when
Jane stood firm, the duchess bade him come away, and not share the bed
of an ungrateful and disobedient wife.[18]

[Footnote 17: Le quale parole io senti con mio gran
dispiacere.--Baoardo.]

[Footnote 18: Baoardo.]

The first experience of royalty had brought small pleasure with it.
Dudley's kingship was set aside for the moment, and was soon forgotten
in more alarming matters. To please his mother, or to pacify his
vanity, he was called "Your Grace." He was allowed to preside in the
council, so long as a council remained, and he dined alone[19]--tinsel
distinctions, for which the poor wretch had to pay dearly.

[Footnote 19: Se faisoit servir de mesme.--Renard
to Charles V.: _MS. Rolls House_.]

The next day (July 11) restored the conspirators to their courage. No
authentic accounts came in of disturbances. London was still quiet; so
quiet, that it was thought safe to nail Gilbert Potter by the ears in
the pillory, and after sufficient suffering, to slice them off with a
knife. Lord Warwick and Lord Robert were still absent, and no news had
come from them--a proof that they were still in pursuit. The duke made
up his mind that Mary was watching only for an opportunity to escape
to Flanders; and the ships in the river, with a thousand men-at-arms
on board them, were sent to watch the Essex coast, and to seize her,
could they find opportunity. Meanwhile he himself penned a reply to
her letter. "The Lady Jane," he said, "by the antient laws of the
realm," and "by letters patent of the late king," signed by himself,
and countersigned by the nobility, was rightful queen of England. The
divorce of Catherine of Arragon from Henry VIII. had been prescribed
by {p.011} the laws of God, pronounced by the Church of England, and
confirmed by act of parliament; the daughter of Catherine was,
therefore, illegitimate, and could not inherit; and the duke warned
her to forbear, at her peril, from molesting her lawful sovereign, or
turning her people from their allegiance. If she would submit and
accept the position of a subject, she should receive every reasonable
attention which it was in the power of the queen to show to her.

During the day rumours of all kinds were flying, but Mary's friends in
London saw no reasonable grounds for hope. Lord Robert was supposed by
Renard[20] to be on his way to the Tower with the princess as hi