how sir henry bedingfeld came for osbert’s death-warrant;
and what he obtained.
at this moment an usher entered, and informed the king that sir henry bedingfeld was without, having come to whitehall in obedience to his majesty’s commands.
“admit him straight,” replied philip. and as the usher withdrew, philip approached the queen, and spoke a few words to her in a low tone. what he said was inaudible to the others, but its import could be gathered from mary’s troubled looks. she attempted some remonstrance, but the king appeared inflexible.
while this was passing, constance stole softly towards the cardinal, and said to him in a whisper, “sir henry bedingfeld is come for osbert’s death-warrant. i am sure of it, from the look given me by her majesty. oh! my lord cardinal, intercede for him with the king—intercede for him, i implore of you.”
“i will do what i can,” replied pole, in the same tone.
meantime, philip continued urgent with the queen, his manner becoming stern and peremptory.
“must it be done at once?” inquired mary.
“ay, at once,” rejoined the king. “i will have his head before my departure to-morrow. then i shall be sure that my injunctions are obeyed. here is the warrant,” he added, placing a scroll of parchment before her. “sign it.”
407mary, however, manifested great reluctance, and was still appealing to the king, who continued inflexible, when sir henry bedingfeld appeared, and making a profound obeisance to the royal pair, said, “i await your majesty’s commands.”
“i shall be ready for you in an instant, good sir henry,” rejoined the king. “sign it, madam—sign it,” he added quickly to the queen. “why do you hesitate?”
“because——” and she glanced towards constance, who had now turned aside, weeping. “i owe my life to her,” she added. “ought i to requite her thus?”
“i have said i will not depart without assurance of this traitor’s death,” rejoined philip; “and your reluctance shows how my orders would be obeyed in my absence. sir henry bedingfeld awaits the warrant.”
thus urged, mary took up the pen, when pole interposed.
“a moment, madam,” he cried. “ere you sign that death-warrant, i crave permission to say a few words to his majesty.”
“i am entirely at your eminence’s disposal,” rejoined philip, advancing towards him.
“sire,” said pole, “you will, i am assured, acknowledge that heaven’s bounties have been bestowed upon you with a lavish hand.”
philip assented, and pole went on. “you have been summoned to the greatest throne in europe, and while your heart is naturally elated by what you have gained, it should be opened to the kindliest and most generous emotions. let your first act be one which shall show you are influenced by such feelings.”
“what would you have me do?” replied philip, somewhat coldly. “i am about to testify my gratitude to heaven by public prayer and thanksgiving in westminster abbey, by largesses to my attendants, by liberal donations of alms to the poor, and in various other ways, as my confessor shall direct, and as i trust will meet with your eminence’s approval.”
“all this is well,” replied the cardinal; “and yet your heart may not be touched as i would have it. perform a noble deed. osbert clinton has deeply offended you. his life is in your hands. pardon him.”
408“i cannot pardon him,” replied philip. “i have sworn that he shall die.”
“i will absolve you of your oath,” said the cardinal. “the occasion is one that demands from you some self-sacrifice, and you must make it.”
“i would do aught in my power to gratify your eminence, to whom i am infinitely beholden, but i cannot forego an act of just vengeance,” replied philip. “i have purposely delayed this execution, not from any intention of sparing the traitor, but because i would prolong his punishment. to-morrow he dies. press me no more, for i must perforce refuse your request. i will not be balked of my revenge.”
“it is well, sire,” replied pole. “but i warn you that you will repent your indulgence of this evil passion.”
“you plead the cause of a rebel and traitor,” cried philip, impatiently. “osbert clinton has been justly condemned for his crimes.”
“search your heart, sire,” said the cardinal, in a severe tone, “and you will find why osbert became a rebel and a traitor. he was loyal and devoted till his wrongs—ay, wrongs, sire—made him what he is.”
“but he rose in rebellion against the queen,” cried philip.
“i pardon him for his offences against me—fully and freely pardon him,” interposed mary; “and i pray your majesty to pardon him likewise.”
philip made no reply, but his looks continued inexorable.
“essay what you can do,” said pole, in a low voice to constance.
“alas, i despair of moving him,” she rejoined. “nevertheless, i will make the attempt.” and casting herself at philip’s feet, she said, “oh, sire, if this sentence be carried out, and osbert perish on the block, you will have my life to answer for as well as his, since i shall not long survive him. the blow which strikes him will reach me also. i am the cause of all osbert’s treasonable acts. but for his love for me, he would have been loyal and devoted to you and to her majesty. oh, that you had never seen me, sire! oh, that chance, on your arrival in this country, had not brought you near me! since that fatal hour nothing but calamity has attended me. but now that you are departing, sire, leave me not to wretchedness and despair. pity osbert, sire—overlook 409his offences, and pardon him. by so doing, you will save yourself from a remorse which no penitence will remove, but which will ever haunt you if you doom us both to death. but no, sire, i see you relent—your nobler and better feelings triumph—you are yourself—the worthy son of charles v. you forgive me—you pardon osbert clinton?”
“arise, constance,” said philip, taking her hand and raising her; “you have conquered. that i have done you much wrong, and caused you great unhappiness, i freely confess. that i may have goaded osbert clinton into the commission of the offences of which he has been guilty, i will not attempt to deny. but i will make amends. he shall have a pardon.”
“nobly done, sire!” ejaculated pole. “nobly done!”
“to make sure that osbert is worthy of the grace bestowed upon him,” said philip, “he shall accompany me to brussels, and thence to spain, and when i have proved him, i will send him back to reap his reward.”
“oh, sire, you overwhelm me with gratitude!” cried constance. “happiness, so long a stranger to me, begins to smile on me again.”
“on his return, it will be for your eminence to complete the work by bestowing upon him the hand of your ward,” said philip to the cardinal.
“and at the same time i shall surrender the fortune which i hold in trust for her,” said pole.
“sir henry bedingfeld,” said philip to the lieutenant of the tower, whose looks manifested the lively interest he took in what was passing, “you will return to the tower, not with a death-warrant, but with an order for osbert’s immediate liberation.”
“here it is, sir henry,” said mary, tracing a few lines on a sheet of paper, and giving it to bedingfeld. “tell him that he has our full pardon.”
“i shall not fail, gracious madam,” rejoined the lieutenant of the tower, with a profound obeisance.
and he moved towards the door. before reaching it, however, he was stopped by an usher, who placed a packet in his hands, saying it was important, and had just been brought from the tower. the packet contained a letter, 410enclosed within which was a small piece of paper. on glancing at the letter, bedingfeld started, and his countenance fell.
“what is the matter, sir henry?” demanded the king, remarking his altered looks.
“the prisoner, sire!—the prisoner!” faltered bedingfeld.
“what of him?” shrieked constance, in tones that chilled those who heard her. “what has happened?”
“read, sire,” said bedingfeld, handing the missive he had just received to the king.
“ha! is it so?” cried philip, his countenance changing as he read the dispatch. “remove her, i pray you, my lord cardinal,” he added to pole.
“i will not go till i learn the truth,” cried constance, distractedly. “speak, sir, i conjure you,” she added to bedingfeld.
“better let her know the truth, be it what it may,” said pole.
“ay, speak, sir henry—keep her not in suspense,” said the queen. “the prisoner was well when you left the tower—ha?”
“he was, madam, but——”
“but what?” demanded mary.
“since then he has died by poison,” said philip.
“by poison! how could it be procured?” asked the queen.
“it appears to have been contained in a ring which he was unluckily allowed to wear,” replied philip.
“is there no poison left for me, that i may join him?” cried constance.
“kind heaven support her!” exclaimed pole. “her reason wanders.”
“no, i am calm enough now,” she rejoined.
“then you may bear to hear that osbert’s last thoughts were given to you,” said philip. “this scrap of paper was found clutched in his dying grasp. on it are written the words, ‘farewell for ever, beloved constance!’”
taking the piece of crumpled paper from the king, she gazed at it for a few moments, and then pressed it convulsively to her lips.
“farewell, osbert—farewell for ever!” she cried.
411“no, not for ever,” rejoined pole, solemnly. “you will be united in a better world.”
praying the cardinal to stay with her and console her, the king withdrew with d’egmont and bedingfeld.
left alone with pole and the queen, constance was permitted by them to indulge her grief without restraint before any attempt at consolation was made; but when these paroxysms were over, and she became calmer, the good cardinal poured balm into her bruised spirit, and ceased not till his efforts were successful.
from that moment constance became perfectly resigned—and though all youthful gaiety and lightness of heart deserted her, and her features wore an unvarying expression of melancholy and sadness, she never uttered a murmur. she would fain have spent the rest of her life in solitude and retirement, but the queen refused to part with her, and retained her with her to the close of her days.
with remarkable consideration, mary did not interfere with her religious observances, but allowed her what she denied all others, freedom of conscience. this concession, however, on the queen’s part, was made on the earnest recommendation of cardinal pole. thus constance continued unshaken in her faith. by her gentle assiduities she was enabled materially to alleviate the anguish of mind endured by the queen during philip’s absence, and when at length mary sank after protracted suffering, her last moments were soothed by constance tyrrell.
