restrained me--nor could I, without compunction, separate myself from
one who has ever been to me a virtuous and devoted consort."

"Thou hast undergone a martyrdom, gossip," observed Will Sommers,
who had posted himself at the foot of the canopy, near the king, " and
shalt henceforth be denominated Saint Henry"

The gravity of the hearers might have been discomposed by this
remark, but for the stern looks of the king.

"Ye may make a jest of my scruples, my lords," he continued, "and think
I hold them lightly; but my treatise on the subject, which has cost me
much labour and meditation, will avouch to the contrary. What would
befall this realm if my marriage were called in question after my
decease? The same trouble and confusion would ensue that followed
on the death of my noble grandfather, King Edward the Fourth. To
prevent such mischance I have resolved, most reluctantly, to put away
my present queen, and to take another consort, by whom I trust to raise
up a worthy successor and inheritor of my kingdom."

A murmur of applause followed this speech, and the two cardinals
exchanged significant glances, which were not unobserved by the
king.

"I doubt not ye will all approve the choice I shall make," he pursued,
looking fiercely at Wolsey, and taking Anne Boleyn's hand, who arose
as he turned to her. "And now, fair mistress," he added to her, "as an
earnest of the regard I have for you, and of the honours I intend you, I
hereby create you Marchioness of Pembroke, and bestow upon you a
thousand marks a year in land, and another thousand to be paid out of