entertained the appeal of Queen Catherine, and recalled Campeggio. Thus, not even in October, was there any chance of a decision, and had such taken place at this time it would have been null, the commission having previously expired. Still worse, whilst Henry was in the highest state of irritation, there arrived an instrument from Rome, forbidding him to pursue his cause by the legates, but citing him to appear by attorney in the Papal Court, under a penalty of 10,000 ducats.
All these circumstances fell with accumulating force on Wolsey. Anne Boleyn, in her chagrin, accused him as the cause of all. The king listened to these charges in the worst of moods; and called on Wolsey to try some means by which he could clear himself of such damaging suspicions, and open some new way to the accomplishment of the desired object. Several schemes appear to have been attempted. In the first place, Wolsey prevailed on Campeggio to accompany him in an interview with the queen, for the purpose of seeking to bend her mind to concession. The cause of this was a fiery scene with Henry. He had sent for Wolsey, and had poured out his storm of fury upon him for a good hour. On returning to his barge, the Bishop of Carlisle, who was waiting in it for him, observed that it was warm weather. "Tea, my lord," said Wolsey, "and if you had been where I have been, you would say it was hot." That night, two hours after he had retired to bed, if not to rest, he was called up again by the father of Anne Boleyn, now Earl of Wiltshire, by command of the king, to hasten his going to Bridewell palace, that he might be ready to accompany Campeggio at an earlier hour in the morning, such was the impatience of the king, Lady Anne, and her friends. Wolsey is said again so far to have forgotten prudence as to rate the earl soundly for his eagerness in pushing on this matter; so soundly that the old man sat on the bedside, and wept bitterly all the time the cardinal was dressing. All parties seem to have been worked up at this period into a state in which their patience and their discretion had forsaken them.
Early in the morning Wolsey and Campeggio waited on the queen, and requested an interview. She was at work in the midst of her maids, but she arose just as she was, and came to them in the presence-chamber, with a skein of silk round her neck. "You see," said the queen, showing the silk, "my employment. In this way I pass my time with my maids, who are indeed none of the ablest counsellors. But I have no other in England; and Spain, where there are those on whom I could rely, is, God knoweth, far off." They begged to see Her Majesty in private; but Catherine, at first, said there could be nothing affecting her that the people about her might not hear. Wolsey then addressed her in Latin, but she desired him to speak English. Then Wolsey communicated the king's message, which was to offer her everything which she could name of riches and honours, and the succession of Mary next after the male issue of the next marriage, if she would consent to a divorce. Upon this the queen again repeated that her position was that of a stranger, destitute of the support and counsel of friends; and, begging the cardinals would be good unto her, and advise her for the best, she led the way to her private room. The result of this interview was never known, but it was clear from the future, that it did not move Catherine from her determination to stand on her rights.
This attempt having failed, another was tried. The king set out on a procession, taking Catherine with him, and treating her with all the honours due to the Queen of England. They went first to Moore, the Royal residence in Hertfordshire, where they remained a month, and then went on to Grafton, in Northamptonshire, the ancient seat of the Wydvilles. The design of this journey appears to have been that Henry, by affected kindness and respect, should soften Catherine, and move her to consent to the separation. But the experiment decidedly failed, for we find that at Grafton the Lady Anne was there as well as the queen; that the king had used all his persuasion to induce the queen to become a nun, but that he found it lost time, and again neglected her, spending all his time with Anne Boleyn. Catherine contrived, though strictly watched, to correspond with Rome and Spain, such expedients for her transmission of letters being used as presents of poultry, with which letters passed enclosed in oranges or the like.
All this time Anne Boleyn, her father, and the other enemies of Wolsey, were working hard for his ruin. Everything was brought forward against him that could be thought of. They declared that he was a settled enemy of Anne's; that he had long been in treasonable correspondence with France; and that he had been bribed by Louise, the regent, to order the Duke of Suffolk to retreat from Montdidier, when he might have advanced and taken Paris. Probably, since the cardinal had so sharply snubbed Suffolk in the court at the trial, he might be ready to assert this. All this Henry drank in with obvious avidity. The cardinal was no longer called to Court, and was never consulted on special affairs, except by messengers. His letters were intercepted and read, to find cause of accusation against him. The courtiers, and especially the great families immediately connected with the Boleyns, as Norfolk and others, were all eager for a share of the cardinal's enormous wealth. So open was this become, that they talked of it freely at table, and, moreover, added that the cardinal once gone, they could relieve the Church of its huge estates too.
Wolsey was perfectly aware of all this; and his sole hope was in obtaining an interview with the king, on whom he trusted to exercise some of his old influence. Such an interview came, but it brought little comfort. Campeggio was about to take leave, and return to Rome: Wolsey was allowed to accompany him to Court, and the two legates proceeded to Grafton, where the king was. The Italian legate was received with all the respect due to his rank, and was even presented with some parting gifts, as customary on such occasions; but Wolsey's reception was cold; and he found that though Campeggio had an apartment prepared for him, there was none for himself, and he was obliged to retire for the night to Towcester. At first he had hoped that things were not so bad; for when the cardinals were admitted to kiss the king's hand, and all eyes were fixed on Wolsey, expecting to see the king frown on him, they were greatly confounded and astonished to see Henry raise him up with both hands, and, taking him aside, converse with him for a considerable time with his old familiarity. The cardinals dined with the ministers; Henry, with the Lady Anne, in
