, if it was so, the King
would have shown by a voluntary submission that his motives had been pure,
and might have perfect confidence in the Emperor's fairness. Cromwell said
he would consult the King; but the real difficulty lay in the pretensions
of the Princess. Cromwell was well served; he probably knew, as well as
Chapuys, of the intended rape at Eltham, and all that it would involve.
"Would to God"--he broke out impatiently, and did not finish the sentence;
but Chapuys thought he saw what the finish would have been.[318] Henry may
be credited with some forbearance towards his troublesome daughter. She
defied his laws. Her supporters were trying to take his crown from him,
and she herself was attempting to escape abroad and levy war upon him. Few
of his predecessors would have hesitated to take ruder methods with so
unmalleable a piece of metal. She herself believed that escape was her
only chance of life. She was in the power of persons who, she had been
told, meant to poison her, while no means were neglected to exasperate the
King's mind against her. He, on his side, was told that she was incurably
obstinate, while everything was concealed that might make him more
favourably disposed towards her. In the midst of public business with
which he was overwhelmed, he could not know what was passing inside the
walls at Eltham. He discovered occasionally that he had been deceived. He
complained to Cromwell "that he had found much good in his daughter of
which he had not been properly informed." But if there was a conspiracy
against Mary, there was also a conspiracy against himself, in a quarter
where it could have been least expected.

Dr. Butts, the King's physician, whose portrait by Holbein is so familiar
to us, was one of the most devoted friends of Queen Catherine. During
Mary's illness, Dr. Butts had affected to be afraid of the responsibility
of attending upon her. He had consented afterwards, though with apparent
reluctance, and had met in consultation Catherine's doctor, who had also
allowed himself to be persuaded. Henry sent Butts down to Eltham with his
own horses. The Royal physician found his patient better than he expected,
and, instead of talking over her disorders, he talked of the condition of
the realm with his brother practitioner. "The Doctor is a very clever
man," wrote Chapuys, reporting the account of the conversation which he
received from the Queen's physician, "and is intimate with the nobles an