lay down again her royal crown at Henry's feet."

Then said she aloud: "But why these fears, Catharine? The king loves
you; the whole court has seen with what tender and ardent looks he
has regarded you to-day, and with what delight he has listened to
your every word. Certainly the king loves you."

Catharine seized her hand impulsively. "The king loves me,"
whispered she, "and I, I tremble before him. Yes, more than that,
his love fills me with horror! His hands are dipped in blood, and as
I saw him to-day in his crimson robes I shuddered, and I thought,
How soon, and my blood, too, will dye this crimson!"

Jane smiled. "You are sick, Catharine," said she. "This good fortune
has taken you by surprise, and your overstrained nerves now depict
before you all sorts of frightful forms. That is all."

"No, no, Jane; these thoughts have ever been with me. They have
attended me ever since the king selected me for his wife."

"And why, then, did you not refuse him?" asked Lady Jane. "Why did
you not say 'no' to the king's suit?"

"Why did I not do it, ask you? Ah, Jane, are you such a stranger at
this court as not to know, then, that one must either fulfil the
king's behests or die? My God, they envy me! They call me the
greatest and most potent woman of England. They know not that I am
poorer and more powerless than the beggar of the street, who at
least has the power to refuse whom she will. I could not refuse. I
must either die or accept the royal hand which was extended to me;