er, hardly allowing her to finish, snatched it from her
hands with--

"It is my right."

The queen was not moved much by this brutality, and went on taking off
her garments until she was simply in her petticoat.

Thus rid of all her garb, she again sat down, and Jeanne Kennedy
approaching her, took from her pocket the handkerchief of
gold-embroidered cambric which she had prepared the night before, and
bound her eyes with it; which the earls, lords; and gentlemen looked upon
with great surprise, it not being customary in England, and as she
thought that she was to be beheaded in the French way--that is to say,
seated in the chair--she held herself upright, motionless, and with her
neck stiffened to make it easier for the executioner, who, for his part,
not knowing how to proceed, was standing, without striking, axe in hand:
at last the man laid his hand on the queen's head, and drawing her
forward, made her fall on her knees: Mary then understood what was
required of her, and feeling for the block with her hands, which were
still holding her book of Hours and her crucifix, she laid her neck on
it, her hands joined beneath her chin, that she might pray till the last
moment: the executioner's assistant drew them away, for fear they should
be cut off with her head; and as the queen was saying, "In manes teas,
Domine," the executioner raised his axe, which was simply an axe far
chopping wood, and struck the first blow, which hit too high, and
piercing the skull, made the crucifix and the book fly from the
condemned's hands by its violence, but which did not sever the head.
However, stunned with the blow, the queen made no movement, which gave
the executioner time to redouble it; but still the head did not fall, and
a third stroke was necessary to detach a shred of flesh which held it to
the shoulders.

At last, when the head was quite severed, the executioner held it up to
show to the assembly, saying:

"God save Queen Elizabeth!"

"So perish all Her Majesty's enemies!" responded the Dean of
Peterborough.

"Amen," said the Earl of Kent; but he was the only one: no other voice
could respond, for all were choked with sobs.

At that moment the queen's headdress falling, disclosed her hair, cut
very short, and as white as if she had been aged seventy: as to her face,
it had so changed during her death-agony that no one would have
recognised it had he not known it was hers. The spectators cried out
aloud at this sign