But woe to them
who shall dare accuse you again! And have you nothing further to
demand, Kate?"
"Nay, one thing more, my lord and husband!" She leaned nearer to the
king's ear, and whispered: "They have also accused your noblest and
most faithful servant; they have accused Cranmer. Condemn him not,
king, without having heard him; and if I may beg a favor of you, it
is this: talk with Cranmer yourself. Tell him of what they have
charged him, and hear his vindication."
"It shall be so, Kate," said the king, "and you shall be present!
But let this be a secret between us, Kate, and we will carry it out
in perfect silence. And now, then, John Heywood, let us hear your
composition; and woe to you, if it does not accomplish what you
promised--if it does not make us laugh! For you well know that you
are then inevitably exposed to the rods of our injured ladies."
"They shall have leave to whip me to death, if I do not make you
laugh!" cried John Heywood, gayly, as he drew out his manuscript.
Soon the hall rang again with loud laughter; and in the universal
merriment no one observed that Bishop Gardiner and Earl Douglas
slipped quietly away.
In the anteroom without, they stopped and looked at each other long
and silently; their countenances expressed the wrath and bitterness
which filled them; and they understood this mute language of their
features.
"She must die!" said Gardiner in a short and quick tone. "She has
for once escaped from our snares; we will tie them all the tighter
next time!"
"And I already hold in my hand the threads out of which we will form
these snares," said Earl Douglas.
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