meant ruin
to him and the growing interests that he represented.

Even if Henry had now been inclined to yield to the Papacy, of which there
is no evidence, Cromwell had gone too far to recede; and when Parliament
met in November the Act of Supremacy was passed, giving the force of
statute law to the independence of the Church of England. Chabot de
Brion's mission was therefore doomed to failure from the first, and the
envoy took no pains to conceal his resentment towards Anne, the origin of
all the trouble that dislocated the European balance of power. There was
much hollow feasting and insincere professions of friendship between the
two kings, but it was clear now to the Frenchmen that, with Anne or
without her, Henry would bow his neck no more to the Papacy; and it was to
the Princess Mary that the Catholic elements looked for a future
restoration of the old state of things. A grand ball was given at Court in
Chabot's honour the day before he left London, and the dignified French
envoy sat in a seat of state by the side of Anne, looking at the dancing.
Suddenly, without apparent reason, she burst into a violent fit of
laughter. The Admiral of France, already in no very amiable mood, frowned
angrily, and, turning to her, said, "Are you laughing at me, madam, or
what?" After she had laughed to her heart's content, she excused herself
to him by saying that she was laughing because the King had told her that
he was going to fetch the Admiral's secretary to be introduced to her, and
on the way the King had met a lady who had made him forget everything
else.

Though Henry would not submit to the Papacy at the charming of Francis, he
was loath to forego the French alliance, and proposed a marriage between
the younger French prince, the Duke of Angouleme, and Elizabeth; and this
was under discussion during the early months of 1535. But it is clear
that, although the daughter of the second marriage was to be held
legitimate, Anne was to gain no accession of strength by the new alliance,
for the French flouted her almost openly, and Henry was already
contemplating a divorce from her. We are told by Chapuys that he only
desisted from the idea when a councillor told him that "if he separated
from 'the concubine' he would have to recognise the validity of his first
marriage, and, worst of all, submit to the Pope."[127] Who the councillor
was that gave this advice is not stated; but we may fairly assume that it
was Cromwell, who