o go to Rome and argue. He would find there others
than a lone woman to answer him. Dr. Sampson then took up the parable and
reproached her for her determination to have the case settled so quickly;
and she replied to him that if he had passed such bitter days as she had,
he would be in a hurry too. Dr. Stokesley was dealt with similarly by the
Queen; and she then proudly protested at being thus baited late at night
by a crowd of men; she, "a poor woman without friends or counsel." Norfolk
reminded her that the King had appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Bishop of Durham, and the Bishop of Rochester to advise her. "Pretty
councillors they are," she replied. "If I ask for Canterbury's advice he
tells me he will have nothing to do with it, and for ever repeats _ira
principis mors est_. The Bishop of Durham dares to say nothing because he
is the King's subject, and Rochester only tells me to keep a good heart
and hope for the best."

Katharine knew it not, but many of those before her were really her
friends. Gardiner, now first Secretary, looked with fear upon the Lutheran
innovations, Guilford the Controller, Lord Talbot, and even Norfolk wished
her well, and feared the advent of Anne; and Guilford, less prudent than
the rest, spoke so frankly that the favourite heard of his words. She
broke out in furious invective against him before his face. "When I am
Queen of England," she cried, "you will soon lose your office." "You need
not wait so long," he replied, as he went straightway to deliver his seals
to the King. Henry told him he ought not to mind an angry woman's talk,
and was loath to accept his resignation; but the Controller insisted, and
another rankling enemy was raised up to Anne. The favour she enjoyed had
fairly turned her head, and her insolence, even to those who in any case
had a right to her respect, had made her thoroughly detested. The Duke of
Suffolk, enemy of the Papacy as he was, and the King's brother-in-law, was
as anxious now as Talbot, Guilford, and Fitzwilliam to avert the marriage
with Anne, who was setting all the Court by the ears. Katharine's attitude
made matters worse. She still lived under the same roof as the King,
though he rarely saw her except on public occasions, and her haughty
replies to all his emissaries, and her constant threats of what the
Emperor might do, irritated Henry beyond endurance under the taunts of
Anne. The latter was bitterly jealous also of the young Princes