upon?" said Anne, assuming a look of
indignation.

"Your privacy!" echoed Henry, in a tone of deep derision--"Your privacy!
--ha!--ha! You bear yourself bravely, it must be confessed. My lords,
you heard the voices as well as myself. Where is Sir Thomas Wyat?"

"He is not here," replied Anne firmly.

"Aha! we shall see that, mistress," rejoined Henry fiercely. "But if Sir
Thomas Wyat is not here, who is? for I am well assured that some one is
hidden in your chamber."

"What if there be?" rejoined Anne coldly.

"Ah! by Saint Mary, you confess it!" cried the king. "Let the traitor
come forth."

"Your majesty shall not need to bid twice," said Surrey, issuing from
his concealment.

"The Earl of Surrey!" exclaimed Henry, in surprise. "How come you here,
my lord? Methought you were under arrest at the guard-house."

"He was set free by my orders," said the Duke of Richmond.

"First of all I must entreat your majesty to turn your resentment
against me," said the earl. "I am solely to blame, and I would not have
the Lady Anne suffer for my fault. I forced myself into her presence.
She knew not of my coming."

"And wherefore did you so, my lord?" demanded Henry sternly.

"Liberated from the guard-house at the Duke of Richmond's instance, my
liege, I came to entreat the Lady Anne to mediate between me and
your majesty, and to use her influence with your highness to have me
betrothed to the Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald."

"Is this so, madam?" asked the king.

Anne bowed her head.

"But why was the door barred?" demanded Henry, again frowning
suspiciously.

"I barred it myself," said Surrey, "and vowed that the Lady Anne should
not go forth till she had granted my request."

"By our lady you have placed yourself in peril, my lord," said Henry
sternly.

"Your majesty will bear in mind his youth," said the Duke of Norfolk
anxiously.

"For my sake overlook the indiscretion," cried the Duke of Richmond.

"It will not, perhaps, avail him to hope that it may be overlooked for
mine," added Anne Boleyn.

"The offence must not pass unpunished," said Henry musingly. "My lord of
Surrey, you must be content to remain for two months a prisoner in the
Round Tower of this castle."

"Your majesty!" cried Richmond, bending the knee in supplication.

"The sentence is passed," replied Henry coldly; "and the earl may thank
you it is not heavier. Richmond, you will think no more of the fair
Geraldine; and it is my pleasure,