so many
of them executed. He closed with an invective against the Protestants,
in which he so little spared the young queen, and spoke of her in such
injurious terms, that he was that very day committed to prison.--Leti.
vol. I, p. 314.] A short time after this eventful walk in the garden of
Whitehall, the queen entered the apartments of the Princess Elizabeth,
who hastened to meet her with a burst of joy, and clasped her wildly in
her arms.

"Saved!" whispered she. "The danger is overcome, and again you are the
mighty queen, the adored wife!"

"And I have you to thank that I am so, princess! Without that warrant
of arrest which you brought me, I was lost. Oh, Elizabeth, but what a
martyrdom it was! To smile and jest, whilst my heart trembled with dread
and horror; to appear innocent and unembarrassed, whilst it seemed to
me as if I heard already the whiz of the axe that was about to strike my
neck! Oh, my God, I passed through the agonies and the dread of a whole
lifetime in that one hour! My soul has been harassed till it is wearied
to death, and my strength is exhausted. I could weep, weep continually
over this wretched, deceitful world, in which to wish right and to do
good avail nothing; but in which you must dissemble and lie, deceive and
disguise yourself, if you do not want to fall a victim to wickedness and
mischief. But ah, Elizabeth, even my tears I dare shed only in secret,
for a queen has no right to be melancholy. She must seem ever cheerful,
ever happy and contented; and only God and the still, silent night know
her sighs and her tears."

"And you may let me also see them, queen," said Elizabeth, heartily;
"for you well know you may trust and rely on me."

Catharine kissed her fervently. "You have done me a great service
to-day, and I have come," said she, "to thank you, not with sounding
words only, but by deeds. Elizabeth, your wish will be fulfilled. The
king will repeal the law which was to compel you to give your hand only
to a husband of equal birth."

"Oh," cried Elizabeth, with flashing eyes, "then I shall, perhaps, some
day be able to make him whom I love a king." Catharine smiled. "You
have a proud and ambitious heart," said she. "God has endowed you with
extraordinary ability. Cultivate it and seek to increase it; for my
prophetic heart tells me that you are destined to become, one day, Queen
of England. [Footnote: Catharine's own words.--See Leti, vol. I, p.
172.] But who knows whether