mpelled him to put it in
writing that he might have committed himself before the French Cardinals'
arrival. But when it was written he would not let it out of his hands. He
was to meet the Emperor again at Bologna, and till he had learnt from
Charles's own lips what he was prepared to do, it was unfair and
unreasonable, he said, to require an act which might fatally commit him.
He was not, however, to be allowed to escape. Catherine, when she heard of
the despatch of the Cardinals, again flung herself on her nephew's
protection. She insisted that the Pope should speak out. The French must
not be listened to. There was nothing to be afraid of. "The English
themselves carried no lightning except to strike her."[198] Letters from
Ortiz brought her news of the Pope's continued indecision--an indecision
fatal, as she considered it, to the Church and to herself. Rumours reached
her that the King had actually married, and she poured out her miseries to
Chapuys. "The letters from Rome," she said, "reopen all my wounds. They
show there is no justice for me or my daughter. It is withheld from us for
political considerations. I do not ask His Holiness to declare war--a war
I would rather die than provoke; but I have been appealing to the Vicar of
God for justice for six years, and I cannot have it. I refused the
proposals made to me two years ago by the King and Council. Must I accept
them now? Since then I have received fresh injuries. I am separated from
my lord, and he has married another woman without obtaining a divorce; and
this last act has been done while the suit is still pending, and in
defiance of him who has the power of God upon earth. I cover these lines
with my tears as I write. I confide in you as my friend. Help me to bear
the cross of my tribulation. Write to the Emperor. Bid him insist that
judgment be pronounced. The next Parliament, I am told, will decide if I
and my daughter are to suffer martyrdom. I hope God will accept it as an
act of merit by us, as we shall suffer for the sake of the truth."[199]

Catherine might say, and might mean, that she did not wish to be the cause
of a war. But unless war was to be the alternative of her husband's
submission, the Papal thunders would be as ineffectual as she supposed the
English to be. The Emperor had not decided what he would do. He may still
have clung to the hope that a decision would not be necessary, but he
forced or persuaded the Pope to disregard the danger.