ecretly spied upon as he was, the
whole way, by the King's envoy, Vaughan. "Tell Cromwell," he said to the
latter, as he discovered himself on the outskirts of London, "that I
should have judged it more honourable if the King and he had informed me
of his intention before I left London, so that all the world should not
have been acquainted with a proceeding which I refrain from
characterising. But the Queen," he continued, "nevertheless had cause to
thank him (Cromwell) since the rudeness shown to her would now be so
patent that it could not well be denied."

Henry and Cromwell had good reason to fear foreign machinations to their
detriment. The Emperor and Francis were in ominous negotiations; for the
King of France could not afford to break with the Papacy, the rising of
Kildare in Ireland was known to have the sympathy, if not the aid, of
Spain, and it was felt throughout Christendom that the Emperor must,
sooner or later, give force to the Papal sentence against England to avoid
the utter loss of prestige which would follow if the ban of Rome was after
all seen to be utterly innocuous. A sympathetic English lord told Chapuys
secretly that Cromwell had ridiculed the idea of the Emperor's attacking
England; for his subjects would not put up with the consequent loss of
trade. But if he did, continued Cromwell, "the death of Katharine and Mary
would put an end to all the trouble." Chapuys told his informant, for
Cromwell's behoof, that if any harm was done to either of the ladies the
Emperor would have the greater cause for quarrel.

In the autumn Mary fell seriously ill. She had been obliged to follow "the
bastard," Elizabeth, against her will, for ever intriguing cleverly to
avoid humiliation to herself. But the long struggle against such odds
broke down her health, and Henry, who, in his heart of hearts, could
hardly condemn his daughter's stubbornness, so like his own, softened to
the extent of his sending his favourite physician, Dr. Butts, to visit
her. A greater concession was to allow Katharine's two medical men to
attend the Princess; and permission was given to Katharine herself to see
her, but under conditions which rendered the concession nugatory. The
Queen wrote a pathetic letter in Spanish to Cromwell, praying that Mary
might be permitted to come and stay with her. "It will half cure her," she
urged. As a small boon, Henry had consented that the sick girl should be
sent to a house at no great distance fro