Condemn him not, king, without having heard him; and if I may beg a favor of you, it is this: talk with Cranmer yourself.

Tell him of what they have charged him, and hear his vindication." "It shall be so, Kate," said the king, "and you shall be present! But let this be a secret between us, Kate, and we will carry it out in perfect silence.

And now, then, John Heywood, let us hear your composition; and woe to you, if it does not accomplish what you promised--if it does not make us laugh! For you well know that you are then inevitably exposed to the rods of our injured ladies." "They shall have leave to whip me to death, if I do not make you laugh!" cried John Heywood, gayly, as he drew out his manuscript.
Soon the hall rang again with loud laughter; and in the universal merriment no one observed that Bishop Gardiner and Earl Douglas slipped quietly away.
In the anteroom without, they stopped and looked at each other long and silently; their countenances expressed the wrath and bitterness which filled them; and they understood this mute language of their features.
"She must die!" said Gardiner in a short and quick tone.

"She has for once escaped from our snares; we will tie them all the tighter next time!" "And I already hold in my hand the threads out of which we will form these snares," said Earl Douglas.

"We have to-day falsely accused her of a love-affair.