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.Mary must make up her mind now whether to go or stay.And to help her do so, he sent one of his servants back with Rochester to urge her to make a speedy decision.He would not abandon the plan until the princess specifically commanded him to do so.Rochester assured Dubois that he would send for him when he knew her mind in the matter.The secretary then spent a tense hour bickering with customs officials over the clearance of his corn, for import and sale.Matters were amicably resolved when he reluctantly confirmed he had already sold the corn to Rochester for the Lady Mary's household.The officers then became quite friendly, saying they 'held my Lady Mary's Grace as high in esteem as the King's person'.Dubois then entered into a dispute with the bailiff of the port about the price of his corn, which lasted for several hours, during which time he became increasingly agitated about the tide turning.Back at Woodham Walter, Mary had begun to pack at last, arranging for her belongings to be stowed into hopsacks, but this did not mean that she had finally made up her mind to go.She was well aware that any decision she made now was crucial, and was desperate for some good advice.She told Rochester to go and fetch Dubois.Perhaps he could allay her anxieties.At sunset Rochester conducted Dubois 'by a secret way' to Woodham Walter.On the way the controller's behaviour was decidedly odd, and he dropped ominous hints.'Neither [her Grace] nor you see what I see and know.Great danger threatens us,' he warned darkly, but would not be drawn further.At the house, Dubois found Mary in a highly agitated state, still supervising her packing.However, observing protocol, she expressed the hope that the Emperor and the Regent Mary were in good health, and thanked Dubois for everything that he and Admiral Scepperus were doing on her behalf.However, she had not yet decided whether to go ahead with the escape plan.'I am yet ill prepared,' she told him, indicating the hopsacks.'I do not know how the Emperor would take it if it turned out to be impossible to go now, after I have so often importuned him on the subject.'Dubois suspected that Rochester had, for good reasons of his own, put Mary off the idea of flight, but he merely answered that, if she was satisfied to stay, the Emperor would be content.If she did not wish to accompany him, he would leave England discreetly, but if she was coming, then she must not delay any further.If he left without her, Mary asked, would he take her rings and jewellery with him to safety? 'You might as well go with them,' he answered.At this point Rochester reminded Mary of the astrologer's prediction that her brother would soon be dead and that, if she was still in England then, she would become queen.Torn by indecision, Mary was distraught.She spent several minutes conferring with Rochester and Susan Clarencieux, who were keeping watch by the door, and then came back.She definitely wished to escape, she declared, but she was not ready yet.Could Dubois wait another two days, until Friday 4 July, when she could be waiting with her ladies on the beach at four a.m., when the watch went off duty and the coast would literally be clear? Knowing that this would be courting extreme danger, the secretary urged her to leave everything and come at once.The Emperor would provide all that was needful.Dubois had sold his corn and had no excuse for remaining in Maldon any longer.To do so would arouse the deepest suspicions.If the attempt was to take place at all, it would have to be now.Mary considered.'It is more than time that I was hence,' she said thoughtfully, 'for things are going worse than ever.A short time ago they took down the altars in the very house my brother lives in.'At that moment there was a knock at the front door.Rochester left the room, then returned looking worried.'Our affair is going very ill,' he announced.'There is nothing to be done this time, for here is my friend, Master Schurts, who has ridden hard from Maldon to warn me that the bailiff and other folk of the village wish to arrest your boat, and suspect you of having some understanding with the warship,' now off nearby Stansgate.Dubois was visibly shaken, as was Mary.'What shall we do?' she cried.'What is to become of me?''My friend here says there is something mysterious in the air, and that you had better depart at once, for these men of the town are not well-disposed,' replied Rochester.He suggested that Schurts escort Dubois back through the woods.There was no question now but that the escape attempt would have to be abandoned for the present.'They are going to double the watch tonight,' Rochester went on, 'and post men on the church tower, whence they can see all the country round, a thing that has never been done before.' There were also plans to light a great beacon to warn the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside that there was danger afoot.'What is to become of me?' Mary wailed again, and Dubois reminded her that he had risked his life to help her, and that the best way he could serve her now would be by leaving her house immediately.But still Mary delayed him, suggesting that another escape attempt take place after she had left for Newhall in a few days' time, and promising she would send a messenger to him with instructions to rendezvous with her at Stansgate.It was a wild, impossible plan, but Dubois was diplomatic.Promising that he would not abandon her, he made haste to depart, leaving her in tears and still repeating, over and over again, 'What will become of me?'Having returned through the woods to Maldon with Schurts, and bribed a band of twenty watchmen to let them pass, Dubois was disconcerted to discover that there was no sign of hostility towards himself.The town was quiet and all seemed as normal.As he was rowed along the Blackwater, he looked back and discovered that there was no one in the church tower.He could only conclude that Rochester, in collusion with Schurts, had invented his tale in a final attempt to dissuade Mary from escaping.However, it was too late now to go back, and by morning he had rejoined van Meeckeren.The Imperial fleet remained in the Channel, immobilised by storms, for five days.By the time the battered ships sailed to the Netherlands on 7 July, the Council had received reports of the foreign visitors to Maldon, guessed that an abortive escape attempt had taken place, and ordered that precautions be taken to ensure that the Lady Mary never left England.When Charles V learned what had happened, he too vetoed any further plans for her escape, deeming such a thing to be too fraught with danger to succeed.The Regent Mary drily expressed the hope that Mary would be sensible enough not to suggest it again.Rumours of Mary's intended flight were circulating by the middle of July, and to calm the people the Council issued a statement saying that the Emperor, wishing to marry the heiress to the throne to his son Philip and so claim England for the Habsburgs, had indeed tried to kidnap Mary, but had failed in the attempt.The official stance was one of shocked incredulity that Charles should contemplate such a thing, and English ambassadors in Europe were ordered to express their indignation and the Council's justifiable anger at such dishonourable behaviour.On 13 July, Sir John Gates rode into Essex with a band of armed horsemen 'to stop the going away of the Lady Mary'.A week later Sir William Petre and Lord Chancellor Rich were appointed to interview the princess [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]