"Queen," said she, "I encountered in the ante-room one who is unhappy, deeply bowed down. In your hand alone is the power to raise him up again. Will you do it?""Will I do it!" exclaimed Catharine, quickly. "Oh, Jane, you well know how much my heart longs to help and be serviceable to the unfortunate! Ah, so many wounds are inflicted at this court, and the queen is so poor in balm to heal them! Allow me this pleasure then, Jane, and I shall be thankful to you, not you to me! Speak then, Jane, speak quickly; who is it that needs my help?""Not your help, queen, but your compassion and your grace. Earl Sudley has conquered poor Earl Surrey in the tournament to-day, and you comprehend that your lord chamberlain feels himself deeply bowed and humbled.""Can I alter that, Jane? Why did the visionary earl, the enthusiastic poet, allow himself a contest with a hero who already knows what he wants, and ever accomplishes what he wills? Oh, it was wonderful to look upon, with what lightning speed Thomas Seymour lifted him out of the saddle! And the proud Earl Surrey, the wise and learned man, the powerful party leader, was forced to bow before the hero, who like an angel Michael had thrown him in the dust."The queen laughed.
That laugh went through Jane's heart like a cutting sword.
"She shall pay me for that!" said she softly to herself. "Queen,"said she aloud, "you are perfectly right; he has deserved this humiliation; but now, after he is punished, you should lift him up.
Nay, do not shake your beautiful head. Do it for your own sake, queen; do it from prudence. Earl Surrey, with his father, is the head of a powerful party, whom this humiliation of the Howards fills with a still more burning hate against the Seymours, and who will, in time to come, take a bloody revenge for it.""Ah, you frighten me!" said the queen, who had now become serious.
Lady Jane continued: "I saw how the Duke of Norfolk bit his lips, as his son had to yield to Seymour; I heard how one, here and there, muttered low curses and vows of vengeance against the Seymours.""Who did that? Who dared to do it?" exclaimed Catharine, springing up impetuously from her arm-chair. "Who at this court is so audacious as to wish to injure those whom the queen loves? Name him to me, Jane; I will know his name! I will know it, that I may accuse him to the king. For the king does not want that these noble Seymours should give way to the Howards; he does not want that the nobler, the better, and more glorious, should bow before these quarrelsome, domineering papists. The king loves the noble Seymours, and his powerful arm will protect them against all their enemies.""And, without doubt, your majesty will assist him in it?" said Jane, smiling.
This smile brought the queen back to her senses again.
She perceived that she had gone too far; that she had betrayed too much of her secret. She must, therefore, repair the damage, and allow her excitement to be forgotten. Therefore she said, calmly:
"Certainly, Jane; I will assist the king to be just. But never will I be unjust, not even against these papists. If I cannot love them, nevertheless no one shall say that I hate them. And besides, it becomes a queen to rise above parties. Say, then, Jane, what can Ido for poor Surrey? With what shall we bind up these wounds that the brave Seymour has inflicted on him?""You have publicly given the victor in the tournament a token of your great favor--you have crowned him.""It was the king's order," exclaimed Catharine, warmly.
"Well! He will not, however, command you to reward the Earl of Surrey also, if he likewise should gain the victory this evening. Do it, therefore, of your own accord, queen. Give him openly, before your whole court, a token of your favor! It is so easy for princes to make men happy, to comfort the unfortunate! A smile, a friendly word, a pressure of the hand is sufficient for it. A ribbon that you wear on your dress makes him to whom you present it, proud and happy, and raises him high above all others. Ponder it well, queen;I speak not for Earl Surrey's sake; I am thinking more of yourself.
If you have the courage, publicly and in spite of the disgrace with which King Henry threatens the Howards, to be nevertheless just to them, and to recognize _their_ merits as well as that of others--believe me, if you do that, the whole of this powerful party, which is now hostile to you, will fall at your feet overcome and conquered. You will at last become the all-powerful and universally loved Queen of England; and, like the heretics, the papists also will call you their mistress and protectress. Consider no longer!
Let your noble and generous heart prevail! Spiteful fortune has prostrated Henry Howard in the dust. Extend him your hand, queen, that he may rise again, and again stand there at your court, proud and radiant as he always was. Henry Howard well deserves that you should be gracious to him. Great and beaming like a star, he shines on high above all men; and there is no one who can say that he himself is more prudent or braver, wiser or more learned, noble or greater, than the noble, the exalted Surrey. All England resounds with his fame. The women repeat with enthusiasm his beautiful sonnets and love-songs; the learned are proud to call him their equal, and the warriors speak with admiration of his feats of arms.
Be just, then, queen! You have so highly honored the merit of valor;now, honor the merit of mind also! You have, in Seymour, honored the warrior; now, in Howard, honor the poet and the man!""I will do it," said Catharine, as with a charming smile she looked into Jane's glowing and enthusiastic countenance. "I will do it, Jane, but upon one condition!""And this condition is--"Catharine put her arm around Jane's neck, and drew her close to her heart, "That you confess to me, that you love Henry Howard, whom you know how to defend so enthusiastically and warmly."Lady Jane gave a start, and for a moment leaned her head on the queen's shoulder, exhausted.
