Christ.' The bishops all assented to this form, and having paid a first instalment of their fine, these penitent priests were pardoned by the King.

7. More had spoken out in Parliament on the divorce with a directness worthy of his name and place. 'The King, our sovereign lord, hath married his brother's wife; for she was both wedded and bedded with his brother, Prince Arthur; and therefore you may surely say he hath married his brother's wifeif this marriage be good.' The judgments of Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Orleans, Anjou, Padova, and Bologna, were read, and upwards of a hundred books of foreign proctors and divines were laid before the House. 'Go into your counties,' said More to the knights and burgesses, 'and report what ye have seen and heard, and then all men shall openly perceive that the King hath not attempted this matter of will or pleasure, as strangers report, but only for the discharge of his conscience and the security of his realm.' Yet on this new question of the temporal headship of the Church, the man who had warned his sovereign against an undue exaltation of the papacy, shrank from marching with his countrymen.

167

CHAPTER VIII.

A DUCAL PLOT.

1531.

1. YET Norfolk, while he spoke up bravely for the Crown, was not disposed to place that royal emblem on his niece's brow. He feared Anne's high and liberal tone. One day, when told that she was in the habit of using phrases to the King which Catharine never dared to speak, his heart began to sink. The anger of a King is death. His wife, the Duchess, agreeing with him in nothing else, agreed with him in fretting at his niece's rise. One woman only seemed to her more hateful than Lady Anne : Bess Holland, a 'drah,' who had been a 'washer' in her nursery at T ndring Hall. This Bess had stolen her husband. heart; a loss she might have borne, for she detested him and all his house, if Bess had not also taken her jewels, her apartments at Keninghall, and in some degree her place at court. The Duchess warped her husband's mind, without being able to engage him on her own political side. By blood and interest she was Catharine's

friend. The Queen had tried to save her father, and had not yet finally rejected the pretensions of

her son.

2. Going to Catharine's room, the Duchess told her that the Duke was greatly harassed in his mind about his niece; saying he saw too plainly that Lady Anne's free speech would be the ruin of all his family. If God wills that Lady Anne should continue in this strain,' she whispered in the Queen's ear, it will be good for your Grace.' Catharine was so low that she was glad to catch at any hope. A new intrigue was set on foot. Letters were sent by Catharine through the Duchess to the Duke of Albany, then in Rome, imploring Clement to decide her cause and hurl his thunders at the King. Norfolk seemed veering round. On finding the Emperor disposed to pay, Norfolk grew more and more inclined to make his peace with Spain. The devil and no one else,' he said to Chapuys, 'is the promoter of these discords;' but in Henry's matter he had gone too far to change his line of march.

3. Catharine would not stir from Henry's side, even though the skies should fall and crush her. Parliaments were voting her a concubine, and cardinals were begging her to take the veil. Her partner had resumed the name and character of a bachelor; the crown was being prepared to fit another brow; yet Catharine clung to Henry with the pride and pas

sion of despair. Mary was sick, and Catharine yearned to see her daughter; but she dared not go and nurse her, lest some passage should occur to hinder her return. She had recourse to one of her old tricks. A doctor, who knew Mary's constitution well, was sent to tend her, and the Queen recalled this doctor, on pretence of needing him herself; hoping that the patient would desire to follow, and that Henry, being extremely fond of Mary, would allow her to be brought to town. On hearing of this trick, the King accused Catharine of harsh and cruel conduct in removing the physician from Mary's side. Let the princess, our daughter, come to us,' replied the Queen. Henry would not hear of such a thing. London was full of sickness, and the summer heats were coming on. How could a sick girl be safely brought to town, even if the river margin were a proper place for one who needed dry and bracing air? If you desire it,' said the King, 'you can go to her, and stay with her.' But Catharine would not move. Neither for my daughter, nor for any person in the world, will I separate from you, or lodge in any other house than that in which you live.'

4. Suffolk, instigated by his wife and Lady Willoughby, made a final effort to assist the Queen. His rank was high, his fortune great; and no man living had so near an interest in dissuading Henry from his match. Anne was his foe, and that of all his house. On his return to court, through Lady

Anne's forgiveness, he began once more to plot and lie.

5. Calling Fitzwilliam to his side, he asked the Treasurer in confidence, if the time had not arrived for them to join in curing Henry of his folly and supporting the decrees of Rome?' The situation seemed to offer them a sure success. Anne was a simple woman, holding her head above the crowd through her connexion with the Howard family. The chief of that great house was now a pensioner of Charles, and all the female branches of that house were jealous of her fortunes. They could count on every member and connexion of the royal family; on all the Courtneys, Greys, and Poles, whose claims were threatened by the offspring of a second wife. Exeter was noisy; Montagu looked big; and Pole was ready with his tongue and pen. Of Albany and the Scottish clans they felt assured; Kildare was calling out his Irish kernes; a hint from Norfolk would command Sir Rhese, and bring his Welsh retainers to the front. Derby and Dacres would follow their brother-in-law. Shrewsbury was with them, and Northumberland was sore. Among the prelates there was deep and burning discontent. Fisher, Clerk, and Lee had been arrested. Gardiner was an object of suspicion and dislike. Supported by the Emperor, encouraged by the Pope, how could so great a party fail? Fitzwilliam thought they could not fail. Guilford