his word merely because the queen prayed for
mercy.

"Well, then," said he, after a pause, "I will comply with your request.
I will pardon Anne Askew, provided she will retract, and solemnly abjure
all that she has said. Are you satisfied with that, Catharine?"

"I am satisfied," said she, sadly.

"And you, Lady Jane Douglas, and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey?"

"We are satisfied."

All eyes were now turned again upon Anne Askew, who, although every
one was occupied by her concerns, had been entirely overlooked and left
unnoticed.

Nor had she taken any more notice of the company than they of her. She
had scarcely observed what was going on about her. She stood leaning
against the open door leading to the balcony, and gazed at the flaming
horizon. Her soul was with those pious martyrs, for whom she was
sending up her heart-felt prayers to God, and whom she, in her feverish
exaltation, envied their death of torture. Entirely borne away from the
present, she had heard neither the petitions of those who protected her,
nor the king's reply.

A hand laid upon her shoulder roused her from her reverie.

It was Catharine, the young queen, who stood near her.

"Anne Askew," said she, in a hurried whisper, "if your life is dear to
you, comply with the king's demand."

She seized the young girl's hand, and led her to the king.

"Sire," said she, in a full voice, "forgive the exalted and impassioned
agony of a poor girl, who has now, for the first time, been witness of
an execution, and whose mind has been so much impressed by it that she
is scarcely conscious of the mad and criminal words that she has
uttered before you! Pardon her, then, your majesty, for she is prepared
cheerfully to retract."

A cry of amazement burst from Anne's lips, and her eyes flashed with
anger, as she dashed the queen's hand away from her.

"I retract!" exclaimed she, with a contemptuous smile. "Never, my lady,
never! No! as sure as I hope for God to be gracious to me in my last
hour, I retract not! It is true, it was agony and horror that made me
speak; but what I have spoken is yet, nevertheless, the truth. Horror
caused me to speak, and forced me to show my soul undisguised. No, I
retract not! I tell you, they who have been executed over yonder are
holy martyrs, who have ascended to God, there to enter an accusation
against their royal hangman. Ay, they are holy, for eternal truth had
illumined their souls, and it beamed about their fa