between thee and both thrones! What would English or Scots say to find
thee a household Joan, wedded to one of Drake's rude pirate fellows? I
tell thee it would be the worse for him. They have made it treason to
wed royal blood without Elizabeth's consent. No, no, for his sake, as
well as thine own, thou must promise me never thus to debase thy royal
lineage."

"Mother; neither he nor I have thought or spoken of such a matter since
we knew how it was with me.

"And you give me your word?"

"Yea, madam," said Cicely, who had really never entertained the idea of
marrying Humfrey, implicit as was her trust in him as a brother and
protector.

"That is well. And so soon as I am restored to my poor servants, if I
ever am, I will take measures for sending the French remnant to their
own land; nor shall my Courcelles quit thee till she hath seen thee
safe in the keeping of Madame de Lorraine or of Queen Louise, who is
herself a kinswoman of ours, and, they say, is piety and gentleness
itself."

"As you will, madam," said Cicely, her heart sinking at the thought of
the strange new world before her, but perceiving that she must not be
the means of bringing Humfrey into trouble and danger.

Perhaps she felt this the more from seeing how acutely her mother
suffered at times from sorrow for those involved in her disaster. She
gave Babington and his companions, as well as Nau and Curll, up for
lost, as the natural consequence of having befriended her; and she
blamed herself remorsefully, after the long experience of the fatal
consequences of meddling in her affairs, for having entered into
correspondence with the bright enthusiastic boy whom she remembered,
and having lured him without doubt to his death.

"Alack! alack!" she said, "and yet such is liberty, that I should
forget all I have gone through, and do the like again, if the door
seemed opened to me. At least there is this comfort, cruel child, thy
little heart was not set on him, gracious and handsome though he
were--and thy mother's most devoted knight! Ah! poor youth, it wrings
my soul to think of him. But at least he is a Catholic, his soul will
be safe, and I will have hundreds of masses sung for him. Oh that I
knew how it goes with them! This torture of silent suspense is the
most cruel of all."

Mary paced the room with impatient misery, and in such a round the
weary hours dragged by, only mitigated by one welcome thunderstorm, for
seventeen days,