mething, however, there was to call for inquiry, or something there
was thought to be; and on the 24th of April the case was considered
sufficiently complete to make necessary a public trial. On that day an
order was issued for a special commission. The members of the tribunal
were selected with a care proportioned to the solemnity of the
occasion.[557] It was composed of the lord chancellor, the first
noblemen of the realm, and of the judges. The investigation had,
however, been conducted so far with profound secrecy; and the object for
which it was to assemble was unknown even to Cranmer, himself a member
of the privy council.[558] With the same mysterious silence on the cause
of so unexpected a measure, the writs were issued for a general
election, and parliament was required to assemble as soon as
possible.[559] On Thursday, the 27th, the first arrest was made. Sir
William Brereton,[560] a gentleman of the king's household, was sent
suddenly to the Tower; and on the Sunday after, Mark Smeton, of whom we
know only that he was a musician high in favour at the court, apparently
a spoilt favourite of royal bounty.[561] The day following was the 1st
of May. It was the day on which the annual festival was held at
Greenwich, and the queen appeared, as usual, with her husband and the
court at the tournament. Lord Rochfort, the queen's brother, and Sir
Henry Norris, both of them implicated in the fatal charge, were defender
and challenger. The tilting had commenced, when the king rose suddenly
with signs of disturbance in his manner, left the court, and rode off
with a small company to London. Rumour, which delights in dramatic
explanations of great occurrences, has discovered that a handkerchief
dropped by the queen, and caught by Norris, roused Henry's jealousy; and
that his after conduct was the result of a momentary anger. The
incidents of the preceding week are a sufficient reply to this romantic
story. The mine was already laid, the match was ready for the fire.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, May 2; arrest of the queen. The privy council sit
at Greenwich.]

[Sidenote: She declares her innocence.]

[Sidenote: Norris, Weston, and Smeton examined.]

The king did not return: he passed the night in London, and Anne
remained at Greenwich. On the morning of Tuesday the privy council
assembled in the palace under the presidency of the Duke of Norfolk, and
she was summoned to appear before it. The Duke of Norfolk, her uncle,
was anxi