'Wherefore, then, should this man have gaoled me?' Katharine asked.
The King turned his heavy gaze upon Throckmorton. The big man's eyes had a sunny and devious smile.
'Sir,' he said, 'this is a subtle conceit of mine, since I am a subtle man. If I am set a task I do it ever in mine own way. Here there was a task....
'Pray you let me sit upon the floor!' he craved. 'My legs begin to fail.'
The King made a small motion with his hand, and the great man, letting himself down by one hand against the arras, leaned back his head and stretched his long legs half across the corridor.
'In ten minutes Privy Seal shall be here with the letter,' he said. 'My head swims, but I will be brief.'
He closed his eyes and passed his hand across his forehead.
'I do a task ever in mine own way,' he began again. 'Here am I. Here is Privy Seal. Your Highness is minded to know what passes in the mind of Privy Seal. Well: I am Privy Seal's servant. Now, if I am to come at the mind of Privy Seal, I must serve him well. In this thing I might seem to serve him main well. Listen....'
He cleared his throat and then spoke again.
'Your Highness would have this letter written by the Lady Mary. That, with the help of this fair dame, was a thing passing easy. But neither your Highness nor Privy Seal knew the channel through which these letters passed. Yet I discovered it. Now, think I to myself: here is a secret for which Privy Seal would give his head. Therefore, how better may I ingratiate myself with Privy Seal than by telling him this same fine secret?'