Free Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer Page A

the privy councillors felt! Most had sworn loyalty to Dudley. When it appeared that Lady Mary might win after all, and knowing it would not go well for them if she did, they swung against Dudley. On the nineteenth every one of the councillors appeared in the public square and declared Mary our queen. Shortly thereafter, John Dudley gave up.
    "There is nothing in memory equal to the celebration that began as soon as your sister was proclaimed," Cecil was saying. "The bells were ringing when I left, and may still be ringing, for all I know. The din was terrific! Men tossed their caps into the air and cheered, and women wept for joy. The jubilant throngs were preparing to feast and dance and sing all night."
    So my sister was now queen. And because she had triumphed
I was next!
This was the moment, standing in the knot garden, when I realized that someday I, too, would become queen of England. How I savored that moment! As I listened to Cecil's description, I saw myself in Mary's place, the bells ringing, the crowds cheering.
Someday
...
    "The scene must have been quite different at the Tower of London," I observed, bringing myself back to the moment.
    Sir William stroked his close-trimmed beard. "Ah, poor little Queen Jane," he sighed. "There she sat, pale as death, waiting with her father for the outcome. When Lord Grey learned that all of the councillors had turned against Dudley, he rushed out and made a great show of proclaiming Mary the queen. Then he returned to the royal apartments and tore down the cloth of estate that had been hung above his daughter's chair and ordered her to remove her royal robes. She was queen for just nine days."
    "What will happen to her now?" I asked, imagining myself in Jane's stead, both relieved and frightened, in equal parts.
    "She will be locked up in the Tower, along with her husband," said Sir William. "But I cannot imagine that Queen Mary will be anything other than forgiving. Lady Jane has no fault in this."
    I said nothing, silently praying that he was right.
    Sir William drained his cup and begged my leave. He was on his way to Framlingham Castle to pledge his loyalty to Queen Mary. "I suspect that many from the privy council will be there, humbly begging her pardon, on their knees in the hope of saving their necks."
    I asked him to tarry long enough for me to send a letter with him for Mary, offering my sister my congratulations at the same time that I expressed my sorrow at the death of our brother. But even as I wrote, somewhere in my mind the thought lingered,
Someday it will be my turn.
     
    W HEN ALL THE rebels had been rounded up and hauled off to cells in the Tower, Mary set out from Framlingham with an escort of several thousand men. With great excitement I rode out to meet the new queen, accompanied by my own retinue of a thousand knights, gentlemen, and ladies-in-waiting. As Mary approached I climbed down from my horse and knelt in the dusty road. When she saw me, Mary immediately dismounted and raised me up.
    I had not seen my sister for five years, and I believe we were each surprised by the appearance of the other. Mary was thirty-seven, an aging woman, while I was not yet twenty. For a moment we stared at each other, and then Mary kissed me. After she had embraced me, the queen went to the gentlewomen in my retinue and embraced each one.
    As I watched Mary I did wonder if she saw me as a rival. I wished I could reassure her that she had nothing to fear from me. In the natural course of events, my turn would inevitably come. I would not challenge her. I had only to wait.
    Together we rode side by side toward London, banners fluttering and horns blaring fanfares. Outside the city the great procession halted so that Mary could change out of her dusty clothing.
    Queen Mary entered the capital dressed in a gown of purple velvet over a petticoat of purple satin stitched with goldwork and pearls. More gems ornamented her velvet sleeves and headdress, and the baldric she wore