Heaven shall judge me, I am
innocent!"

"I trust you will be able to prove yourself so, madam," said Suffolk.
"Sir Henry Norris, your person is likewise attached."

"Then I am lost indeed!" exclaimed Anne distractedly.

"Do not let these false and malignant accusations alarm you, madam," said
Norri. "You have nothing to fear. I will die protesting your innocence."

"Sir Henry Norris," said the duke coldly, "your own imprudence has
brought about this sad result."

"I feel it," replied Norris; "and I deserve the worst punishment that
can be inflicted upon me for it. But I declare to you as I will
declare upon the rack, if I am placed upon it--that the queen is wholly
innocent. Let her not suffer for my fault."

"You hear what Sir Henry says," cried Anne; "and I call upon you to
recollect the testimony he has borne."

"I shall not fail to do so, madam," replied Suffolk. "Your majesty will
have strict justice."

"Justice!" echoed Anne, with a laugh of bitter incredulity. "Justice
from Henry the Eighth?"

"Beseech you, madam, do not destroy yourself," said Norris, prostrating
himself before her. "Recollect by whom you are surrounded. My folly and
madness have brought you into this strait, and I sincerely implore your
pardon for it."

"You are not to blame, Norris," said Anne; "it is fate, not you, that
has destroyed me. The hand that has dealt this blow is that of a queen
within the tomb."

"Captain Bouchier," said the Duke of Suffolk, addressing that officer,
who stood near him, "you will convey Sir Henry Norris to the strong-room
in the lower gateway, whence he will be removed to the Tower."

"Farewell for ever, Norris!" cried Anne. "We shall meet no more on
earth. In what has fallen on me I recognise the hand of retribution. But
the same measure which has been meted to me shall be dealt to others. I
denounce Jane Seymour before Heaven! She shall not long retain the crown
she is about to snatch from me!"

"That imprecation had better have been spared, madam," said the duke.

"Be advised, my gracious mistress," cried Norris, "and do not let your
grief and distraction place you in the power of your enemies. All may
yet go well."

"I denounce her!" persisted Anne, wholly disregarding the caution; "and
I also denounce the king. No union of his shall be happy, and other
blood than mine shall flow."

At a sign from the duke she was here borne, half suffocated with
emotion, to an inner apartment, while Norri