once and do it."

"And I will go with you," said I.

"I do not blame you," she said, "for doubting me, since I have failed
once; but you need not doubt me now. It shall be done, and without
delay, regardless of the cost to me. I have thought and thought to
find some other way to liberate him, but there is none; I will go this
instant."

"And I will go with you, Lady Mary," said I, doggedly.

She smiled at my persistency, and took me by the hand, saying,
"Come!"

We at once went off to find the king, but the smile had faded from
Mary's face, and she looked as if she were going to execution. Every
shade of color had fled, and her lips were the hue of ashes.

We found the king in the midst of his council, with the French
ambassadors, discussing the all-absorbing topic of the marriage
treaty; and Henry, fearing an outbreak, refused to see the princess.
As usual, opposition but spurred her determination, so she sat down in
the ante-room and said she would not stir until she had seen the king.

After we had waited a few minutes, one of the king's pages came up and
said he had been looking all over the palace for me, and that the king
desired my presence immediately. I went in with the page to the king,
leaving Mary alone and very melancholy in the ante-chamber.

Upon entering the king's presence he asked, "Where have you been, Sir
Edwin? I have almost killed a good half-dozen pages hunting you. I
want you to prepare immediately to go to Paris with an embassy to his
majesty, King Louis. You will be the interpreter. The ambassador you
need not know. Make ready at once. The embassy will leave London from
the Tabard Inn one hour hence."

Could a command to duty have come at a more inopportune time? I was
distracted; and upon leaving the king went at once to seek the Lady
Mary where I had left her in the ante-room. She had gone, so I went
to her apartments, but could not find her. I went to the queen's
salon, but she was not there, and I traversed that old rambling palace
from one end to the other without finding her or Lady Jane.

The king had told me the embassy would be a secret one, and that I was
to speak of it to nobody, least of all to the Lady Mary. No one was to
know that I was leaving England, and I was to communicate with no one
at home while in France.

The king's command was not to be disobeyed; to do so would be as much
as my life was worth, but besides that, the command of the king I
served was my high