For at that time all true Englishmen, Catholics or Protestants, feared that by some underhand, insidious Italian plot, Elizabeth of England was in some way to be done to death and the kingdom given to her legitimate successor to the throne, Mary Queen of Scots, who was a prisoner in Elizabeth’s hands; one ambitious noble of Catholic faith, the Duke of Norfolk, being not only anxious to liberate the beautiful Mary and put her on the throne of England, but also to marry her and reign as Prince Consort. This would have placed Britain thoroughly under the influence of Philip II., of Spain, and have opened the way for his pet scheme, the establishing of the Inquisition in England, with all its horrors of burnings, flayings, and torturings as practiced in the Netherlands under similar circumstances by Alva, his Viceroy and lieutenant. Better Englishman than bigot, Guy Chester, though a moderate Catholic, is exceedingly anxious for the safety of his Protestant Queen. All this makes Guy in desperate haste to give her warning of her danger at the hands of Ridolfi, Alva’s agent in London. So, taking horse again, though thoroughly tired by his long ride from Sandwich, the young Englishman finds himself in the early evening at the palace of Hampton Court. There getting quick audience with Cecil, Lord Burleigh, he gives him the cipher letters from Vitelli to Ridolfi, and also the key furnished by Oliver. Upon Guy’s hastily mentioning the purport of these letters, his lordship, with a very serious face, says: “You have done a great service to the State. But I imagine you have been riding all day. I will see that you have supper and refreshment,” and summoning a lackey, gives order to this effect. “By the time you have finished making yourself comfortable, I and my under-secretary will have translated and transcribed these letters for the Queen’s private eye. These you shall present in person to your sovereign, as is your right.” This arrangement is very satisfactory to the young man, who has been in the saddle twelve hours and has partaken of but hasty refreshment on the road. So an hour afterward Guy, his body made comfortable with food and his spirits heightened by wine, accompanies Lord Burleigh, who now holds England in his grasp, having the favor and confidence of his sovereign, to Queen Elizabeth’s waiting room, where they are received in rather off-hand style by Her Majesty of England, who is in great fashion of jeweled stomacher, above which her white shoulders glitter with necklace of pearls and diamonds. Very vain, as she has a right to be, as daughter of Anne Boleyn, the beauty of her father’s court, she stands in kirtle and long train covered with aglets inlaid with precious stones and high-heeled Spanish shoes, making a great show of vanity, sprightliness, dignity and domination. In short, she is good Queen Bess, at her best and bravest—at thirty-five—at her zenith—before age gets the better of her beauty and her temper.