"
"Yes, in the king's favor they stand high! But the people know their
proud, cruel, and arrogant disposition; and the people and nobility
despise them. The Seymours have the voice of the king in their
favor; the Howards the voice of the whole country, and that is of
more consequence. The king can exalt the Seymours, for they stand
far beneath him. He cannot exalt the Howards, for they are his
equals. Nor can he degrade them. Catharine died on the scaffold--the
king became thereby only a hangman--our escutcheon was not sullied
by that act!"
"These are very proud words, Henry!"
"They become a son of the Norfolks, Rosabella! Ah, see that petty
Lord Hertford, Earl Seymour. He covets a ducal coronet for his
sister. He wants to give her to me to wife; for as soon as our poor
father dies, I wear his coronet! The arrogant upstarts! For the
sister's escutcheon, my coronet; for the brother's, your coronet.
Never, say I, shall that be!"
The duchess had become pale, and a tremor ran through her proud
form. Her eyes flashed, and an angry word was already suspended on
her lips; but she still held it back. She violently forced herself
to calmness and self-possession.
"Consider once more, Henry," said she, "do not decide at once. You
speak of our greatness; but you do not bear in mind the power of the
Seymours. I tell you they are powerful enough to tread us in the
dust, despite all our greatness. And they are not only powerful at
the present; they will be so in the future also; for it is well
known in what disposition and what way of thinking the Prince of
Wales is trained up.
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