the laughing faces and
frivolous jests, which came streaming from all those mirthful lips.

O Heaven! they laughed, and death was in the midst of them; they
laughed, and the gates of the Tower were already opened to admit one
of those merry guests of the king into that house which no one in those
days of Henry the Eighth left again, save to go to the stake or to
ascend the scaffold!

Who was the condemned? For whom were the soldiers below at the carriage
waiting? John Heywood in vain racked his brain with this question.

Nowhere could he spy a trace that might lead him on the right track;
nowhere a clew that might conduct him through this labyrinth of horrors.

"When you are afraid of the devil, you do well to put yourself under his
immediate protection," muttered John Heywood; and sad and despondent at
heart, he crept behind the king's throne and crouched down by it on the
ground.

John Heywood had such a little, diminutive form, and the king's
throne was so large and broad, that it altogether concealed the little
crouching fool.

No one had noticed that John Heywood was concealed there behind the
king. Nobody saw his large, keen eyes peeping out from behind the throne
and surveying and watching the whole hall.

John Heywood could see everything and hear everything going on in the
vicinity of the king. He could observe every one who approached the
queen.

He saw Lady Jane likewise, who was standing by the queen's seat. He saw
how Earl Douglas drew near his daughter, and how she turned deadly pale
as he stepped up to her.

John Heywood held his breath and listened.

Earl Douglas stood near his daughter, and nodded to her with a peculiar
smile. "Go, now, Jane, go and change your dress. It is time. Only see
how impatiently and longingly Henry Howard is already looking this way,
and with what languishing and enamored glances he seems to give a hint
to the queen. Go then, Jane, and think of your promise."

"And will you, my father, also think of your promise?" inquired Lady
Jane, with trembling lips. "Will no danger threaten him?"

"I will, Jane. But now make haste, my daughter, and be prudent and
adroit."

Lady Jane bowed, and murmured a few unintelligible words. Then she
approached the queen, and begged permission to retire from the feast,
because a severe indisposition had suddenly overtaken her.

Lady Jane's countenance was so pale and deathlike, that the queen might
well believe in the indisposition