produced against her: but she thanked God she was in no danger of being proved guilty; she wished she was as safe from secret enemies.

But the plots for despatching her, if they had ever existed, were laid aside; she was informed that her presence was required at Hampton Court. The rumour of her intended release spread abroad, and sixty gentlemen, who had once belonged to her suite, met her on the way at Colebrook, in the hope that they