time," said he, "that even a man already married has become
dangerous to a woman's heart, and often the very impossibility of
possession adds fuel to the flames of love. Woman's heart is ever so
full of selfishness and contradiction."

Lady Jane cast down her eyes, and made no reply. She felt that the
piercing and penetrating look of her father was resting on her face.
She knew that, just then, he was reading her soul, although she did
not look at him.

"Then you no longer refuse?" asked he, at length. "You will inspire
the young queen with love for the Earl of Surrey?"

"I will endeavor to do it, my father."

"If you try, with a real and energetic determination to succeed, you
will prevail. For, as you said, the queen's heart is still free; it
is, then, like a fruitful soil, which is only waiting for some one
to sow the seed in it, to bring forth flowers and fruit. Catharine
Parr does not love the king; you will, then, teach her to love Henry
Howard."

"Yet, my father," said Lady Jane, with a sarcastic smile, "to bring
about this result, one must, before all things, be acquainted with a
magic spell, through the might of which the earl will first glow
with love for Catharine. For the queen has a proud soul, and she
will never so forget her dignity as to love a man who is not
inflamed with an ardent passion for her. But the earl has not only a
bride, but, as it is said, a mistress also."