come equal in modern money to eight or ten thousand pounds a year,
and had made him large presents besides of money, furniture, and jewels.
Finding himself so leniently dealt with, the Cardinal recovered heart, and
believed evidently that his day was not over. In a letter to Gardiner,
written in January, 1530, he complained as a hardship of having been made
to surrender Winchester and St. Albans. He had not "deserved to lose
them," he said, "and had not expected to lose them on his submission. His
long services deserved at least a pension."[106] The King agreed, or
seemed to agree; for a further grant of 3,000 crowns was allowed him,
charged on the See of Winchester. Anne Boleyn was furious. The Duke of
Norfolk swore that "sooner than suffer Wolsey's return to office he would
eat him up alive."[107] Though he had never seen his diocese, the Cardinal
was making no haste to go thither. He lingered on at Esher, expecting to
be sent for, and it is evident from the alarm of his rivals that there was
real likelihood of it. The Lady Anne so hated him that she quarrelled with
her uncle Norfolk for not having pressed his attainder. Catherine liked
him equally ill, for she regarded him as the cause of her sufferings. He
had been "disevangelised," as Norfolk called it; but Henry missed at every
turn his dexterity and readiness of hand. He had monopolised the whole
business of the realm; the subordinate officials everywhere were his
creatures, and the threads of every branch of administration had centred
in his cabinet; without him there was universal confusion. The French
Court was strongly in his favour. He had himself made the Anglo-French
alliance; and the Anglo-French alliance was still a necessity to Henry, if
he meant to defy the Emperor and retain an influence at Rome. The King
wished, if he could, to keep on terms with the Pope, and Wolsey, if any
one, could keep the Papal Court within limits of moderation.

The situation was thus more critical than ever. Catherine knew not what
to look for. Those among the peers who, like Norfolk, would naturally have
been her friends, and would have preferred that the divorce should never
have been spoken of, yet saw no reason why on a private ground the Emperor
should light up a European war again. They conceived that by protesting he
had done enough for his honour, and that he ought to advise his aunt to
give way. According to Chapuys, attempts were privately made to obtain a
declaration