"Oh, no, no, my lord!" cried Constance, clasping her hands, and forgetting, in her fear of fresh persecution, the crowd by which she was surrounded. "Force me not, I beseech your grace, to wed against my will."
"You see," said Henry, turning to the King of France; "you see the lady is headstrong! Take her, my good brother; I give her up to you. There, sweetheart, is your lord and sovereign; see if you can obey him better."
Francis took the fair girl by the hand, and bending down his head, said in a kindly tone, "Lady, fear not. Lift up your eyes, and tell me if there is one in all this circle you would make your choice."
"No, indeed, my lord," faltered forth Constance, without looking round; "all I ask is to be left in peace."
"If you have ever seen any one to whom you could give your heart, tell me," said Francis. Constance was silent. "Then I am to judge that you have not," continued the king; "so I will choose for you."
Constance raised her eyes with a supplicating look; but Francis's face was turned towards Henry, who, with a laughing glance, had taken the queen by the hand, and was leading her towards one of the doors.
"Come, we must follow," cried Francis. "Lord cardinal, we shall need your company."
Constance gazed round with doubt and apprehension; but Francis led her forward immediately after the King and Queen of England, whispering, as they went, "Fear not, sweet lady! you are with a friend who knows all."
The whole court followed along one of the splendid galleries of the palace, preceded by Henry and Katherine, who stopped, however, before a door, from before which a page held back the hangings, and "Here," said the King of England, putting a key into Francis's hand, "here you take precedence. This is the cage, and here is the fetter-maker," pointing to a respectable-looking merchant in a long furred robe who stood with Jekin Groby in a niche hard by.
More and more confused, not knowing what to fear or what to believe, the very uncertainty made Constance's heart sink more than actual danger would have done; but still the King of France led her forward, even before Queen Katherine, and, putting the key in the lock, threw open the door, and drew her gently in, when the first object that met her sight was Osborne Darnley, with his arms folded on his breast, standing before the high altar of a splendid chapel. Her heart beat; her eyes grew dim; her brain reeled; and she would have fallen fainting to the ground, but Darnley started forward and clasped her to his heart.