“You cannot mean Wolsey?” said Henry uneasily.
“Your majesty has guessed aright,” replied Anne.
“Wolsey has incurred my displeasure oft of late,” said Henry; “and yet his fidelity—”
“Be not deceived, my liege,” said Anne; “he is faithful to you only so far as serves his turn. He thinks he rules you.”
Before Henry could reply, the cardinal stepped forward.
“I bring your majesty a despatch, just received from the queen,” he said.
“And you have been listening to our discourse?” rejoined Henry sternly. “You have overheard—”
“Enough to convince me, if I had previously doubted it, that the Lady Anne Boleyn is my mortal foe,” replied Wolsey.
“Foe though I am, I will make terms with your eminence,” said Anne. “Expedite the divorce—you can do so if you will—and I am your fast friend.”
“I know too well the value of your friendship, noble lady, not to do all in my power to gain it,” replied Wolsey. “I will further the matter, if possible. But it rests chiefly in the hands of his holiness Pope Clement the Seventh.”