Beware, Princess Elizabeth (19 page)

T
HE ROAD TO
Hatfield was clogged with visitors. I received them, I listened, but I said little. I did not wish to reveal the anxiety I felt, lest it be seen as weakness. The goal that had seemed so far away was now within reach. I was ready. And yet, whenever I allowed myself to consider the huge weight about to fall upon my shoulders, I felt cold with apprehension. I spent many hours in prayer, as fervent as those I had uttered when I was in fear for my life.

For the five years since Queen Mary's coronation, when I knew that by rights I was next in line for the throne, I had thought daily—hourly!—of what it would mean to be queen. For the five years of her reign, all my efforts had been to survive her jealousy and hatred of me. Now, as the queen's life slowly ebbed away, I became less afraid for my own life. Now my greatest fear was for England.

It was in the course of long conversations with Sir William Cecil that I began to grasp fully the problems facing the kingdom—and me, her future queen. The aftermath of the burnings, the Catholics who dreaded a Protestant on the throne. The depleted treasury, the money squandered on the war with France, the loss of Calais. The years of poor harvests, and the resulting famine and poverty that had reached every corner of the kingdom. The councillors who thought a woman unfit to rule—even Cecil had no faith in my ability to govern.

"You must marry as soon as possible, madam," he said.

"Hear me well, Sir William," I told him, "for I shall not say this to you again:
I shall not marry.
"

Sir Cecil merely bowed and made no reply.

Among those who called upon me was Robin Dudley. The years had, if anything, improved his dark good looks. I received him in the privy garden. We exchanged pleasantries, and I asked after the health of his wife, Amy Dudley.

"She is well, madam." Then he took my hand and kissed it. "I swear my loyalty to you, my lady Elizabeth," he said. "I have much to say to you. Come, let us walk together."

We left the privy garden by way of the lime walk, strolling past the knot garden and away from the palace. The trees were bright with autumn foliage, the late roses still in bloom. At length we reached the ancient oak some distance from the palace where I often came to read and to think. I seated myself upon a stone bench and waited to hear what Robin had to say.

"Madam, although you have no rivals, you have many enemies. Until now you have spent your life enduring the enmity of your sister. That battle will soon end. But in truth you have only begun the fight." Robin stepped closer, so that he was gazing directly into my eyes. "If you wish to survive, you must force your advisers to obey you. The common people need no persuasion—you are the daughter of their beloved King Henry the Eighth. But you must show the nobility that you are able to rule them."

Suddenly Robin Dudley dropped to his knees, his cap in his hands. "I pledge myself to fight for your throne, madam," he said. "I am your servant unto death."

"I much prefer your loyalty in life, Robin," I said. "Can you promise me that?"

"With all my heart."

Our eyes remain locked. "And you, Robin," I asked him, curious to hear his reply, "think you I must marry in order to rule?"

"No, Elizabeth," he said quietly. "You are everything that England needs."

***

A
T LAST CAME
the visitor I had been waiting for. Jane Dormer arrived with a large retinue dressed in the queen's livery. Now that Jane was in love, some of the hardness around her mouth had softened, but still she made no attempt to conceal her dislike for me.

"Her Majesty, Queen Mary, has sent me to you with this token," she said, presenting me with a heavy gold ring.

I held the ring in the palm of my hand, feeling its weight. "And what does this ring signify?" I asked.

"The queen has named you her successor." Jane halted to collect herself.

So she has done it after all!
I exulted silently.

"The queen begs that you maintain the old religion, take care of her servants, and pay her debts," Jane continued when she was able, "and she desires your promise that you will do these things."

Maintain the old religion?
Surely Mary knew better, and just as surely Jane did, too. Nevertheless, I knelt beside Jane. "I do solemnly promise that I will carry out the queen's wishes in all things," I said. With this one last lie to my sister, I slipped Mary's gold ring on my thumb.

T
ODAY THERE IS
a damp chill in the air. I was seated again by the ancient oak where Robin Dudley had pledged me his loyalty when I saw a group of men making their way toward me. Among them were Sir William Paget and the earl of Arundel, dressed in mourning. I rose to greet them.

"The queen is dead," said the men in voices rough with feeling. "Long live the queen!"

The moment had arrived. My sister was dead, no longer my enemy. I had survived this first great challenge. Yet, as long as I had prepared for this moment, expected it, feared it, and desired it, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I fell to my knees and recited in Latin the first words that came to my mind, the words of the psalmist:
This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes!

Today I am Elizabeth, queen of England.

Q
UEEN MARY
was buried on the fourteenth of December, 1558, in Westminster Abbey with the full rites of the Roman Catholic Church. On the fifteenth of January, a date selected by her astrologer, Dr. Dee, Mary's hated sister, Elizabeth, was crowned queen, beginning a reign that would last for forty-five years. It became one of the most remarkable periods in English history.

During Elizabeth's reign England flourished. The Protestant Church of England was firmly reestablished, English ships decisively defeated the Spanish Armada, Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh explored and colonized the New World, and William Shakespeare created some of the most brilliant works of literature in the English language.

Vain and ruthless, headstrong and witty, beautiful and hot tempered, Queen Elizabeth never married. There were rumors of love affairs, one with Robin Dudley, who served Elizabeth as master of the horse. Robin's wife, Amy, died under questionable circumstances, and once again Elizabeth found herself under a cloud of suspicion. When Elizabeth did not marry Robin Dudley, he began a romance with Lettice Knollys, the beautiful young daughter of Elizabeth's cousin Catherine.

Queen Elizabeth died on the twenty-third of March, 1603, at the age of sixty-nine. Like her sister, Queen Elizabeth delayed naming her successor until the last moment. She left the crown to James, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's cousin. Mary had been the one serious threat to Elizabeth's throne, and Elizabeth had reluctantly put her cousin to death in 1587.

Elizabeth I is buried beside her sister, Mary, in a tomb built for them by the new king, James I, in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey. The two sisters and queens share this epitaph:

Consorts both in throne and grave,
here rest we two sisters,
Elizabeth and Mary,
in the hope of one resurrection.

1. Mary, Bloody Mary
   
2. Beware, Princess Elizabeth
   
3. Doomed Queen Anne
   
4. Patience, Princess Catherine
   
5. Duchessina: A Novel of Catherine de' Medici
   
6. The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette
   
7. The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary Queen of Scots