"He had given Lady Anne Boleyn the crimson mantle of royalty, why
then should she not give him her crimson blood? For this there was
wanted only a pretext, and this was soon found. Lady Rochfort was
Jane Seymour's aunt, and she found some men, of whom she asserted
that they had been lovers of the fair Anne Boleyn. She, as the
queen's first lady of the bed-chamber, could of course give the most
minute particulars concerning the matter, and the king believed her.
He believed her, though these four pretended lovers of the queen,
who were executed for their crime, all, with the exception of a
single one, asseverated that Anne Boleyn was innocent, and that they
had never been in her presence. The only one who accused the queen
of illicit intercourse with him was James Smeaton, a musician.
[Footnote: Tytler.] But he had been promised his life for this
confession. However, it was not thought advisable to keep this
promise, for fear that, when confronted with the queen, he might not
have the strength to sustain his assertion. But not to be altogether
unthankful to him for so useful a confession, they showed him the
favor of not executing him with the axe, but the more agreeable and
easier death of hanging was vouchsafed to him.[Footnote: Burnet,
vol. i, p. 205.]

"So the fair and lovely Anne Boleyn must lay her head upon the
block. The day on which this took place, the king had ordered a
great hunt, and early that morning we rode out to Epping Forest. The
king was at first unusually cheerful and humorous, and he commanded
me to ride near him, and tell him something from the chronique
scandaleuse of our court. He laughed at my spiteful remarks, and the
worse I calumniated, the merrier was the king. Finally, we halted;
the king had talked and laughed so much that he had at last become
hungry. So he encamped under an oak, and, in the midst of his suite