"I know nothing at all; I have heard nothing; how, then, can I bring
an accusation? You know all; to you he has spoken. You must be his
accuser!"
"Well, then, conduct me to the king!" said she.
"Will you allow me to give you some more advice first?"
"Do so, Earl Douglas."
"Be very cautious in the choice of your means. Do not waste them all
at once, so that if your first thrust does not hit, you may not be
afterward without weapons. It is better, and far less dangerous, to
surely kill the enemy that you hate with a slow, creeping poison,
gradually and day by day, than to murder him at once with a dagger,
which may, however, break on a rib and become ineffective. Tell,
then, what you know, not at once, but little by little. Administer
your drug which is to make the king furious, gradually; and if you
do not hit your enemy to-day, think that you will do it so much the
more surely to-morrow. Nor do you forget that we have to punish, not
merely the heretic Henry Howard, but above all things the heretical
queen, whose unbelief will call down the wrath of the Most High upon
this land."
"Come to the king," said she, hastily. "On the way you can tell me
what I ought to make known and what conceal. I will do implicitly
what you say. Now, Henry Howard," said she softly to herself, "hold
yourself ready; the contest begins! In your pride and selfishness
you have destroyed the happiness of my life--my eternal felicity. I
loved Thomas Seymour; I hoped by his side to find the happiness that
I have so long and so vainly sought in the crooked paths of life.
Pages:
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295