"But she was the king's beloved wife," said Jane, "and when she died
the king mourned for her two years."

"He mourned!" exclaimed Lord Douglas, contemptuously. "He has
mourned for all his wives. Even for Anne Boleyn he put on mourning,
and in his white mourning apparel, the day after Anne's execution,
he led Jane Seymour to the marriage altar! This outward mourning,
what does it signify? Anne Boleyn also mourned for Catharine of
Aragon, whom she had pushed from the throne. For eight weeks she was
seen in yellow mourning on account of Henry's first wife; but Anne
Boleyn was a shrewd woman, and she knew very well that the yellow
mourning dress was exceedingly becoming to her."

"But the king's mourning was not merely external," said Lady Jane.
"He mourned really, for it was two years before he resolved on a new
marriage."

Earl Douglas laughed. "But he cheered himself during these two years
of widowhood with a very beautiful mistress, the French Marchioness
de Montreuil, and he would have married her had not the prudent
beauty preferred returning to France, because she found it
altogether too dangerous to become Henry's consort. For it is not to
be denied, a baleful star hovers over Henry's queens, and none of
them has descended from the throne in a natural way."

"Yet, father, Jane Seymour did so in a very natural way; she died in
childbed."

"Well, yes, in childbed. And yet by no natural death, for she could