Page:The Queens of England.djvu/327

ANNE BOLEYN. 287 she ever really loved, or that his suspicions of her disposition toward the tenets of Luther had been excited, has never been proved ; but certain it is, that Henry's choice of a wife among all his subjects could not have fallen on any one so objectionable to the cardinal as Anne. Yet, when he believed that Henry's views were directed to her in a dishonorable way, Wolsey, for- getful of the conduct it behoved his sacred profession to pursue, in direct violation of all morality and decency, encouraged the attachment, and gave fetes expressly to afford opportunities for Henry and Anne to meet. The decorum of Anne's conduct for a long time prevented the queen from discovering that her husband's desire to divorce her did not originate wholly in the scruples of conscience which he affected to feel on the subject, or, at least, that another motive urged him more impatiently to accomplish it. At a splendid en- tertainment given to the French ambassador at Greenwich, the homage offered by Henry to Anne was so openly displayed, that it excited general remark, and led to Katharine's discovery of the truth. The reproaches of the indignant queen awakened no remorse in the self-willed and selfish Henry, who only be- came more anxious to break the bond that still united him to an injured woman, whose presence had grown odious to him. It had been noticed that ever since Katharine had first heard that a divorce was contemplated, she had taken more pains in her dress, and had assumed a gayety and love of pleasure always foreign to her nature, but now peculiarly so, when her heart was wounded in its tenderest affections, and her mind tor-> mented by all the feelings of jealousy and fear. This was the last effort of a despairing but still loving wife to win back her husband, by adopting the light pleasures he enjoyed. She even encouraged music and dancing, and mingled in scenes of festiv- ity ill-suited to her sober tastes and tortured heart. But vain were the attempts to please and conciliate him who looked for happiness in another's eyes ! The grave and stately Katharine, formed to inspire respect, could ill compete with the young and fascinating Anne Boleyn, whose smiles and graces won admira- tion and created love. If all beholders were ready to acknowl- edge the contrast between the past and present possessor of Henry's affection, how much more powerful did he feel it ! The very attempt of Katharine to please and lure him back offended and disgusted him, and his time-serving courtiers, seeing his increasing dislike to his unhappy queen, and growing passion