"Answer me! You were not on that night in your sleeping-room?""No," said Catharine, with dignified composure, "I was not there."The king sank back in his seat, and a real roar of fury sounded from his lips. It made the women turn pale, and even the men felt themselves tremble.
Catharine alone had not heeded it at all; she alone had heard nothing save that cry of amazement which Thomas Seymour uttered; and she saw only the angry and up-braiding looks which he threw across at her. She answered these looks with a friendly and confident smile, and pressed both her hands to her heart, as she looked at him.
"I will justify myself before him at least," thought she.
The king had recovered from his first shock. He again raised himself up, and his countenance now exhibited a fearful, threatening coolness.
"You confess, then," asked he, "that you were not in your sleeping-room on that night?""I have already said so," exclaimed Catharine, impatiently. The king compressed his lips so violently, that they bled. "And a man was with you?" asked he--"a man with whom you made an assignation, and whom you received in the lonely tower?""A man was with me. But I did not receive him in the lonely tower;and it was no assignation.""Who was that man?" yelled the king. "Answer me! Tell me his name, if you do not want me to strangle you myself!""King Henry, I fear death no longer!" said Catharine, with a contemptuous smile.
"Who was that man? Tell me his name!" yelled the king once more.
The queen raised herself more proudly, and her defiant look ran over the whole assembly.
"The man," said she, solemnly, "who was with me on that night--he is named--""He is named John Heywood!" said this individual; as he seriously and proudly walked forward from behind the king's throne. "Yes, Henry, your brother, the fool John Heywood, had on that night the proud honor of accompanying your consort on her holy errand; but, Iassure you, that he was less like the king, than the king is just now like the fool."A murmur of surprise ran through the assembly. The king leaned back in his royal seat speechless. "And now, King Henry," said Catharine, calmly--"now I will tell you whither I went with John Heywood on that night."She was silent, and for a moment leaned back on her seat. She felt that the looks of all were directed to her; she heard the king's wrathful groan; she felt her lover's flashing, reproachful glances;she saw the derisive smile of those haughty ladies, who had never forgiven her--that she, from a simple baroness, had become queen.
But all this made her only still bolder and more courageous.
She had arrived at the turning-point of her life, where she must risk everything to avoid sinking into the abyss.
But Lady Jane also had arrived at such a decisive moment of her existence. She, too, said to herself: "I must at this hour risk all, if I do not want to lose all." She saw Henry Howard's pale, expectant face. She knew, if the queen now spoke, the whole web of their conspiracy would be revealed to him.
She must, therefore, anticipate the queen. She must warn Henry Howard.
"Fear nothing!" whispered she to him. "We were prepared for that. Ihave put into her hands the means of escape!""Will you now at last speak?" exclaimed the king, quivering with impatience and rage. "Will you at last tell us where you were on that night?""I will tell!" exclaimed Catharine, rising up again boldly and resolutely "But woe be to those who drive me to this! For I tell you beforehand, from the accused I will become an accuser who demands justice, if not before the throne of the King of England, yet before the throne of the Lord of all kings! King Henry of England, do you ask me whither I went on that night with John Heywood? I might, perhaps, as your queen and consort, demand that you put this question to me not before so many witnesses, but in the quiet of our chamber; but you seek publicity, and I do not shun it. Well, hear the truth, then, all of you! On that night, between Monday and Tuesday, I was not in my sleeping-apartment, because I had a grave and sacred duty to perform; because a dying woman called on me for help and pity! Would you know, my lord and husband, who this dying woman was? It was Anne Askew!""Anne Askew!" exclaimed the king in astonishment; and his countenance exhibited a less wrathful expression.
"Anne Askew!" muttered the others; and John Heywood very well saw how Bishop Gardiner's brow darkened, and how Chancellor Wriothesley turned pale and cast down his eyes.
