He must be convinced that the queen is his lady-love; and in his thoughts, as in his deeds, he must be placed before the king as a traitor and criminal whose head is forfeited to the headsman's axe.
One day we will let the king be a witness of a meeting that Henry Howard believes he has with the queen; it will then be in his power to punish his enemy for his criminal passion, which is worthy of death!' And as I thus spoke to the woman, sire, she said with a sad smile: 'It is a disgraceful and dishonorable part that you assign me; but I undertake it, for you say I may thereby render a service to the king.

I shall disgrace myself for him; but he will perhaps bestow upon me in return a gracious smile; and then I shall be abundantly rewarded.'" "But this woman is an angel!" cried the king, ardently--"an angel whom we should kneel to and adore.

Tell me her name, Douglas!" "Sire, as soon as you have forgiven me! You know now all my guilt and all my crime.

For, as I bade that noble woman, so it came to pass, and Henry Howard has gone to the Tower in the firm belief that it was the queen whom he just now held in his arms." "But why did you leave me in this belief, Douglas?
Why did you fill my heart with wrath against the noble and virtuous queen also ?" "Sire, I dared not reveal the deception to you before you had sentenced Surrey, for your noble and just moral sense would have been reluctant to punish him on account of a crime that he had not committed; and in your first wrath you would also have blamed this noble woman who has sacrificed herself for her king." "It is true," said the king, "I should have misjudged this noble woman, and, instead of thanking her, I should have destroyed her." "Therefore, my king, I quietly allowed you to make out an order for the queen's incarceration.

But you remember well, sire, I begged you to return to your apartments before the queen was arrested.