Mary and Pole lay dying at the same time, fortified by the rites of their Church, whose services were celebrated ceaselessly before their weary eyes. With the Queen there were few now to do her reverence, for most of her courtiers and Councillors were flocking to Hatfield to worship the rising sun; but Mrs. Clarencius, the Countess of Feria (Jane Dormer, Mary’s favourite maid of honour), and a few other faithful friends stood by her to the last. On the morning of the 16th November the Council assembled in her room, and Cordell, the Master of the Rolls, read aloud the Queen’s will, although Mary was unconscious at the time. Feria asserts that when the reader reached the bequests to her personal attendants the Council desired him to omit that portion. In any case, little attention was afterwards paid to the Queen’s testament, for there were none who loved or mourned the forlorn woman. Before dawn on the 17th November Mass was celebrated in the dying chamber in the Palace of St. James. Like her mother on her death-bed in similar circumstances, Mary followed the sacred office devoutly, in the full possession now of her faculties, making the responses audibly and fervently. When the celebrant appealed to “the Lamb of God who took upon Himself the sins of the world,” Mary answered clearly “_Miserere nobis, Miserere nobis, Dona nobis pacem_.”[136] These cries for mercy, for mercy and peace, were the last words of unhappy Mary Tudor. A few moments afterwards, as the priest held up before her the Sacramental Host, her eyes flushed with tears, and then closed for ever. Philip had no longer any footing in England. He must win one again by force or favour, unless Spain was to surrender her proud supremacy and Catholicism cease to rule the world. CHAPTER V 1558-1565 Accession of Elizabeth—The beginning of the long duel—Feria urges Philip to use force—Philip’s many difficulties—He offers his hand to Elizabeth—The Peace of Cateau Cambresis—The Franco-Spanish Alliance—Fears of a Catholic League—Philip marries a French Princess—English Catholics appeal to Philip—Mary Stuart claims the Crown of England—War with Scotland—Philip’s efforts to effect a reconciliation—Bishop Quadra—His relations with Leicester—Intrigue for a Catholic reaction in England—Mary Stuart approaches Philip—Disgrace and death of Quadra—A war of tariffs—Guzman de Silva, ambassador—The interviews of Bayonne—Failure of the Catholic League