the cry of the heralds:
“Make way for His Most Gracious Majesty!”
THE KING WAS FEELING HIS YEARS.
His leg had pained him so much that it had been necessary for him to take to his bed; and since the Queen was in disgrace, it had been the duty of one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber to dress his leg.
His temper had been short; he had roared with pain; he had leaped up to cuff the gentleman, only to sink back, groaning in pain.
At such times he could find little pleasure in the contemplation of the charms of my lady of Suffolk. In fact, he wished that his Queen were not indulging in a little sickness herself, so that she could be at hand to attend to him. There had been times when he cursed her for her clumsiness, but he realized now how deft were those nimble fingers.
He thought tenderly of them, and the more tender his feelings grew toward her, the more angry he grew with those who had turned him against her.
He had sent for her physician.
“What ails the Queen?” he demanded. “What is that noise I hear? It sounds like a creature in distress.”
Dr. Wendy answered: “Your Grace, the Queen is, I fear, in a low state of health. She seems on the point of death through melancholy.”
“She is in pain, then?”
“Great mental stress, Sire.”
“She disturbs our rest with her cries.”
“They cannot be silenced, Your Grace. Her distress is such that there is nothing that can be done.”
The King dismissed the man.
He knew what ailed his wife. He had heard screams like that before. Sometimes he heard them in his dreams. Sometimes he fancied he heard them mingling with the singing in the chapel.
Kate must have discovered what was afoot.
She was no wanton. He could be sure of her fidelity. But she gave herself airs. She would teach her husband. She had become a clerk with her cleverness. A woman should have more sense.
Yet, to tell the truth, it distressed him to hear her distress.
Misguided Kate! he mused.
He had merely given his permission to have her examined, that was all. The next day they would come to take her to the Tower. He had no intention of harming Kate if she could satisfy them that she had not been dabbling in heresy. It was naught to do with him. He was a King, not an examiner of his subjects’ opinions. Others did that, and brought the results to him.
If Kate were innocent, she would have nothing to fear.
His little mouth was set in prim lines. There was justice in this land; and he had instituted it. If any of that long procession of headless corpses, which sometimes haunted his dreams, had proved their innocence, they would have retained their heads. That was how his conscience said it was, and that was how it must be.
But heretic or not, Kate was the best nurse he had ever had, and he needed Kate.
He roared to his gentlemen.
“I will go to see the Queen. I will see if I can calm her distress. Here! Get my chair and take me there. I declare I cannot put foot to the ground, yet I will make the journey to her apartment, since she is so sick. I will not trouble her to come here.”
Even while he cursed them for their clumsiness, he was smiling at his own benevolence. You see, he said to his conscience, what a clement ruler we are! We never condemn unjustly. Now I shall go to Kate and see what I can do for her. I shall try to soothe her malady, poor Kate!
They wheeled his chair through the great rooms, lifting it up the stairs when necessary. When they neared the Queen’s apartments, Seymour joined the party, but the King, so intent on his own thoughts, paid no heed to the sudden reappearance of that gentleman.
When the King entered the Queen’s bedchamber, Lady Herbert sank to her knees. The Queen raised herself at Henry’s approach.
“Don’t rise…don’t rise,” said Henry. “We know of your sickness.”
“Your Majesty is gracious,” said Katharine.
For a moment her eyes rested on the most handsome gentleman of the King’s bedchamber, but Seymour had looked quickly away.
Lady Herbert said: “Your Majesty, I fear the Queen is very ill.”
The King looked at her in mild distaste. “We asked not your opinion, my Lady Herbert. It is for the Queen’s physicians to give us news of the Queen’s health, and that when we ask it.” He looked round