e; and it was the justice of your king which
pronounced sentence at that moment. You were guilty, therefore, of a
double wrong, for you not only besought mercy, but you also brought an
accusation against my cavaliers. Do you really believe that, were this
maiden's cause a just one, no knight would have been found for her?"

"Yes, I really believe it," cried the earl, with a laugh. "The sun of
your favor had turned away from this poor girl, and in such a case your
courtiers no longer see the figure wrapped in darkness."

"You are mistaken, my lord; I have seen it," suddenly said another
voice, and a second cavalier advanced from the anteroom into the
chamber. He approached the king, and, as he bent his knee before him, he
said, in a loud, steady voice: "Sire, I also beg mercy for Anne Askew!"

At this moment was heard from that side of the room where the ladies
stood, a low cry, and the pale, affrighted face of Lady Jane Douglas was
for a moment raised above the heads of the other ladies. No one noticed
it. All eyes were directed toward the group in the middle of the room:
all looked with eager attention upon the king and these two young men,
who dared protect one whom he had sentenced.

"Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey!" exclaimed the king; and now an
expression of wrath passed over his countenance. "How! you, too,
dare intercede for this girl? You, then, grudge Thomas Seymour the
pre-eminence of being the most discreet man at my court?"

"I will not allow him, sire, to think that he is the bravest," replied
the young man, as he fixed on Thomas Seymour a look of haughty defiance,
which the other answered by a cold, disdainful smile.

"Oh," said he, with a shrug of his shoulders, "I willingly allow you, my
dear Earl of Surrey, to tread behind me, at your convenience, the path,
the safety of which I first tested at the peril of my life. You saw that
I had not, as yet, lost either my head or my life in this reckless under
taking, and that has given you courage to follow my example. That is a
new proof of your prudent valor, my Honorable Earl of Surrey, and I must
praise you for it."

A hot flush suffused the noble face of the earl, his eyes shot
lightning, and, trembling with rage, he laid his hand on his sword.
"Praise from Thomas Seymour is--"

"Silence!" interposed the king, imperatively. "It must not be said that
two of the noblest cavaliers of my court have turned the day, which
should be one of festivity to all