The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-04
CHAPTER XXI. Mmrye, the Queene. .

Thus day followed day whilst in the great world without England was pre- | paripg to, see her premier lord ar- ! raigned before his peers on a charge of murder. And in one of the smaller chambers of her own private apart ments at Hampton Court. Mary Tudor sat alone, praying and thinking, think ing and praying again. Not a queen now, not a proud and wilful Tudor. passionate, cruel, or ca pricious. but only a middle-aged, brok- en-hearted woman, with eyes swollen with weeping, and brain heavy with eterpally reiterated desires. To save him, to save him!
 But how?
 That he had committed so foul a crime as to stab an enemy in the back this, in the very face of his own con fession. Mary still obstinately refused to believe. The rumors anent the pres ence of a woman in that part of the palace. and at that fatal hour had of course reached her ears. Jealousy and hatred. which had ragged within her. had readily fastened on Ursula Glynde as the cause if not the actual perpetrator of the dastardly crime. That a woman was somehow or other connected with the terrible events of that night everyone was of course ready to admit, but in what manner
 
 A murder had been committed. Of that there could be no doubt. Don Miguel de Suarez had been stabbed in the back! Not in fair fight, but brutal ly. callously stabbed, and he a guest at the English Court
 Of this barharous, abominable act the Duke of Wessex stood self-convict- ed.
 Impossible. of course! Preposterous. pronounced his friends. He the first gentleman in England. brave to fault, fastfdfous, artistic and a perfect swordsnaan to boot! The very accusa- tiop was ridiculous.
 Yet he stood self-convicted. Why? In the name of heaven. why?
 ITO shield woman" said His Grace's friends,
 what womsng' retorted his enc mics.
 The name of Lady Ursula Glynde had been faintly whispered, yet it seemed almoet as. .pPeposterous to suppose that beautiful young girl-refined. gentle poetic, scarce out of her teens-would have the physical strength to commit so foul a deed. as to think of His Grace in connection with 1t,
 Yet, in spite of that, the idea had gained ground, that the Lady Ursula Glynde could, and she would throw some light on the mystery which sur rounded the events of that terrible night. and no one brooded over that idea more determinedIy than did Mary Tudor.
 The young girl had of course denied all knowledge of what had or had not occurred. There was not single def mite fact that might even remotely connect her with the supposed enmity between wessex and Don Miguel.
 The Cardinal was not likely to speak, for the present turn of events suited his own plans to perfection.
 My lord of Everingham was away in Scotland and news travelled slowly these days. As for the Queen. she had nothing on which to found her suspi- clons. save her own hatred of the girl and the firm conviction that on the same night, an hour or two before the murder, Ursula and Wsssex had met. She had then seen and upbraided the girl in the presence of my lord Cardi- nal and the ladies; His Grace was not there then. but what happened imme- diately afterwards?
 Had she but dared, Mary Tudor would have submitted her rival to mental and bodily torture. until she had extracted a confession from her. All she could do was to confine her to her own room in the palace; she would not lose sight of her although the young girl had begged for permission to quit the court and retire to a convent, for the silence and peace of which she felt an .unut- terabls longing.
 The Dukes trial by his peers was fixed for the morrow.
 It was but fortnight since that fateful evening. His Grace had been in the tower since then and by virtue of his high influence and of his excep- tional position had demanded and read fly obtained a speedy trial.
 Twenty-four hours in which a queen might perchanee still save the man she