Chapter 17 Summary

In 1573, Queen Elizabeth pays off the debts owed the City of London by King Henry VIII and King Edward VI, greatly increasing her popularity with her people. Lady Lennox goes to Scotland in the fall to see her grandson, eight-year-old King James. The roads are impassible, so she stops at Rufford, owned by the Countess of Shrewsbury. There, she introduces her son, Lord Charles Stuart, another claimant to the throne, to her hostess' daughter, Elizabeth Cavendish. After the young people marry, both mothers are sent to the Tower for having arranged the marriage of a youth of royal blood without the Crown's permission.

Chapter 17 Analysis

Elizabeth accomplishes what her predecessors could not. She pays off the Crown's debts to the City of London. English law prohibits arrangement of a royal marriage of any kind without the king or queen's consent.