confirmed the impression. The
action of the Government had grounds more sufficient than a woman's
urgency. More and Fisher received notice that they would be examined on
the statute, and were allowed six weeks to prepare their answer. Chapuys
did not believe that any danger threatened Catherine, or threatened her
household. She herself, however, anticipated the worst, and only hoped
that her own fate might rouse the Emperor at last.

The Emperor was not to be roused. He was preparing for his great
expedition to Tunis to root out the corsairs, and had other work on hand.
In vain Chapuys had tried to make him believe that Cromwell meditated the
destruction of the Princess Mary; in vain Chapuys had told him that words
were useless, and that "cautery was the only remedy"--that the English
Peers were panting for encouragement to take arms. He had no confidence in
insurgent subjects who could not use the constitutional methods which they
possessed to do anything for themselves. He saw Henry crushing down
resistance with the relentless severity of the law. He replied to
Chapuys's entreaties that, although he could not in conscience abandon his
aunt and cousin, yet the Ambassador must temporise. He had changed his
mind about Mary's escape: he said it was dangerous, unadvisable, and not
to be thought of.[323] The present was not the proper moment. He wrote a
cautious letter to the King, which he forwarded for Chapuys to deliver.
In spite of Charterhouse monks and Lutheran preachers, the Ambassador was
to take up again the negotiations for the treaty.

Thus Cromwell and he recommenced their secret meetings. A country-house
was selected for the purpose, where their interviews would be unobserved.
Chapuys had recommended that Henry should assist in calling a General
Council. Cromwell undertook that Henry would consent, provided the Council
was not held in Italy, or in the Pope's or the Emperor's dominions, and
provided that the divorce should not be among the questions submitted to
it. The Emperor, he said, had done enough for his honour, and might now
leave the matter to the King's conscience. With respect to the Queen and
Princess, the King had already written to Sir John Wallop, who was to lay
his letters before the Spanish Ambassador in Paris. The King had said
that, although the Emperor, in forsaking a loyal friend for the sake of a
woman, had not acted well with him, yet he was willing to forget and
forgive. If the Emperor wo