what philip heard while concealed behind
the arras.
next day in the forenoon, bishop bonner repaired to whitehall palace, and found the king in a cabinet communicating with the great gallery. philip was seated at a table covered with dispatches, and near him stood rodomont bittern, with whom he was conversing.
“i am glad you are come, my lord,” said the king to bonner, as the latter entered the cabinet. “this gentleman is the bearer of a letter from the lord cardinal to her majesty, in which his eminence solicits an audience of her on a matter of importance. the cardinal will be here at noon, and the important matter on which he comes relates to the delivery of constance tyrrell to your lordship. is it not so, sir?” he added to rodomont.
“it is, my liege,” replied the other. “his eminence is unwilling to give up the maiden, and desires to ascertain the queen’s pleasure on the subject. as i have already told your majesty, the cardinal was much troubled on learning from mistress constance what had befallen her, and he declared that unless he had the queen’s positive commands to that effect he would not surrender her to the ecclesiastical commissioners. i do not think i ever saw him more moved.”
“i make no doubt that his eminence blamed me, sir,” remarked bonner.
295“to speak truth, my lord, he did,” replied rodomont; “and he said plainly to lord priuli that you should not have the damsel.”
“your majesty hears that?” cried bonner. “this proud cardinal defies your authority.”
“nay, there was no defiance on his eminence’s part of the king’s highness,” observed rodomont, “but only of your lordship. the representative of his holiness, he said, should not be insulted with impunity, and he added some words which i care not to repeat, but they spoke of reprimands, censures, and possible privation of dignity.”
“his eminence takes up the matter with great warmth,” observed bonner, uneasily.
“i have never known him so put out before,” said rodomont. “he paced to and fro within his chamber for an hour, and the lord priuli could scarce pacify him. this morning, after an interview with mistress constance, his anger broke out afresh, and he dispatched me with a letter to her majesty, craving an audience at noon. this is all i have to state. i have thought it right to warn your lordship that if you think fit to persist in the matter, you may know what to expect.”
“enough, sir,” observed the king. “you may withdraw.”
rodomont bowed and retired, laughing in his sleeve at the fright he had given bonner. “heaven forgive me for making a bugbear of the good cardinal,” he muttered; “but the trick seems to have succeeded.”
“so, the cardinal is determined to try his strength with us,” observed philip, as soon as he and bonner were left alone.
“i must beg to retire from the contest, sire,” replied the bishop. “whoever wins, i am sure to lose by it.”
“tut! i will bear you harmless,” rejoined the king. “but the cardinal will be here anon. i must prepare the queen for his arrival.”
“i would your majesty could be prevailed upon to abandon this design,” observed bonner. “it will lead to nothing save trouble and confusion. ever after i shall have the cardinal for an enemy.”
“you alarm yourself needlessly,” rejoined philip. “that 296knave purposely exaggerated his master’s anger. the cardinal knows full well that the act is mine, and not your lordship’s.”
with this, he passed through a side-door, and, accompanied by the bishop, entered a large and magnificently furnished apartment, embellished with portraits of henry viii. and his family. no one was within this superb room, and after traversing it, the king and bonner reached an ante-chamber, in which were assembled a number of pages, esquires, and ushers in the royal livery.
on seeing the king, these personages drew up and bowed reverently as he passed, while two gentleman ushers, each bearing a white wand, marshalled him ceremoniously towards the entrance of the queen’s apartments, before which stood a couple of tall yeomen of the guard with halberds in their hands.
as he approached this door, sir john gage came forth, and philip inquired if the queen was alone. the lord chamberlain replied in the affirmative, but added that cardinal pole was momentarily expected, and that he himself had come forth to receive his eminence.
“it is well,” replied philip. “when the cardinal comes, do not mention to him that i am with her majesty. i pray your lordship to remain here till you are summoned,” he added to bonner.
with this he passed through the door, which was thrown open by the ushers, and entered the queen’s chamber—a spacious apartment, richly furnished, hung with tapestry, and adorned with many noble pictures, chief among which were portraits of the queen’s ill-fated mother by holbein, and of her royal husband by sir antonio more.
mary was seated at a table placed near a deep bay-window. she occupied a large armed-chair, and was reading a book of devotions. her attire was of purple velvet, and a coif set with precious stones adorned her head. a smile lighted up her pallid countenance on the king’s entrance.
“i give your majesty good-day,” she said. “to what do i owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“you expect the cardinal,” rejoined philip, abruptly and sternly. “do you know what brings him here?”
297“i do not,” she answered, “but i shall be glad to see him, as i desire to consult him as to the restitution of the church property vested in the crown during the king my father’s reign.”
“reserve that for another occasion, madam,” said philip. “the cardinal’s errand relates to constance tyrrell.”
“ha!” exclaimed mary, startled. “what has he to say concerning her?”
“that you will learn on his arrival,” rejoined philip. “but it is my pleasure that she be removed from his custody and delivered to bishop bonner.”
“then his eminence has failed to reclaim her?”
“signally. nothing remains but to try extreme rigour, and if that will not effect her conversion, the laws she has offended must deal with her.”
“i pity this unhappy maiden, albeit she continues obstinate,” said mary. “be not angry if i tell you that i designed to marry her to your secretary, osbert clinton, to whom she is betrothed.”
“she shall never wed him,” said philip, harshly. “why should you meddle in the matter? has osbert clinton dared to prefer this request to you?”
“no, on my soul,” replied mary. “but i know the girl loves him tenderly, and, had she recanted, it was my design to reward her with the husband of her choice.”
“but she does not recant, i tell you, madam,” cried philip, “so it is idle to speculate on what might have been. it is my will that she be delivered up to bonner. but the order must proceed from yourself, not from me. thus, when the cardinal comes, you will be prepared with an answer to him.”
“but let me first hear what he has to urge,” objected the queen.
“no matter what he urges,” rejoined philip. “lay your commands upon him, as i have intimated. nay, i will be obeyed,” he added, authoritatively.
mary sighed, but made no further remonstrance.
“the cardinal must be at hand,” continued philip. “by your leave, i will be an unseen witness of the interview.”
and he stepped behind the arras, near which the queen was seated.
298“he distrusts me,” murmured mary; “and, in sooth, he has imposed a most painful task upon me.”
shortly afterwards, the cardinal was announced, and, greeting him kindly, the queen begged him to take a seat by her side.
“if your majesty has heard what occurred yesterday in saint bartholomew’s church at smithfield,” premised pole, “you will guess the object of my visit. constance tyrrell, whom you confided to my charge, and whom i yet hope to reclaim, is to be wrested from me. but i shall refuse to deliver her up.”
“your eminence must needs comply with my order,” said mary.
“true, madam,” replied the cardinal. “but i do not believe you will give any such order, when i say that in surrendering her i shall only be consigning her to infamy and dishonour.”
“i pray your eminence to explain yourself,” said mary.
“it is painful to me to speak out,” replied pole, “but i cannot allow this unhappy maiden to be sacrificed. she has opened her heart to me, and has confessed all. blinded by an insane and wicked passion for her, the king, since his first accidental meeting with her at southampton, has never ceased to persecute her with his dishonourable solicitations. yesterday, during that dread ceremonial, when, terrified and fainting, she was borne into the sacristy of saint bartholomew’s church, he renewed his unholy suit, and bade her choose between his love and deliverance up to bishop bonner. i doubt not that she would sustain this trial, as she has sustained others. i do not think that imprisonment or torture would shake her. but why should she be exposed to such treatment? madam, this is not the case of an heretical offender. constance tyrrell is to be imprisoned, is to be tortured, is perhaps to suffer a fiery death, not on account of her religious opinions, but because she has virtue enough to resist the king. madam, such wrong shall not be, while i can raise my voice against it.”
“it shall not be,” said mary. “is bonner a party to this foul transaction? if so, as i live, i will strip him of his priestly robes.”
“no, madam,” replied pole. “i must acquit bonner of 299any complicity in the affair. he merely looks for a victim.”
“he shall not find one in constance tyrrell,” said mary. “my heart bleeds for her.”
“well it may, madam,” replied pole. “a sad fatality has rested upon her ever since the king’s arrival in southampton, when her marvellous beauty attracted his attention, and excited a passion which nothing apparently can subdue.”
“he saw her before he beheld me, and loved her better than he loved me!” cried mary, bitterly. “something of this i suspected, but i thought i had removed her from his influence by taking her with me to winchester.”
“ay, but the king contrived to obtain a secret interview with the damsel before your departure,” said pole, “and this is the only part of her conduct that deserves censure. moved by his passionate words and captivating manner, which few could resist, she listened to him, and at last owned she loved him, or thought she loved him.”
“oh, i know his power!” cried mary. “he exercised the same fascination over me.”
“but withdrawn from his baneful influence, poor constance bitterly repented of the error into which she had been led, and, by the advice of father jerome, the good priest of saint catherine’s chapel at winchester, to whom she confessed her fault, she left with him a tablet of gold, enriched with precious stones, which had been given her by the king as a gage of love. by father jerome’s advice, also, she quitted winchester and returned to her father at southampton, the good priest dreading lest, if she remained with your majesty, she might be exposed to further temptation.”
“father jerome did right,” said mary; “and, perchance, he saved her from dishonour.”
“up to this time, constance had been a zealous catholic,” pursued pole; “but, while attending derrick carver at the hospital of the domus dei at southampton, she imbibed his pernicious doctrines, and embraced the reformed faith. this deplorable change, i fear, is attributable to the king.”
“methinks your eminence is unjust there,” observed mary.
300“my grounds for the opinion are these,” replied pole. “constance’s nature is devout and impressionable. full of grief and remorse, she was thrown into the way of carver, who took advantage of her troubled state of mind to accomplish her conversion. had i met her at that time she would not have been lost to us, and i still trust she may be recovered. with the rest of her history your majesty is acquainted. it is a series of misfortunes; neither does it seem likely she will ever be wedded to him she loves. happy had it been for her that she had never excited the king’s love! happy had it been for her that her faith had not been unsettled, and that she had been able to pass her life in holy and tranquil retirement. but her destiny was otherwise. she has abjured her religion—she has lost her father’s affection—she has endured imprisonment—but, though sorely tempted, she has not sinned. be it yours, gracious madam, to preserve her from further suffering—from further temptation.”
“what can i do?” cried mary. “i have promised the king an order for her removal from your eminence, and deliverance up to bonner.”
“madam, if that order be given and acted upon, i shall resist it,” replied pole.
“heaven aid me!” exclaimed the queen. “i am sorely perplexed, and know not how to act for the best.”
“consult the king, your husband, madam,” rejoined the cardinal. “tell him what i have told you, and of my resolution.”
“i shall not need to be told,” said philip, coming from behind the arras. “i have heard all that has passed between you and her majesty.”
“i shrink from nothing i have uttered, sire,” rejoined pole. “i should have spoken with equal freedom had you stood before me. but i beseech you pursue not this matter further. consequences you may not foresee will flow from it. you will array against you a force stronger than you can resist. i may be compelled to yield, but my voice will be heard, and its echoes may shake your throne to its foundations.”
“your eminence menaces me,” cried philip, sternly.
“no, sire, i warn you,” rejoined the cardinal, with dignity. 301“you are on a perilous path, from which it were wise to turn back.”
cardinal pole counsels the queen.
p. 300.
“your eminence seems to have forgotten your former experiences, and how you fared in your struggle with her majesty’s royal father,” observed philip. “in those days the priesthood received a lesson from the crown which it would be well if they remembered. the proudest of them, wolsey, was hurled from his high place. i warn you, therefore, of your danger before you enter upon a conflict with me. what henry viii. accomplished may be done again. if the priesthood wax insolent they may be crushed. the papal authority has been just restored, but it can be easily shaken off again. your eminence has but recently returned from a long exile, and you may have to endure a second banishment.”
“i shall do my duty without fear, sire,” replied pole, firmly. “i well know what my resistance to the will of king henry cost me. because he could not reach me he struck at those most dear to me—at my sainted mother, the countess of salisbury, at my beloved brother, the lord montague, at my friends the marquis of exeter and sir edward nevil, and at the young and gallant earl of surrey. on all these he wreaked the vengeance which ought to have alighted on my head. but i shall not fly now. i shall stay to answer for my acts in person.”
“pshaw!” exclaimed philip, changing his tone. “your eminence takes the matter too seriously. i desire no quarrel with you, or with the church. it would be idle to do so on an affair so trifling as the present.”
“the affair is not trifling, sire,” rejoined pole. “the liberty, the honour, the life of a poor damsel are at stake.”
“that is your eminence’s version of the business,” said philip. “you are simply protecting a heretic. i counsel you to give up the girl peaceably. ’twill be best.”
“i have already stated my determination, sire,” rejoined pole. “madam, i take my leave.”
“stop, my lord cardinal,” cried mary. “depart not thus, i beseech you. for my sake, tarry a few minutes longer. perchance his majesty may relent.”
“i would tarry till midnight if i thought so,” replied 302pole. “oh, sire,” he added to phillip, “let me make a final appeal to the latent generosity and goodness of your nature. you have many high and noble qualities, inherited from your august father. let me sway you now. be not governed by wild and unhallowed passions, the gratification of which will endanger your eternal welfare. if you sin, you must not hope to escape chastisement; and as your sin will be great, so will your chastisement be severe. wrongs, such as you would inflict upon her majesty, are visited with heaven’s direst wrath, and years of prayer and penance will not procure you pardon. cast off these delusions and snares. you are fortunately united to a queen as eminent for virtue as for rank, whose heart is entirely given to you, and who has just proved that she will obey you in all things. in every respect she is worthy of your love. she is your equal in birth, devout and pure, a loving wife, and a great queen. to sacrifice her true and holy affection for lighter love would be unpardonable ingratitude. in all the highest qualifications of a woman, as purity, piety, judgment, discretion, dignity, none can surpass your consort, and you must be insensible indeed not to estimate her merits aright.”
“i do estimate them—estimate them at their true worth,” cried philip. “your eminence has roused the better nature in me, and made me sensible of my faults, and ashamed of them. forgive me, madam,” he added to mary.
and as he spoke he approached the queen, who threw her arms fondly about his neck, exclaiming, “oh, my good lord cardinal, i owe this happiness to you.”
“i am equally beholden to his eminence,” said philip. “he has spoken the truth to me, and awakened me to a sense of my folly.”
“i have called your majesty’s good feelings into play, that is all,” rejoined pole. “henceforth, i trust that nothing will disturb the good understanding that ought to subsist between you and your royal consort. pardon me if i press you further, sire. your heart being opened to kindly emotions, you will not refuse to listen to me. it is in your power to make ample amends to poor constance tyrrell for the misery she has endured, by giving your consent to her marriage with osbert clinton.”
303“i will add my entreaties to those of the cardinal,” said the queen. “let it be so. i pray you.”
“if your eminence will reclaim her from heresy i will not refuse my consent,” replied philip.
“i ask no more,” rejoined pole; “and i trust their nuptials will not long be delayed.”
“they shall never take place,” mentally ejaculated philip. “your majesty may desire some private converse with his eminence,” he added to the queen. “i will go and dismiss bonner, who is waiting without. he will not trouble your eminence further.”
and he quitted the chamber.
