Although I have been unable to show you as much of John as I have wished you to see, you nevertheless must know that he, whose nature was not like the shallow brook but was rather of the quality of a deep, slow-moving river, had caught from Dorothy an infection of love from which he would never recover.  His soul was steeped in the delicious essence of the girl.  I would also call your attention to the conditions under which his passion for Dorothy had arisen.  It is true he received the shaft when first he saw her at the Royal Arms in Derby-town, but the shaft had come from Dorothy’s eyes.  Afterward she certainly had done her full part in the wooing.  It was for her sake, after she had drawn him on to love her, that he became a servant in Haddon Hall.  For her sake he faced death at the hands of her father.  And it was through her mad fault that the evil came upon him of which I shall now tell you.  That she paid for her fault in suffering does not excuse her, since pain is but the latter half of evil.

During the term of Elizabeth’s residence in Haddon Hall John returned to Rutland with Queen Mary Stuart, whose escape from Lochleven had excited all England.  The country was full of rumors that Mary was coming to England not so much for sanctuary as to be on the ground ready to accept the English crown when her opportunity to do so should occur.  The Catholics, a large and powerful party, flushed with their triumphs under the “Bloody Queen,” were believed to sympathize with Mary’s cause.  Although Elizabeth said little on the subject, she felt deeply, and she feared trouble should the Scottish queen enter her dominion.  Another cause of annoyance to Elizabeth was the memory that Leicester had once been deeply impressed with Mary’s charms, and had sought her hand in marriage.  Elizabeth’s prohibition alone had prevented the match.  That thought rankled in Elizabeth’s heart, and she hated Mary, although her hatred, as in all other cases, was tempered with justice and mercy.  This great queen had the brain of a man with its motives, and the heart of a woman with its emotions.

When news of Mary’s escape reached London, Cecil came in great haste to Haddon.  During a consultation with Elizabeth he advised her to seize Mary, should she enter England, and to check the plots made in Mary’s behalf by executing the principal friends of the Scottish queen.  He insistently demanded that Elizabeth should keep Mary under lock and key, should she be so fortunate as to obtain possession of her person, and that the men who were instrumental in bringing her into England should be arraigned for high treason.

John certainly had been instrumental in bringing her into England, and if Cecil’s advice were taken by the queen, John’s head would pay the forfeit for his chivalric help to Mary.

Elizabeth was loath to act on this advice, but Cecil worked upon her fears and jealousies until her mind and her heart were in accord, and she gave secret orders that his advice should be carried out.  Troops were sent to the Scottish border to watch for the coming of the fugitive queen.  But Mary was already ensconced, safely, as she thought, in Rutland Castle under the assumed name of Lady Blanche.  Her presence at Rutland was, of course, guarded as a great secret.