h of the past, Jane. Now let us speak of the
present and of the future, my daughter. Let us now first of all devise
the means to overthrow this woman who stands in our way. When she is
once overthrown, it will not be very difficult for us to put you in her
place. For you are now here, near the king. The great mistake in our
earlier efforts was, that we were not present and could work only
through go-betweens and confidants. The king did not see you, and since
the unlucky affair with Anne of Cleves he mistrusts likenesses; I very
well knew that, for I, my child, confide in no one, not even in the most
faithful and noblest friends. I rely upon nobody but ourselves. Had we
been here, you would now be Queen of England instead of Catharine
Parr. But, to our misfortune, I was still the favorite of the Regent
of Scotland, and as such, I could not venture to approach Henry. It was
necessary that I should fall into disgrace there, in order to be again
sure of the king's favor here.

"So I fell into disgrace and fled with you hither. Now, then, here
we are, and let the fight begin. And you have to-day already taken an
important step toward our end. You have attracted the notice of the
king, and established yourself still more securely in the favor of
Catharine. I confess, Jane, I am charmed with your prudent conduct.
You have this day won the hearts of all parties, and it was wonderfully
shrewd in you to come to the aid of the Earl of Surrey, as you at the
same time won to you the heretical party, to which Anne Askew belongs.
Oh, it was indeed, Jane, a stroke of policy that you made. For the
Howard family is the most powerful and greatest at court, and Henry,
Earl of Surrey, is one of its noblest representatives. Therefore we have
now already a powerful party at court, which has in view only the
high and holy aim of securing a victory for the holy Church, and which
quietly and silently works only for this--to again reconcile the king
to the pope. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, like his father, the Duke of
Norfolk, is a good Catholic, as his niece Catharine Howard was; only
she, besides God and the Church, was a little too fond of the images of
God--fine-looking men. It was this that gave the victory to the other
party, and forced the Catholic to succumb to the heretical party at
court. Yes, for the moment, Cranmer with Catharine has got the better of
us, but soon Gardiner with Jane Douglas will overcome the heretics, and
send them