I rely upon nobody but ourselves. Had we been here, you
would now be Queen of England instead of Catharine Parr. But, to our
misfortune, I was still the favorite of the Regent of Scotland, and
as such, I could not venture to approach Henry. It was necessary
that I should fall into disgrace there, in order to be again sure of
the king's favor here.
"So I fell into disgrace and fled with you hither. Now, then, here
we are, and let the fight begin. And you have to-day already taken
an important step toward our end. You have attracted the notice of
the king, and established yourself still more securely in the favor
of Catharine. I confess, Jane, I am charmed with your prudent
conduct. You have this day won the hearts of all parties, and it was
wonderfully shrewd in you to come to the aid of the Earl of Surrey,
as you at the same time won to you the heretical party, to which
Anne Askew belongs. Oh, it was indeed, Jane, a stroke of policy that
you made. For the Howard family is the most powerful and greatest at
court, and Henry, Earl of Surrey, is one of its noblest
representatives. Therefore we have now already a powerful party at
court, which has in view only the high and holy aim of securing a
victory for the holy Church, and which quietly and silently works
only for this--to again reconcile the king to the pope. Henry
Howard,Earl of Surrey, like bis father, the Duke of Norfolk, is a
good Catholic, as his niece Catharine Howard was; only she, besides
God and the Church, was a little too fond of the images of God--
fine-looking men.
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