n the
sweetheart to whom he had plighted his troth. Wolsey's interference in
their love affair deeply angered both Anne and her sweetheart. Percy was a
poor creature, and could do Wolsey little harm; but Anne did not forget,
swearing "that if ever it lay in her power she would do the Cardinal some
displeasure, which indeed she afterwards did."[47]

The reason for Wolsey's strong opposition to a match which appeared a
perfectly fitting one for both the lovers, is not far to seek. Cavendish
himself gives us the clue when he says that when the King first heard that
Anne had become engaged to Percy, "he was much moved thereat, for he had a
private affection for her himself which was not yet discovered to any":
and the faithful usher in telling the story excuses Wolsey by saying that
"he did nothing but what the King commanded." This affair marks the
beginning of Henry's infatuation for Anne. There was no reason for Wolsey
to object to a flirtation between the girl and her royal admirer; indeed
the devotion of the King to a new mistress would doubtless make him the
more ready to consent to contract another entirely political marriage, if
he could get rid of Katharine; and the Cardinal smiled complaisantly at
the prospect that all was going well for his plans. Anne, for the look of
the thing, was sent away from Court for a short time after the Percy
affair had been broken off; but before many weeks were over she was back
again as one of Katharine's maids of honour, and the King's admiration for
her was evident to all observers.[48]

It is more than questionable whether up to this time (1526) Anne ever
dreamed of becoming Henry's wife; but in any case she was too clever to
let herself go cheaply. She knew well the difference in the positions held
by the King's mistresses in the French Court and that which had been
occupied by her sister and Lady Tailebois in England, and she coyly held
her royal lover at arm's length, with the idea of enhancing her value at
last. Henry, as we have seen, was utterly tired of, and estranged from,
Katharine; and his new flame, with her natural ability and acquired French
arts, flattered and pleased his vanity better than any woman had done
before. It is quite probable that she began to aim secretly at the higher
prize in the spring of 1527, when the idea of the divorce from Katharine
had taken shape in the King's mind under the sedulous prompting of Wolsey
for his personal and political ends; but