104 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



her to Lord Courtney, a vain, foolish youth, whom, 

 gossip says, the Queen herself at one time wished 

 to marry. He, however, preferred Elizabeth as 

 being better-looking and nineteen years younger. 

 Gardiner, through this popinjay, soon discovered 

 the whole plot, thereby forcing Sir Thomas Wyatt 

 to take up arms sooner than he had intended, thus 

 marring many of his plans. 



Soon a serious insurrection broke out which 

 might have ended very differently but for the 

 courage of the Queen, whose Tudor blood rose to 

 the occasion. Addressing the people from the 

 Guildhall in a stirring speech, she enrolled thousands 

 on her side. Wyatt's fate was sealed ! Fighting 

 bravely against desperate odds, deserted and ex- 

 hausted, he fell into his enemies' hands at Temple 

 Bar. 



Everything pointed to Elizabeth being mixed up 

 in this fatal plot, and the Queen sent her a Royal 

 summons to appear immediately at Court, where 

 she would receive "a hearty welcome." The invita- 

 tion was mistrusted, and Elizabeth, feigning sick- 

 ness, retired to bed, sending a message to the 

 Queen that she was too ill to travel, but that as 

 soon as she was able she would come, and prayed 

 her Majesty's forbearance "for a few days." 



Norden, in his description of Hertfordshire, 

 written in 1596, appears to think Elizabeth's 

 sickness real. He describes Ashridge "as a 



