that bind you to that old man. Then, when Henry is no
more, then will you be mine, mine with your entire being, with your
whole life; and instead of a proud regal crown, a crown of myrtle shall
adorn your head! Swear that to me, Catharine; swear that you will become
my wife, as soon as death has set you free."

The queen shuddered and her cheeks grew pale. "Oh," said she with a
sigh, "death then is our hope and perhaps the scaffold our end!"

"No, Catharine, love is our hope, and happiness our end. Think of life,
of our future! God grant my request. Swear to me here in the face of
God, and of sacred and calm nature around us, swear to me, that from the
day when death frees you from your husband you will be mine, my wife, my
consort! Swear to me, that you, regardless of etiquette and unmindful
of tyrannical custom, will be Lord Seymour's wife, before the knell for
Henry's death has died away. We will find a priest, who may bless our
love and sanctify the covenant that we have this day concluded for
eternity! Swear to me, that, till that wished--for day, you will keep
for me your truth and love, and never forget that my honor is yours
also, that your happiness is also mine!"

"I swear it!" said Catharine, solemnly. "You may depend upon me at all
times and at all hours. Never will I be untrue to you; never will I have
a thought that is not yours. I will love you as Thomas Seymour deserves
to be loved, that is with a devoted and faithful heart. It will be my
pride to subject myself to you, and with glad soul will I serve and
follow you, as your true and obedient wife."

"I accept your oath!" said Seymour, solemnly. "But in return I swear
that I will honor and esteem you as my queen and mistress. I swear to
you that you shall never find a more obedient subject, a more unselfish
counsellor, a more faithful husband, a braver champion, than I will be.
'My life for my queen, my entire heart for my beloved'; this henceforth
shall be my motto, and may I be disowned and despised by God and by you,
if ever I violate this oath."

"Amen!" said Catharine, with a bewitching smile.

Then both were silent. It was that silence which only love and happiness
knows--that silence which is so rich in thoughts and feelings, and
therefore so poor in words!

The wind rustled whisperingly in the trees, among whose dark branches
here and there a bird's warbling or flute-like notes resounded. The
sun threw his emerald light over the soft velve