again and all made over; that I was changed in the very texture
of my nature by the shock, as they say the grain of the iron cannon is
sometimes changed by too violent an explosion." And this proved to be
true in some respects.

We rode on rapidly and did not stop in London except to give the
horses drink.

After crossing the bridge, Mary said, half to Jane and half to
herself: "I will never marry the French king--never." Mary was but a
girl pitted against a body of brutal men, two of them rulers of the
two greatest nations on earth--rather heavy odds, for one woman.

We rode down to Greenwich and entered the palace without exciting
comment, as the princess was in the habit of coming and going at will.

The king and queen and most of the courtiers were in London--at
Bridewell House and Baynard's Castle--where Henry was vigorously
pushing the loan of five hundred thousand crowns for Mary's dower, the
only business of state in which, at that time, he took any active
interest. Subsequently, as you know, he became interested in the
divorce laws, and the various methods whereby a man, especially a
king, might rid himself of a distasteful wife; and after he saw the
truth in Anne Boleyn's eyes, he adopted a combined policy of church
and state craft that has brought us a deal of senseless trouble ever
since--and is like to keep it up.

As to Mary's dower, Henry was to pay Louis only four hundred thousand
crowns, but he made the marriage an excuse for an extra hundred
thousand, to be devoted to his own private use.

When we arrived at the palace, the girls went to their apartments and
I to mine, where I found Brandon reading. There was only one window
to our common room--a dormer-window, set into the roof, and reached by
a little passage as broad as the window itself, and perhaps a yard and
a half long. In the alcove thus formed was a bench along the wall,
cushioned by Brandon's great campaign cloak. In this window we often
sat and read, and here was Brandon with his book. I had intended to
tell him the girls were coming, for when Mary asked me if I thought he
would come to her at the palace, and when I had again said no, she
reiterated her intention of going to him at once; but my courage
failed me and I did not speak of it.

I knew that Mary ought not to come to our room, and that if news of it
should reach the king's ears there would be more and worse trouble
than ever, and, as usual, Brandon would pay the penalty for