g of France.

Elizabeth did not stir.

"The King's Majesty of Scotland?"

There was no sign still.

"My Lord Beauchamp?"--Edward Seymour, the heir according to the wills of
her father and brother.

Then the royal lioness was roused.

"I tell you," she said angrily, "I will have no rascal's son in my seat,
but a king's son."

There was no king's son among the candidates but one, and that was James
of Scotland.

Once more, when she was past speech, Elizabeth was asked if she wished
James to succeed her. She indicated her pleasure in a manner which some
modern writers have questioned, but which was well understood in her own
day. Lifting her clasped hands to her head, the dying Elizabeth made
them assume the form of a crown; and once more those around her knew
that she desired her successor to be a king.

Tradition says that as soon as Elizabeth was dead, Lady Scrope dropped a
sapphire ring from the window--a preconcerted signal--to her brother,
Robert Carey, who was waiting below. Carey states that he was told in a
more matter-of-fact way--by a sentinel, whom he had previously requested
to bring him the news.

That hour Carey set out: and except for one night's rest at Carlisle, he
spurred night and day till he stood before King James. There was a
sudden intimation--a hurried action taken--and the Stuarts were Kings of
England.

The claims of the Lady Arabella were disposed of by making her a
companion to the new Queen, until she had the presumption to marry, and,
of all people, to marry the heir under King Henry the Eighth's will.
This was too much. She was imprisoned for life, and she died in her
prison, simply because she was her father's daughter and her husband's
wife.

The claims of Lord Beauchamp and Lady Anne Stanley needed no disposal,
since they had both remained perfectly quiescent, and had put forth no
claim.

But Robert Basset was not so easily managed. James knew that he was
capable of making the throne a very uncomfortable seat. And Basset,
with his usual rashness, had on the Queen's death dashed into the arena
and boldly asserted his right as the heir of Edward the Fourth. The
only way to dispose of him was by making him realise that the crown was
beyond his grasp; and that if he persevered, he would find the scaffold
and the axe within it. This was accordingly done so effectually that
weak, impulsive Basset quailed before the storm, and fled to France to
save his own life. He