Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/58

38 have met on the 13th of October, was prorogued till January. A muster of the gendarmerie was ordered for the 8th of November; and on the 11th of October there were significant and important changes in the peerage. Lord Dorset, Lady Jane Grey's father, was made Duke of Suffolk; Warwick became Duke of Northumberland; Paulet, Earl of Wiltshire, Marquis of Winchester; and Sir William Herbert Earl of Pembroke.

The elevation of the men against whose power, if not life, the late Protector was conspiring, naturally alarmed him. He sent for Cecil (now Sir William Cecil, and Secretary of State), and inquired if he was in any danger. Cecil replied 'that, if he was not guilty, he might be of good courage; if he was, he had nothing to say but to lament him.' It was an answer calculated neither to soothe nor please. The Duke, says Edward, defied Cecil, and sent for and cross-questioned Palmer. Palmer, of course, denied that he had said anything against him, true or false; and he remained anxious and uncertain till the 16th, when he appeared as usual at the meeting of the privy council.

By this time Warwick's preparations were complete. It is to be hoped that the full extent of his iniquity was kept secret between himself and his instrument, that the council, like Edward, were his dupes. In the afternoon of that day Somerset was arrested on a charge of treason, and sent to the Tower,