yn was passionately French. Personally she had made herself
disliked by her haughty and arrogant manners. She had been received as
Queen, after her marriage was announced, with coldness, if not with
hostility. Had she been gracious and modest she might have partially
overcome the prejudice against her. But she had been carried away by the
vanity of her elevation; she had insulted the great English nobles; she
had spoken to the Duke of Norfolk "as if he was a dog;" she had threatened
to take off Cromwell's head. Such manners and such language could not have
made Henry's difficulties less, or been pleasing to a sovereign whose
authority depended on the goodwill of his people. He had fallen in love
with an unworthy woman, as men will do, even the wisest; yet in his first
affection he had not been blind to her faults, and, even before his
marriage, had been heard to say that, if it was to be done again, he would
not have committed himself so far. He had persisted, perhaps, as much from
pride, and because he would not submit to the dictation of the Emperor, as
from any real attachment. Qualities that he could respect she had none.
Catherine was gone; from that connection he was at last free, even in the
eyes of the Roman Curia; but whether he was or was not married lawfully to
Anne, was a doubtful point in the mind of many a loyal Englishman; and, to
the best of his own friends, to the Emperor, and to all Europe, his
separation from a woman whom the Catholic world called his concubine, and
a marriage with some other lady which would be open to no suspicion and
might result in the much desired prince, would have been welcomed as a
peace-offering. She had done nothing to reconcile the nation to her. She
had left nothing undone to exasperate it. She was believed, justly or
unjustly, to have endeavoured to destroy the Princess Mary. She was
credited by remorseful compassion with having been the cause of her
mother's death. The isolation and danger of England was all laid to her
account. She was again _enceinte_. If a prince was born, all faults would
be forgotten; but she had miscarried once since the birth of Elizabeth,
and a second misfortune might be dangerous. She had failed in her
attempts to conciliate Mary, who, but for an accident, would have made
good her escape out of England. When the preparations were almost complete
the Princess had been again removed to another house, from which it was
found impossible to carry her aw