ant in the way of the French king's
wishes; and Henry, with a promptitude begotten of greed, was as hasty
in sending an embassy to accept the offer as Francis had been to
make it. It mattered not to him what new torture he put upon his
sister; the price, I believe, was sufficient to have induced him to
cut off her head with his own hands.

If Francis and Henry were quick in their movements, Mary was quicker.
Her plan was made in the twinkling of an eye. Immediately upon seeing
me at the palace she sent for Queen Claude, with whom she had become
fast friends, and told her all she knew. She did not know of the
scheme for the Savoy marriage, though Queen Claude did, and fully
explained it to Mary. Naturally enough, Claude would be glad to get
Mary as far away from France and her husband as possible, and was only
too willing to lend a helping hand to our purpose, or Mary's, rather,
for she was the leader.

We quickly agreed among ourselves that Mary and Queen Claude should
within an hour go out in Claude's new coach for the ostensible purpose
of hearing mass. Brandon and I were to go to the same little chapel in
which Jane and I had been married, where Mary said the little priest
could administer the sacrament of marriage and perform the ceremony as
well as if he were thrice as large.

I hurriedly found Brandon and repaired to the little chapel, where we
waited for a very long time, we thought. At last the two queens
entered as if to make their devotions. As soon as Brandon and Mary
caught sight of each other, Queen Claude and I began to examine the
shrines and decipher the Latin inscriptions. If these two had not
married soon they would have been the death of me. I was compelled at
length to remind them that time was very precious just at that
juncture, whereupon Mary, who was half laughing, half crying, lifted
her hands to her hair and let it fall in all its lustrous wealth down
over her shoulders. When Brandon saw this, he fell upon his knee and
kissed the hem of her gown, and she, stooping over him, raised him to
his feet and placed her hand in his.

Thus Mary was married to the man to save whose life she had four
months before married the French king.

She and Queen Claude had forgotten nothing, and all arrangements were
completed for the flight. A messenger had been dispatched two hours
before with an order from Queen Claude that a ship should be waiting
at Dieppe, ready to sail immediately upon our arrival.