s
prisoner; and if she was once within the Tower walls, all hope was
over. It was not till Wednesday morning (July 12) that the duke became
really alarmed. Then at once, from all sides, messengers came in with
unwelcome tidings. The Dudleys had come up with Mary the day before,
as she was on her way from Keninghal to Framlingham. They had dashed
forward upon her escort, but their own men turned sharp round,
declared for the princess, and attempted to seize them; they had been
saved only by the speed of their horses.[21] In the false calm of the
two preceding days, Lord Bath had stolen across the country into
Norfolk. Lord Mordaunt and Lord Wharton had sent their sons; Sir
William Drury, Sir John Skelton, Sir Henry Bedingfield, and many more,
had gone in the same direction. Lord Sussex had declared also for
Mary; and, worse than all, Lord Derby had risen in Cheshire, and was
reported to be marching south with twenty thousand men.[22] Scarcely
were these news digested, when Sir Edmund Peckham, cofferer of the
household, was found to have gone off with the treasure under his
charge. Sir Edward Hastings, Lord Huntingdon's brother, had called out
the musters of Buckinghamshire in Mary's name, and Peckham had joined
him; while Sir Peter Carew, the very hope and stay of the western
Protestants, had proclaimed Mary in the towns of Devonshire.

[Footnote 20: Renard to Charles V.: _MS. Rolls
House_.]

[Footnote 21: Ibid.]

[Footnote 22: _Queen Jane and Queen Mary._ Renard
to Charles V.]

Now, when too late, it was seen how large an error had been committed
in permitting the princess's escape. But it was vain to waste time in
regrets. Her hasty levies, at best, could be but rudely armed; the
duke had trained troops and cannon, and, had he been free to act, with
no enemies but those in the field against him, he had still the best
of the game. But Suffolk and {p.012} Northampton, the least able of
the council, were, nevertheless, the only members of it on whom he
could rely. To whom but to himself could he trust the army which must
meet Mary in the field? If he led the army in person, whom could he
leave in charge of London, the Tower, and Lady Jane? Winchester and
Arundel knew his dilemma, and deliberately took advantage of it. The
guard, when first informed that they were to take the field, refused
to march. After a communication wi