ix hundred more were
brought, their hands tied, and halters about their necks, a miserable
gang, into Mary's presence, before her palace, to be pardoned. Wyatt was
then executed. When he came to die, however, he retracted what he had
alleged of Elizabeth. He declared that she was entirely innocent of any
participation in the scheme of rebellion. Elizabeth's friends believe
that he accused her because he supposed that such a charge would be
agreeable to Mary, and that he should himself be more leniently treated
in consequence of it, but that when at last he found that sacrificing
her would not save him, his guilty conscience scourged him into doing
her justice in his last hours.

All obstacles to the wedding were now apparently removed; for, after the
failure of Wyatt's rebellion, nobody dared to make any open opposition
to the plans of the queen, though there was still abundance of secret
dissatisfaction. Mary was now very impatient to have the marriage
carried into effect. A new Parliament was called, and its concurrence in
the plan obtained. Mary ordered a squadron of ships to be fitted out and
sent to Spain, to convey the bridegroom to England. The admiral who had
command of this fleet wrote to her that the sailors were so hostile to
Philip that he did not think it was safe for her to intrust him to their
hands. Mary then commanded this force to be dismissed, in order to
arrange some other way to bring Philip over. She was then full of
anxiety and apprehension lest some accident might befall him. His ship
might be wrecked, or he might fall into the hands of the French, who
were not at all well disposed toward the match. Her thoughts and her
conversation were running upon this topic all the time. She was
restless by day and sleepless by night, until her health was at last
seriously impaired, and her friends began really to fear that she might
lose her reason. She was very anxious, too, lest Philip should find her
beauty so impaired by her years, and by the state of her health, that
she should fail, when he arrived, of becoming the object of his love.

In fact, she complained already that Philip neglected her. He did not
write to her, or express in any way the interest and affection which she
thought ought to be awakened in his mind by a bride who, as she
expressed it, was going to bring a kingdom for a dowry. This sort of
cold and haughty demeanor was, however, in keeping with the
self-importance and the pride which