OF THE UNCEREMONIOUS VISIT PAID BY THEIR MAJESTIES TO
CARDINAL POLE AT LAMBETH PALACE.

On the same day, at a late hour, in a large room of the palace, panelled with dark oak, and lighted by a deep bay-window filled with stained glass, beside a table covered with books and papers, sat Cardinal Pole and Lord Priuli. They were engaged in conversation. Pole wore his scarlet soutane and lawn rochet, and had a red silk calotte on his head. Priuli was in black velvet, which set off his noble figure to great advantage.

“An embassy is about to be dispatched in a few days to Rome,” observed Pole. “It will consist of my nephew, Lord Montague, the Bishop of Ely, and Sir Edward Carne. If you have any desire to return to your beloved Italy, you can do so in their company. Do not let any consideration for me weigh with you, I entreat. I am not without misgiving that this chill climate, and, above all, the exhalations from the marshes near the Palace, may be prejudicial to your health. I need not say how greatly I shall miss you, but I shall be reconciled to the deprivation by feeling that you are better off than with me.”

“If I can serve you by accompanying this embassy to Rome, I will readily do so, dear friend,” rejoined Priuli; “but I have no desire to return to Italy. It would be idle to say that I do not prefer sunshine and an exhilarating 207atmosphere to a cold and brumous climate like that of England. Undoubtedly, I would rather dwell in Rome than in London, but, deprived of your society, Italy, with its blue sky and noble monuments, would be a blank to me. I am happier here than I should be at the Vatican without you. Say no more, therefore, to me on that head, I beseech you. But you yourself may be compelled to return to Rome. Not improbably you may be elected to the Pontifical Throne!”

“Should it be so, I should decline the dignity,” replied the Cardinal. “You, my good friend, who know my sentiments perfectly, are aware that I have little ambition, and that all my exertions have been directed to the welfare of our holy Church. This cause I can best serve by remaining here, and I trust Heaven may spare me for the complete fulfilment of my task. I do not delude myself with any false hopes. I shall never behold Rome again, and it is from this conviction that I would not hinder your return.”

“I will remain with you to the last,” rejoined Priuli. “My life is linked with yours. Nothing but death can divide us.”

At this juncture an usher announced the Lord Chancellor, and the next moment Gardiner entered the room. Both the Cardinal and Priuli rose to receive him. After courteous but grave salutations had passed between them, Gardiner remarked, “Your Eminence desires to speak to me about those recusants who were yesterday excommunicated by the ecclesiastical tribunal, and delivered to the secular power. I may as well state at once that nothing can be advanced in arrest of the judgment certain to be passed upon them. They obstinately persisted in their heresy, and firmly refused to subscribe to the doctrines of the Church.”

“I grieve to hear it,” replied Pole. “Yet I trust they will not be severely dealt with.”

“They will be dealt with as they deserve—they will be burnt at the stake,” rejoined Gardiner.

“But not without time allowed them for reflection, I trust, my lord,” said the Cardinal. “Undue severity will injure our cause rather than serve it. These men will be accounted martyrs, and held up as an example to others. Policy, therefore, would dictate milder measures.”

“Mild measures have been tried, and have proved ineffectual,” 208rejoined Gardiner. “We must now make a terrible example of these obstinate and dangerous heretics.”

Again the usher entered, and this time to inform the Cardinal that their Majesties had arrived at the palace, and were already in the courtyard. Hereupon Pole instantly arose, and followed by Priuli, repaired to the ante-chamber. Scarcely had he entered it, when the royal pair, preceded by Sir John Gage, and attended by several officers of the court, appeared at the outer door. The Cardinal immediately hurried forward to bid them welcome, and thank them for the distinguished honour conferred upon him by the visit.

“Had I been aware of your coming, gracious Madam,” he said to the Queen, “I would have been at the gate to receive you.”

“It is not a visit of ceremony,” replied Mary, “therefore we did not deem it necessary to send intimation of our design. If your Eminence is at leisure, the King and myself will gladly pass an hour in your society, and profit by your counsels.”

“I am entirely at your Majesty’s disposal,” replied the Cardinal, bowing. “I pray you enter. And you, too, Sire,” he added, conducting them to the inner room.

Mary looked ill and languid, and moved slowly and with difficulty, requiring the King’s support. But her illness being attributed to her condition, occasioned no alarm.

On reaching the inner room, the Queen seated herself on a high, carved oak chair proffered her by the Cardinal, while Philip occupied a fauteuil on her left. As their Majesties would not allow the Cardinal to remain standing, he took a seat on the other side of the Queen. At a little distance from the royal pair stood Gardiner, Priuli, and Sir John Gage. All the other attendants withdrew.

“I did not expect to find you here, my lord,” the Queen observed to Gardiner, after bowing to him and Priuli.

“I was sent for, gracious Madam,” replied the Lord Chancellor. “The Cardinal desired to confer with me on an important matter connected with the maintenance of the Established Church, in which his Eminence and myself differ in opinion. In most matters I should readily defer to his Eminence’s better judgment. But I cannot do so in this instance. 209I am glad your Majesty has come, as I feel certain you will support my views.”

“Whence arises this difference of opinion?” demanded Mary. “I should have thought your lordship and the Cardinal must infallibly agree on all points touching the welfare of the Church.”

“The question between us, gracio............