op the
hanging. He did so, gazing at her with looks of surprise. He did not
comprehend that she dared give him an interview; for the king was still
alive, and even with his tongue faltering in death he might destroy them
both.

Why did she not wait till the morrow? On the morrow the king might be
already dead; and then they could see each other without constraint and
without danger. Then was she his, and naught could longer stand in
the way between them and happiness. Now, when the king was near his
death--now he loved her only--he loved but Catharine. His ambition had
decided his heart. Death had become the judge over Seymour's double
affection and divided heart, and with King Henry's death Elizabeth's
star had also paled.

Catharine was the widow of a king; and without doubt this tender husband
had appointed his young and adored wife Regent during the minority
of the Prince of Wales. Catharine then would have still five years of
unlimited sway, of royal authority and sovereign power. If Catharine
were his wife, then would he, Thomas Seymour, share this power; and the
purple robes of royalty, which rested on her shoulders, would cover
him also; and he would help her bear that crown which doubtless might
sometimes press heavily on her tender brow. He would, in reality, be
the regent, and Catharine would be so only in name. She, the Queen of
England, and he, king of this queen. What a proud, intoxicating thought
was that! And what plans, what hopes might not be twined with it! Five
years of sway--was not that a time long enough to undermine the throne
of the royal boy and to sap his authority? Who could conjecture whether
the people, once accustomed to the regency of the queen, might not
prefer to remain under her sceptre, instead of committing themselves to
this feeble youth? The people must be constrained so to think, and to
make Catharine, Thomas Seymour's wife, their reigning queen.

The king was sick unto death, and Catharine was, without doubt, the
regent--perchance some day the sovereign queen.

Princess Elizabeth was only a poor princess, entirely without a prospect
of the throne; for before her came Catharine, came Edward, and finally
Mary, Elizabeth's eldest sister. Elizabeth had not the least prospect of
the throne, and Catharine the nearest and best founded.

Thomas Seymour pondered this as he traversed the apartments of the
queen; and when he entered her presence, he had convinced himself that
he loved