Part 24

“Most noble Lord of Misrule, before your feast commences and the masks are doff’d, may we not as that which should give good appetite to all,--with your lordship’s permit and that of my lady’s grace,--tell each some wonder-filling tale as suits the goodly time of Yule? Here be stout maskers can tell us strange tales of fairies and goblins, or, perchance, of the foreign folk with whom they have trafficked in Calicute and Affrica, Barbaria, Perew, and other diverse lands and countries over-sea. And after they have ended, then will I essay a tale that shall cap them all, so past belief shall it appear.”

The close of the dragon’s speech, of course, made them all the more curious; and the Lady Elizabeth did but speak for all when she said: “I pray you, good Sir Dragon, let us have your tale first. We have had enow of Barbaria and Perew. If that yours may be so wondrous, let us hear it even now, and then may we decide.”

“As your lady’s grace wishes,” said the dragon. “But methinks when you have heard me through, you would that it had been the last or else not told at all.”

“Your lordship of Misrule and my lady’s grace must know,” began the dragon, “that my story, though a short, is a startling one. Once on a time there lived a king, who, though but a boy, did, by God’s grace, in talent, industry, perseverance, and knowledge, surpass both his own years and the belief of men. And because he was good and gentle alike and conditioned beyond the measure of his years, he was the greater prey to the wicked wiles of traitorous men. And one such, high in the king’s court, thought to work him ill; and to carry out his ends did wantonly awaken seditious and rebellious intent even among the king’s kith and kin, whom lie traitorously sought to wed,--his royal and younger sister,--nay, start’ not my lady’s grace!” exclaimed the dragon quickly, as Elizabeth turned upon him a look of sudden and haughty surprise. “All is known! And this is the ending of my wondrous tale. My Lord Seymour of Sudleye is this day taken for high treason and haled(1) to the Tower. They of your own household are held as accomplice to the Lord Admiral’s wicked intent, and you, Lady Elizabeth Tudor, are by order of the council to be restrained in prison wards in this your manor of Hatfield until such time as the king’s Majesty and the honorable council shall decide. This on your allegiance!”

(1) Haled--dragged, forcibly conveyed.

The cry of terror that the dragon’s words awoke, died into silence as the Lady Elizabeth rose to her feet, flushed with anger.

“Is this a fable or the posy of a ring, Sir Dragon?” she said, sharply. “Do you come to try or tempt me, or is this perchance but some part of my Lord of Misrule’s Yule-tide mumming? ‘Sblood, sir; only cravens sneak behind masks to strike and threaten. Have off your disguise, if you be a true man; or, by my word as Princess of England, he shall bitterly rue the day who dares to befool the daughter of Henry Tudor!”

“As you will, then, my lady,” said the dragon. “Do you doubt me now?” and, tearing off his pasteboard wrapping, he stood disclosed before them all as the grim Sir Robert Trywhitt, chief examiner of the Lord Protector’s council. “Move not at your peril,” he said, as a stir in the throng seemed to indicate the presence of some brave spirits who would have shielded their young princess. “Master Feodary, bid your varlets stand to their arms.”

And at a word from Master Avery Mitchell, late Lord of Misrule, there flashed from beneath the cloaks of certain tall figures on the circle’s edge the halberds of the guard. The surprise was complete. The Lady Elizabeth was a prisoner in her own manor-house, and the Yule-tide revels had reached a sudden and sorry ending.

And yet, once again, under this false accusation, did the hot spirit of the Tudors flame in the face and speech of the Princess Elizabeth.

“Sir Robert Trywhitt,” cried the brave young girl, “these be but lying rumors that do go against my honor and my fealty. God knoweth they be shameful slanders, sir; for the which, besides the desire I have to see the King’s Majesty, I pray you let me also be brought straight before the court that I may disprove these perjured tongues.”

But her appeal was not granted. For months she was kept close prisoner at Hatfield House, subject daily to most rigid cross-examination by Sir Robert Trywhitt for the purpose of implicating her if possible in the Lord Admiral’s plot. But all in vain; and at last even Sir Robert gave up the attempt, and wrote to the council that “the Lady Elizabeth hath a good wit, and nothing is gotten of her but by great policy.”

Lord Seymour of Sudleye, was beheaded for treason on Tower Hill, and others, implicated in his plots, were variously punished; but even “great policy” cannot squeeze a lie out of the truth, and Elizabeth was finally declared free of the stain of treason.

Experience, which is a hard teacher, often brings to light the best that is in us. It was so in this case. For, as one writer says: “The long and harassing ordeal disclosed the splendid courage, the reticence, the rare discretion, which were to carry the Princess through many an awful peril in the years to come. Probably no event of her early girlhood went so far toward making a woman of Elizabeth as did this miserable affair.”

Within ten years thereafter the Lady Elizabeth ascended the throne of England. Those ten years covered many strange events, many varying fortunes--the death of her brother, the boy King Edward, the sad tragedy of Lady Jane Grey, Wyatt’s rebellion, the tanner’s revolt, and all the long horror of the reign of “Bloody Mary.” You may read of all this in history, and may see how, through it all, the young princess grew still more firm of will, more self-reliant, wise, and strong, developing all those peculiar qualities that helped to make her England’s greatest queen, and one of the most wonderful women in history. But through all her long and most historic life,--a life of over seventy years, forty-five of which were passed as England’s queen,--scarce any incident made so lasting an impression upon her as when, in Hatfield House, the first shock of the false charge of treason fell upon the thoughtless girl of fifteen in the midst of the Christmas revels.

CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN: THE GIRL OF THE NORTHERN FIORDS.

A.D. 1636.

There were tears and trouble in Stockholm; there was sorrow in every house and hamlet in Sweden; there was consternation throughout Protestant Europe. Gustavus Adolphus was dead! The “Lion of the North” had fallen on the bloody and victorious field of Lutzen, and only a very small girl of six stood as the representative of Sweden’s royalty.

The States of Sweden--that is, the representatives of the different sections and peoples of the kingdom--gathered in haste within the Riddarhaus, or Hall of Assembly, in Stockholm. There was much anxious controversy over the situation. The nation was in desperate strait, and some were for one thing and some were for another. There was even talk of making the government a republic, like the state of Venice; and the supporters of the king of Poland, cousin to the dead King Gustavus, openly advocated his claim to the throne.

But the Grand Chancellor, Axel Oxenstiern, one of Sweden’s greatest statesmen, acted promptly.

“Let there be no talk between us,” he said, “of Venetian republics or of Polish kings. We have but one king--the daughter of the immortal Gustavus!”

Then up spoke one of the leading representatives of the peasant class, Lars Larsson, the deputy from the western fiords.

“Who is this daughter of Gustavus?” he demanded. “How do we know this is no trick of yours, Axel Oxenstiern? How do we know that King Gustavus has a daughter? We have never seen her.”

“You shall see her at once,” replied the Chancellor; and leaving the Hall for an instant, he returned speedily, leading a little girl by the hand. With a sudden movement he lifted her to the seat of the high silver throne that could only be occupied by the kings of Sweden.

“Swedes, behold your king!”

Lars Larsson, the deputy, pressed close to the throne on which the small figure perched silent, yet with a defiant little look upon her face.

“She hath the face of the Grand Gustavus,” he said. “Look, brothers, the nose, the eyes, the very brows are his.”

“Aye,” said Oxenstiern; “and she is a soldier’s daughter. I myself did see her, when scarce three years old, clap her tiny hands and laugh aloud when the guns of Calmar fortress thundered a salute. ‘She must learn to bear it,’ said Gustavus our king; ‘she is a soldier’s daughter.’”