“What, in Christ’s name, are you saying?”
“Certainly it is: ‘If brothers dwell together, and one die without children, his brother shall take his wife and raise up seed to his brother.”
“Damnation! This cursed book.”
“Moreover: Abraham married his half-sister; Jacob married two sisters: Moses’ father married his aunt.”
“That is the Bible, is it? Thank you! Then I prefer the Decretals and the Councils. The Pope must dissolve the marriage.”
“Is it then to be dissolved?”
“Didn’t you know? Yes, it is. If Julius II could grant a dispensation, Clement VII can grant an absolution.”
“It is not just towards the Queen.”
“The country demands it—the kingdom—the nation! The King’s conscience....”
“Oh! is it the fair Anne?”