Page:The Queens of England.djvu/435

 MARY THE FIRST. 39* to her death, she desired the prayers of her servants, adding, "For this night I think I must die." • Her o-entleman-usher hastened to the Lord of lame and implored him to say whether his mistress that night stood m danger of death? "May God forbid," quoth the Lord Tame, '•that any such wickedness should be wrought, which rather than it should, I and my men will die at her feet." _ As she proceeded towards Woodstock, the people with tears and prayers pressed to meet her, and the village bells were rung which so excited the ill-will of "her jailer, as she termed Sir Henry, that he commanded the bells to cease set the ringers in the stocks, and drove back the people, calling them traitors and rebels against the queen and her laws. Arrived at Woodstock, her personal liberty was little in- creased, nor were her fears diminished. The lodgings assigned her were not befitting her rank, and were strongly guarded by soldiers night and day. This last precaution may have orig- inated in a desire for her safety, but she viewed it in a differ- ent light. Though permitted to walk in the gardens, they were secured by so many locks, as was also her prison, that she was never allowed to forget her melancholy position, even while breathing the air of heaven. To add to her terror, it was suspected that the keeper of Woodstock, a man of turbulent and violent habits and great brutality, was instigated to kill her It was likewise said that a creature of Gardiner's named Basset came to Bladenbridge, a mile from Woodstock, accom- panied by twenty men, and pretending to have some important communication to make to Elizabeth, earnestly desired to be admitted to her presence, with no other intention than to mur- der her. Whatever the intention might be, it was defeated; for Sir Henry Bedingfield, being absent, had left a strict charge with his brother that no one should be permitted to see his prisoner, even though coming from the council or queen her- self. Even this charge implies a suspicion on his part that an attempt might be made against Elizabeth, a suspicion justified by the warrant for her death unsanctioned by the queen ; but how low must the character of the Bishop of Winchester stand when such suspicions, whether true or false, were entertained against him! An occurrence which, whether designed or merely accidental, happened soon after the appearance of Bas- set at Woodstock, filled Elizabeth with terror; a fire broke out between the boards and ceiling beneath the chamber in