of Richmond went to his father to ask his blessing, according to the English custom. The King said, in tears, that he, and his sister the Princess, ought to thank God for having escaped the hands of that woman, who had planned to poison them."[1]
Chapuys made haste to inform the Emperor of the welcome catastrophe. The Emperor, he said, would recollect the expressions which he had reported as used by Cromwell regarding the possible separation of the King and the Concubine. Both he and the Princess had been ever since anxious that such a separation should be brought about. What they had desired had come to pass better than any one could have hoped, to the great disgrace of the Concubine, who, by the judgment of God, had been brought in full daylight from Greenwich to the Tower, in charge of the Duke of Norfolk and two chamberlains. Report said it was for continued adultery with a spinet-player belonging to her household. The player had been committed to the Tower also, and, after him, Sir H. Norris, the most familiar and private companion of the King, for not having revealed the matter.[2]
Fresh news poured in as Chapuys was writing. Before closing his despatch he was able to add that Sir Francis Weston and Lord Rochford were arrested also. The startling story flew from lip to lip, gathering volume as it went. Swift couriers carried it to Paris. Viscount Hannaert, the Imperial Ambassador there,[3] wrote to Granvelle that Anne had been sur-
- ↑ Chapuys to Charles V., May 19, 1536.—Spanish Calendar, vol. v. part 2, p. 125.
- ↑ Chapuys to Charles V., May 2, 1536.—MSS. Vienna; Calendar, Foreign and Domestic, vol. x. p. 330; Spanish Calendar, vol. v. part 2, p. 107.
- ↑ In transcribing the MS. twenty years ago at Vienna I mistook the name for Howard, which it much resembled in the handwriting of the
