"Nunelly," he said hoarsely, "will you see the beheading of the King—surely you will see the beheading of the King?"
And without waiting for an answer he began to pace up and down, in uncontrollable agitation and excitement.
And presently Hugh Peters and Richard Nunelly went out into the banqueting hall, and out of the centre window on to the scaffold where the joiners were yet at work driving staples in.
When they returned to the boarded gallery, Cromwell and Harrison were still there.
"This will be a good day," said Peters.
"Are you not afraid that it will be a bloody day to all England?" asked Nunelly fearfully.
"This is not a thing done in a corner," replied Harrison calmly, "but before the world. I follow not my own poor judgment, but the revealed word of God in His Holy Scriptures."
Cromwell turned to Peters who stood in his black cloak and hat like death's own herald.
"Is it ready?" he asked. "Why this delay—this intolerable delay?"