"And that, there, is Henry
Howard's entrance. Oh, he knows that path very thoroughly; for he
has often enough already travelled it in the dark night, and his
foot no longer stumbles on any stone of offence!"
"But he will perchance stumble on the headsman's block!" muttered
the king, with a cruel laugh.
"I now take the liberty of asking one question more," said Douglas;
and the king did not suspect how stormily the earl's heart beat at
this question. "Is your majesty satisfied to see the earl and the
queen make their appearance at this meeting? Or, do you desire to
listen to a little of the earl's tender protestations?"
"I will hear not a little, but all!" said the king. "Ah, let us
allow the earl yet to sing his swan-like song before he plunges into
the sea of blood!"
"Then," said Earl Douglas, "then we must put out this light, and
your majesty must be content merely to hear the guilty ones, and not
to see them also. We will then betake ourselves to the boudoir here,
which I have opened for this purpose, and in which is an easy-chair
for your majesty. We will place this chair near the open door, and
then your majesty will be able to hear every word of their tender
whisperings."
"But how shall we, if we extinguish this our only light, at last
attain to a sight of this dear loving pair, and be able to afford
them the dramatic surprise of our presence?"
"Sire, as soon as the Earl of Surrey enters, twenty men of the
king's bodyguard will occupy the anteroom through which the earl
must pass; and it needs but a call from you to have them enter the
hall with their torches.
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