Now I have ended them all. If this lady would not have her cousin to
murder a cardinal, God, she would not. There are a plenty others to do
that work.'

He pressed one hand on Cromwell's chest and pushed him backwards
gently.

'Get thee gone, now,' he said, 'out of earshot. I shall speak with
thee soon.--And you!' he added to Winchester.

'Body of God, Body of God,' he muttered beneath his breath, as they
went, 'very soon now I can rid me of these knaves,' and then,
suddenly, he blared upon Katharine:

'Thou seest how I am plagued and would'st leave me. Before the Most
High God, I swear thou shalt not.'

She fell upon her knees.

'With each that speaks, I find a new traitor to me,' she said. 'Let me
begone.'

He threatened her with one hand.

'Wench,' he said, 'I have had better converse with thee than with man
or child this several years. Thinkest thou I will let thee go?'

She began to sob:

'What rest may I have? What rest?'

He mocked her:

'What rest may I have? What rest? My nights are full of evil dreams!
God help me. Have I offered thee foul usage? Have I pursued thee with
amorous suits?'

She said pitifully:

'You had better have done that than set me amongst these plotters.'

'I have never seen a woman so goodly to look upon as thou art,' he
answered.

She covered her face with her hands, but he pulled them apart and
gazed at it.

'Child,' he said, 'I will cherish thee as I would a young lamb. Shalt
have Cromwell's head; shalt have Winchester in what gaol thou wilt
when I have used them.'

She put her fingers in her ears.

'For pity,' she whispered. 'Let me begone.'

'Why,' he reasoned with her, 'I cannot let thee have Cromwell down
before he has called this Parliament. There is no man like him for
calling of truckling Parliaments. And, rest assured,' he uttered
solemnly, 'that that man dies that comes between thee and me from this
day on.'

'Let me begone,' she said wearily. 'Let me begone. I am afraid to look
upon these happenings.'

'Look then upon nothing,' he answered. 'Stay you by my daughter's
side. Even yet you shall win for me her obedience. If you shall earn
the love of the dear saints, I will much honour you and set you on
high before all the land.'

She said:

'For pity, for pity. Here is a too great danger for my soul.'

'Never, never,' he answered. 'You shall live closed in. No man shall
speak with you but only I. You shall be as you were in a cloister. An