rker, and the
courtiers watched with dread the coming of the moment when his wrath
would dash in pieces the poor Earl of Surrey.

In the row of ladies also, here and there, a pale face was visible, and
many a beautiful and beaming eye was dimmed with tears at the sight of
this gallant and handsome cavalier, who was hazarding even his life for
a woman.

"He is lost!" murmured Lady Jane Douglas; and, completely crushed
and lifeless, she leaned for a moment against the wall. But she soon
recovered herself, and her eye beamed with bold resolution. "I will try
and save him!" she said to herself; and, with firm step, she advanced
from the ladies' ranks, and approached the king.

A murmur of applause ran through the company, and all fares brightened
and all eyes were bent approvingly on Lady Jane. They knew that she
was the queen's friend, and an adherent of the new doctrine; it was,
therefore, very marked and significant when she supported the Earl of
Surrey in his magnanimous effort.

Lady Jane bowed her beautiful and haughty head before the king, and
said, in her clear, silvery voice: "Sire, in the name of all the women,
I also beseech you to pardon Anne Askew, because she is a woman. Lord
Surrey has done so because a true knight can never be false to himself
and his ever high and sacred obligation: to be the protector of those
who are helpless and in peril is enough for him. A real gentleman asks
not whether a woman is worthy of his protection; he grants it to
her, simply because she is a woman, and needs his help. And while I,
therefore, in the name of all the women, thank the Earl of Surrey for
the assistance that he has been desirous to render to a woman, I unite
my prayer with his, because it shall not be said that we women are
always cowardly and timid, and never venture to hasten to the help of
the distressed. I, therefore, ask mercy, sire, mercy for Anne Askew!"

"And I," said the queen, as she again approached the king, "I add my
prayers to hers, sire. To-day is the feast of love, my festival, sire!
To-day, then, let love and mercy prevail."

She looked at the king with so charming a smile, her eyes had an
expression so radiant and happy, that the king could not withstand her.

He was, therefore, in the depths of his heart, ready to let the royal
clemency prevail for this time; but he wanted a pretext for this, some
way of bringing it about. He had solemnly vowed to pardon no heretic,
and he might not break