if such was the case she was
careful not to show her hand prematurely. Her only hope of winning such a
game was to keep imperious Henry in a fever of love, whilst declining all
his illicit advances. It was a difficult and a dangerous thing to do, for
her quarry might break away at any moment, whereas if such a word as
marriage between the King and her reached the ears of the cardinal, she
and her family would inevitably be destroyed.

Such was the condition of affairs when Wolsey started for France in July
1527. He went, determined to leave no stone unturned to set Henry free
from Katharine. He knew that there was no time to be lost, for the letters
from Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in London, and Katharine's messenger
Felipe, were on their way to tell the story to the Emperor in Spain; and
Clement VII., a prisoner in the hands of the imperialists, would not dare
to dissolve the marriage after Charles had had time to command him not to
do so. It was a stiff race who should get to the Pope first. Wolsey's
alternative plan in the circumstances was a clever one. It was to send to
Rome the Bishop of Worcester (the Italian Ghinucci), Henry's ambassador in
Spain, then on his way home, to obtain, with the support of the cardinals
of French sympathies, a "general faculty" from Clement VII. for Wolsey to
exercise all the Papal functions during the Pope's captivity: "by which,
without informing the Pope of your (_i.e._ Henry's) purpose, I may
delegate such judges as the Queen will not refuse; and if she does the
cognisance of the cause shall be devolved upon me, and by a clause to be
inserted in the general commission no appeal be allowed from my decision
to the Pope."[49]

How unscrupulous Wolsey and Henry were in the matter is seen in a letter
dated shortly before the above was written, in which Wolsey says to
Ghinucci (Bishop of Worcester) and Dr. Lee, Henry's ambassador with the
Emperor, that "a rumour has, somehow or other, sprung up in England that
proceedings are being taken for a divorce between the King and the Queen,
which is entirely without foundation, yet not altogether causeless, for
there has been some discussion about the Papal dispensation; not with any
view to a divorce, but to satisfy the French, who raised the objection on
proposing a marriage between the Princess (Mary Tudor) and their
sovereign. The proceedings which took place on this dispute gave rise to
the rumour, and reached the ears of the Queen, w