“She will show you no mercy,” rejoined Gunnora. “Do not, I implore of you, expose yourself to the first outbreak of her jealous and vindictive nature. Queen Mary inherits her father’s inexorable disposition, and I am well assured if you tarry here, you will fall a victim to her displeasure. Do not neglect this opportunity, sweet lady. In a few hours it may be too late.”
“Accept her offer, gracious madam,” urged Cicely, “it may be your last chance of safety. You are here surrounded by enemies.”
“But how am I to escape from the fortress, if I accede to your wishes?” replied Jane.
“Follow me, and I will conduct you,” answered Gunnora. “I have possessed myself of the key of a subterranean passage which will convey you to the other side of the moat.”
“Do not think of him,” interrupted Gunnora, frowning. “He deserted you in the hour of danger. Let him perish on the scaffold with his false father.”
“Leave me, old woman,” said Jane authoritatively; “I will not go with you.”
“Do not heed her, my gracious mistress,” urged Cholmondeley, “your tarrying here cannot assist Lord Guilford, and will only aggravate his affliction. Besides, some means may be devised for his escape.”
“Pardon what I have said, dear lady,” said Gunnora. “Deadly as is the hatred I bear to the house of Northumberland, for your sweet sake I will forgive his son. Nay more, I will effect his deliverance. This I swear to you. Come with me, and once out of the Tower make what haste you can to Sion House, where your husband shall join you before the morning.”
“You promise more than you can accomplish,” said Jane.
“That remains to be seen, madam,” replied Gunuora: “but were it not that he is your husband, Lord Guilford Dudley should receive no help from me. Once more, will you trust me?”
Cholmondeley then seized a torch, and fastening the door of the chamber, on the outside of which a guard was stationed, assisted Jane through the masked door. Preceded by the old woman, who carried a lamp, they threaded a long narrow passage built in the thickness of the wall, and presently arrived at the head of a flight of stairs, which brought them to a long corridor arched and paved with stone. Traversing this, they struck into an avenue on the right, exactly resembling one of those which Cholmondeley had recently explored. Jane expressed her surprise at the vast extent of the passages she was threading, when Gunnora answered—“The whole of the Tower is undermined with secret passages and dungeons, but their existence is known only to few.’”