Darnley; or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold

by G. P. R. James

"Oh! yes, yes, I did forget," replied the chaplain. "Osborne does not wish his name to be known; I did forget. Very true! That is unfortunate. But cannot you just insinuate that you do love some one else, but do not like to mention his name?"

Lady Constance now endeavoured to make the simple clergyman understand, that under any circumstances she would be obliged to limit her reply to the cardinal to a plain refusal to wed Lord Darby; and though he could not enter into any feelings of reluctance on her part to avow her regard for Darnley, yet he fully comprehended that she was bound to hold undivulged the confidence of others. However, he did not cease to lament that this was the case, fully convinced in his own mind, that if she had been able to inform Wolsey of everything, the prelate, whom he judged after his own heart, would have unhesitatingly accorded his sanction to all her wishes, whereas, at present, her refusal might be attributed to obstinacy, being unsupported by any reasons; and thus, indeed, he observed, Sir Cesar's prediction might be fulfilled, and she obliged to fly to screen herself from the consequences. Dr. Wilbraham having admitted that there might be a necessity for flight, the mind of Constance was infinitely quieted, that being a point on which she had long, long wished to ascertain his opinion, yet had timidly held back, believing him to be unacquainted with the most powerful motive that actuated her. Nothing now remained but to learn whether he would so far sanction her proceedings as to accompany her; and she was considering the best means of proposing it to him, when she received a message to inform her that the cardinal waited her in the little tapestried hall.

The moment which was to decide her fate she plainly perceived to be now arrived; but, with all the gentle sweetness of her character, a fund of dauntless resolution had descended to her from a long line of warlike ancestors, which failed not to come to her aid in moments of danger and extremity; and though she had long dreaded the interview to which she was now called, she prepared to undergo it with courage and firmness. In obedience to the cardinal's command, then, she descended to the hall, accompanied by two of her women, who, though neither likely to suffer anything themselves, nor informed of their mistress's situation, yet felt much more alarm at the thoughts of approaching the imperious Wolsey than even she herself did, burthened as her mind was with the certainty of offending a man the limit of whose power it was not easy to define.

At the door of the hall stood two of the cardinal's ushers, by whom she was introduced into the chamber to which Wolsey had retired after leaving the king, and where, seated in a chair of state, he waited her approach with many an ensign of his pomp and power about. As she entered, he fixed his eye upon her, scarcely rising from his seat, but still slightly bending his head in token of salutation. The high blood of De Grey, however, though flowing in a woman's veins, and one of the gentlest of her sex, was not made to humble itself before the upstart prelate; and moving forward unbidden, Lady Constance calmly seated herself in a chair opposite to that of the cardinal, while her women placed themselves behind her; and thus, in silence, she waited for him to speak.

"Lady," said Wolsey, when she was seated, "at the time I saw you last, I proposed to you a marriage, which in point of rank, of fortune, and of every other accessory circumstance, is one which may well be counted amongst the best of the land, and for which I expected to have your thanks. Instead thereof, however, I received, at the moment of my departure for York, a letter wherein, with a mild obstinacy and an humble pride, you did reject what was worthy of your best gratitude. A month has now waned since then, and I trust that calm reflection has restored you to your sense of what is right; which being the case, all that is past shall be pardoned and forgot."

"Your proposal, my lord cardinal," replied Lady Constance, "was doubtless intended for my happiness, and therein you have my most sincere gratitude; but yet I see not how I can have merited either reproof or pardon, in a matter which, alone concerning myself, no one can judge of but myself."

"You speak amiss, lady," said Wolsey, haughtily; "ay, and very boldly do you speak. Am not I your guardian by the English law? and are you not my ward? Say, lady, say!"

"I am your ward, my lord," replied Lady Constance, her spirit rising under his oppression, "but not your slave; you are my guardian, but not my master."

"You are nice in your refinements, lady," said the cardinal; "but if I am your guardian, I am to judge what is good for you, till such time as the law permits you to judge for yourself."

"That time is within one month, my lord," answered Constance; "and even were it longer, I never yet did hear that a guardian could force a ward to wed against her will, though I at once acknowledge his right to forbid her marriage where he may judge against it."