n it may become no man to
interrupt him. Now that this matter is past I hope to see him."[438]

Chapuys was very clever; he may be believed, with limitations, when
writing on business or describing conversations of his own with particular
persons; but so malicious was he, and so careless in his matters of fact
or probability, that he cannot be believed at all when reporting
scandalous anecdotes which reached him from his "trustworthy authorities."

It is, however, true that, before the fortnight had expired, the King had
resolved to do what the Council recommended--marry Jane Seymour, and marry
her promptly, to close further solicitation from foreign Powers. There is
no sign that she had herself sought so questionable an elevation. A
powerful party in the State wished her to accept a position which could
have few attractions, and she seems to have acquiesced without difficulty.
Francis and Charles were offering their respective Princesses; the
readiest way to answer them without offence was to place the so much
coveted hand out of the reach of either. On the 20th of May, the morning
after Anne was beheaded, Jane Seymour was brought secretly by water to the
palace at Westminster, and was then and there formally betrothed to the
King. The marriage followed a few days later. On Ascension Day, the 25th
of May, the King, in rejecting the offered match from Francis, said that
he was not then actually married. On the 29th or 30th, Jane was formally
introduced as Queen.

Chapuys was disappointed in his expectation of popular displeasure. Not a
murmur was heard to break the expression of universal satisfaction. The
new Queen was a general favourite; everyone knew that she was a friend of
the Princess Mary, and everyone desired to see Mary replaced in her
rights. Fortunately for the Princess, the attempt at escape had never been
carried out. She had remained quietly watching the overthrow of her enemy,
and trusting the care of her fortunes to Cromwell, who, she knew, had
always been her advocate. She had avoided writing to him to intercede for
her, because, as she said, "I perceived that nobody dared speak for me as
long as that woman lived who is now gone, whom God in his mercy
forgive!"[439] The time had now come for her to be received back into
favour. Submission of some kind it would be necessary for her to make; and
the form in which it was to be done was the difficulty. The King could not
replace in the line of the success