leave
their godly ways and come down among the Lutherans. But the old bishop
cried out, 'Ay, Dr Martinus, I know thee; thou despisest the Body of
God; thou art a fornicator. God forbid that our English priests should
go among women as ye do. Listen to wisdom. For, thank God, we have one
to lead us aright!'

These words spread a sudden shiver into the hall, for no man there
knew whether the King had commanded them to be uttered. The King sat
back in his chair, half frowning; Anne blinked, Philip of Wittelsbach
laughed aloud, the Catholic ambassadors, Chapuys and Marillac, who had
fidgeted in their seats as if they would leave the hall, now leant
forward.

'Aye,' the player bishop called out, 'our goodly Queen cometh from a
Court that was never yet joined to your Schmalkaldners, nor to them
that go by your name, Dr Martinus, thou lecher. Here in England you
shall find no heresies but the pure and purged Word of God.'

Chapuys bent an aged white hand behind his ear to miss no word: his
true and smiling face blinked benevolently. Cromwell smiled too,
licking his lips dangerously; Baumbach, the Schmalkaldner,
understanding nothing, rolled his German blue eyes in his great head
like a pink baby's, and tried to catch the attention of Cromwell, who
talked over his shoulder to one of his men. But the many Lutherans
that there were in the hall scowled at the floor.

The player bishop was reading thunderous words of the King, written
many years before, against married priests. Henry sat back in his
round chair, grasping the arms with his enormous hands.

'Why, Master Bishop,' he called out. The player stopped his reading
and looked at the King, his air of austerity never leaving him. Henry,
however, waved his hand and said no more.

This dreadful incident caused a confusion in the players: they
faltered: the player Lutheran slunk back to his place with his wife,
and all of them stood with their hands hanging down. They consulted
among themselves and at last filed out from the room, leaving the
stage for some empty minutes bare and menacing. Men held their breath:
the King was seen to be frowning. But a quick music was played from
the galleries and a door opened behind. There came in many figures in
white to symbolify the deities of ancient Greece and Rome, and, in
black, with ashes upon her head, there was Ceres lamenting that
Persephone had been carried into the realms of Pluto. No green thing
should blow nor grow upon t