She hurried in her attiring, and uttered engrossed commands.
'Kneel thou there by his side. If he stir or mutter before the King be in and the door closed, put thy hand across his mouth.'
'But the King——' the Lady Rochford said. 'And——'
'Merciful God!' Katharine cried out again. 'I am the Queen. Kneel there.'
The Lady Rochford trembled down upon her knees; she was in fear for her life by the axe if the King came in.
'I thank God that the King is come,' the Queen said. 'If he had not, this man must have gone from hence in the sight of other men. So I will pardon thee for having cried out if now thou hold him silent till the King be in.'
There came from very near a blare of trumpets. Katharine rose up, and went again to gaze upon her cousin. The dagger she laid upon her table.
'He may hold still yet,' she said. 'But I charge you that you muzzle him if he move or squeak.'
There came great blows upon the door, and through the heavy wood, the Ha-ha of many voices. Slowly the Queen moved to the bed, and from it took the key where she had thrown it. There came again the heavy knocking, and she unlocked the door, slowly still.
In the corridor there were many torches, and beneath them the figure of the King in scarlet. Behind him was Norfolk all in black and with his yellow face, and Cranmer in black and with his anxious eyes, and behind them many other lords. The King came in, and, slow and stately, the Queen went down on her knees to greet him. The torch-light shone upon her jewels and her garments; her fair face was immobile, and her eyes upon the ground. The King raised her up, bent his knee to her, and kissed her on the hands, and so, turning to the men without, he uttered, roundly and fully, and his cheeks were ruddy with joy, and his eyes smiled—