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.He asked Gardiner to visit him and told the Bishop, 'I would do penance all the days of my life, if it were but in a mousehole.Is there no hope of mercy?''I think that you must die,' Gardiner replied gravely.'I can be of no other faith but yours,' cried the Duke, bursting into tears.'I never was any other indeed.I complied in King Edward's days only out of ambition, for which I pray God to forgive me, and I promise I will declare that at my death.'His distress was so great that the crusty Gardiner broke down too, but even Northumberland's public conversion to Catholicism on 19 August did not save him.Mary, hearing of it from Gardiner, who pleaded with her to spare him, contemplated a stay of execution, but Renard, whose advice she now heeded more than any other's, insisted that she let the law take its course.On 23 August, the Duke mounted the scaffold on Tower Hill in front of 10,000 onlookers, who were in an ugly mood and had to be held back by halberdiers.He confessed to them that he was a 'wretched sinner and most justly condemned'.His conversion, he declared, had been unfeigned.As he knelt before the block, he said, 'I have deserved a thousand deaths.'A cloth was tied around his eyes as he prayed: 'In manuas tuas, Domine.' The cloth slipped, and he had to rise again, visibly distressed, in order to retrieve it.Then, clenching his hands together in prayer, he knelt again and bent his head.It was severed in one blow.His body was carried to the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower, where it was interred next to those of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and the Duke of Somerset.Lady Jane Grey had viewed her father-in-law's conversion with disgust.She was still in the Tower, but Mary had relaxed the restrictions governing her confinement, and Jane was now allowed onto the wall-walks with Guilford.She was still writing viciously anti-Catholic diatribes, yet was hopeful of the Queen's clemency.She was comfortably lodged with Master Partridge, and dined with him and his wife, sitting 'at the board's end' in the place of honour.On 29 August, Jane was informed that she and Guilford were to stand trial, but that a royal pardon would undoubtedly follow.She received the news cheerfully, and praised the Queen as a merciful princess.Then she returned to her books and her studies, with which she occupied her time.In October, she would be sixteen.At the end of August, Renard reported that Elizabeth was showing a more than friendly interest in Courtenay, and from that time onwards, her name was inextricably linked to his.De Noailles was undoubtedly responsible for this: he had ingratiated himself with Elizabeth, and was carefully cultivating Courtenay, frequently inviting him to supper and persuading the gullible young man that, if the Queen would not marry him, her sister might; with their Plantagenet and Tudor blood intermingled, they would stand as youthful and charismatic figureheads for both Catholic and Protestant subjects of the Queen, and, as leaders of a powerful opposition backed by Henry II, might overthrow Mary and so remove the threat of an Anglo-Imperial alliance from France.On 3 September, the Queen restored Courtenay to the earldom of Devon, which had been held by his ancestors, and endowed him with lands worth £3000 per annum.She also gave him sumptuous clothes and a diamond ring of Henry VIII's worth 16,000 crowns.Many now believed that Courtenay would become king consort, and courtiers flocked to pay court to him, kneeling as they addressed him.Pembroke presented him with a sword and horses costing 3000 crowns.The King of France wrote flattering letters to him, but he took care to give them to his mother, Lady Exeter, to pass on to the Queen.In order to win Mary's favour, he would only employ Catholics in his growing household, and did his best to become on intimate terms with those closest to her, calling Susan Clarencieux 'Mother' as he called Gardiner 'Father'.Before long, Courtenay was giving himself airs, throwing his weight about and rapidly becoming insufferable, boasting that at the coronation he would be wearing a splendid outfit in blue velvet with gold embroidery.He was somewhat disconcerted when, his words having been reported to the Queen, she sent him a curt message ordering him to wear another colour, as she herself was planning to wear blue velvet trimmed with ermine for her coronation.Mary had no intention of marrying Courtenay.The most important issue in her life just then was religion, and by the beginning of September she thought she knew what she must do.Summoning the Imperial ambassadors, she informed them that it was her intention to restore the Church of England to the obedience of the Holy See of Rome, as it was 'before the changes took place'.This was the first time since 1536 that Mary had spoken to anyone in England of her hopes for a reversion to Rome; she had never publicly expressed any desire other than to have the religious settlement that had existed at her father's death restored.Understandably, Renard and Scheyfve were alarmed at her resolve, telling her, 'We thought she should not go beyond the reinstitution of the mass and matters relating thereto, reverting to the condition in which they were at the time of the late King Henry's death.' They were even more alarmed when Mary informed them that she had been in constant contact with the Pope and that Cardinal Pole had been appointed legate and was coming to England.Renard begged her to consult Parliament before she allowed him into the kingdom, because her subjects would need reassurance on the subject of church property, and Pole's views were well known.It was also apparent to the ambassadors that Mary had not consulted the Council on this matter, and they urged her to tell no one but Gardiner what she had in mind, 'so that malicious people may not seize the occasion for worse plottings or machinations'.The last thing the Emperor wanted was a religious war in England.Mary allowed herself to be convinced, and on n September reluctantly wrote to Rome, instructing that Pole should not be sent until the time was more propitious.Meanwhile, de Noailles had heard an unfounded rumour from a courtier, of which he informed Henry II on 7 September, that Charles V had formally offered Prince Philip as a husband for Mary.Henry ordered de Noailles to do everything in his power to prevent the alliance, and the ambassador threw himself into his task enthusiastically, enlisting the support of leading Protestants and those Englishmen who were vehemently opposed to the idea of a foreign consort for the Queen.He warned whoever would listen that the Spaniards, once they had a foothold in England, would make it a satellite of the Empire and introduce the Inquisition, giving rise to the same large-scale religious persecution as was seen on the Continent.If Mary married Philip, he would not stay in England long because he had too many commitments abroad; she would be fortunate if he spent as much as a fortnight with her, and what good would that be to a queen who needed heirs? Worse still, England would be made an unwilling participant in Charles V's war with France, which she was in no position to afford.Many were ready to listen to de Noailles's warnings, and before long the ambassador found himself at the head of an anti-Imperialist faction.Gardiner also shared his views, but had no reason to trust him, knowing he was considering only the interests of France
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