My Enemy the Queen by Victoria Holt

Author:Victoria Holt [Holt, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-10-20T04:00:00+00:00

hen enough. Let us ponder on serious matters.

But what was serious to him might not have been to me. That did not occur to him.

The people were restive, and still the Queen played that game of prevarication which she had practiced all her life. Often it had worked for her. But now her loyal subjects wanted to know when they could rejoice in the shedding of the Catholic Queen blood.

Finally Secretary Davison brought the death warrant to her and she signed; and that scene of which we have heard so much was enacted in the hall of Fotheringay Castle.

The menace to the Queen of England was removed. But there was an even greater one: the Spaniards.

She suffered from remorsehat extraordinary woman. She, who was so clever, so subtle, was haunted by dreams. She had signed the death warrant which had caused the Queen to be taken to the block and her head cut off.

The King of France said it would have been better to have poisoned her, so that there could have been some doubt as to how she died. There were some excellent poisons available, and some of Elizabeth subjects were evidently well practiced in the use of them. Was this a sly allusion to Leicester Commonwealth? She might have been smothered by a pillow, which if skillfully done left little trace. But no! The Queen of Scots had been found guilty, and the Queen of England had signed her death warrant; and she had been taken to the hall of Fotheringay Castle and been beheaded. And while England was rejoicing that the Scottish Queen could trouble them no more, Elizabeth went on suffering intense remorse.

Leicester said he feared she might lose her reason. She raged against them all, calling them murderers, accusing them of inducing her to sign the warrant, when all the time they had known that she had not meant the deed to be carried out. They had acted too promptly, knowing well her wishes.

How like her that was! I pointed out to Leicester that she was trying to shift the blame. She was even talking of having Davison hanged. At first Leicester, Burleigh and those who rejoiced that the menace was removed were aghast until they realized that she had no intention of being foolish and was merely placating her enemies. She was afraid of war. She knew that the Spaniards were building an armada to come against her. She did not want the French to join them and attack her at the same time. The Scots had to be considered too. They had turned out their Queen and made it necessary for her to flee, but they would be ready to come against the Queen of England for beheading her. Besides, there was young James, her son.

The Queen remorse began to be less vociferous. In her heart she must have accepted the truth that life would be more comfortable now that the Queen of Scots was no morehough a queen had been beheaded and that could be a precedent.

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