Chapter XII: DID He Love Her?

DURING this year, 1523, the hopes of Wolsey were again raised, that he might become Pope by the help of the Emperor Charles; and so he paid assiduous court to Queen Catherine, as well as the King himself: and, great as he was in his business capacity, this wonderful man was no less remarkable as a courtier; for, to humour the King, he could throw off the cares of state, and enter with as much seeming zest into the roystering fun of the Court, as even the King himself could desire, so that in his great Chancellor Henry the Eighth found a boon companion, as well as a wise counsellor!

It was during this time, too, that Miles Paton began to understand how boundless was his master's ambition, and how eager he was to attain the highest honour earth could afford, by mounting the papal throne, which would make him the master of his present master the King.

Confidential letters were written by Miles to one and the other about the Court of the Emperor, all having the same end in view—the putting forward the claim of Wolsey to the tiara that had once more been laid aside.

He was therefore in somewhat close attendance upon his master for some weeks, and could give but small attention to his father and the business that had brought him to London. Sir Thomas fumed, and fretted, and grumbled about this, for he was by no means content in the lodging he had taken; and, though he managed to find out some old friends who had served with him in the wars, he still pined for his home, and the company of his wife and daughter, and was only half-reconciled to his son serving under Wolsey, although he received a good salary for his services, and was handsomely provided for among other gentlemen of his own rank in life.

Moreover, he had set his heart upon repeating the royal experiment, in marrying Miles to the Lady Audrey; and that Miles should not be willing to follow his advice in the matter fretted him sorely.

The young man sheltered himself behind the argument that they could not afford to purchase a special dispensation from the Pope, to enable them to contract such a marriage legally. And again, the cost of this would be so heavy as to outweigh all the advantages likely to accrue, by holding the lady and her dowry still in the family. But Sir Thomas was not easy to be convinced when he had set his heart upon a certain thing, and so Master William Tyndale and his translation had but scanty attention for a time, although Miles had by no means forgotten his friend, or what would have to be the next step when the whole of the books of the New Testament were done into English.

So, with this next further step in view, he took his father one day to see the printing presses of William Caxton, that were still at work in Westminster, and being rapidly improved by the introduction of new type and skilled workmen from some of the best printers abroad.

There was also a second printing press now, close to Temple Bar, which they also visited, and where Miles made cautious enquiries to discover if possible whether it would be wise to try and get their book printed in London when it was ready.

The Cardinal took a good deal of interest in these printing works and their improvement, and regarded printing as a most wonderful and beneficent gift to the world of learning, but he did not want this to spread too far—not to become common, as the gift of sunshine and rain; and therefore it was not clear to Miles yet whether Wolsey would approve or oppose the printing of the New Testament in English.

But, as one of the private secretaries of the man who was king all but in name, Miles was everywhere received with the greatest courtesy, and his questions answered fully, for they did not know but that the Cardinal had sent him on this mission; and so Miles gathered a good deal of useful information as to the cost of printing, and the time it was likely to take, and picked up many hints as to the size of the sheets to be printed, which he was careful to give his friend the next time he saw him, and had an opportunity for a little private talk to themselves.

The net result of his enquiries were that they both concluded it would be safer to get the book printed at one of the continental printing presses, for Miles learned quite accidentally that the Cardinal had a private emissary of his own among these workmen, and everything that went on at the works was reported to His Eminence, so that if the Testament was sent there to be printed he would hear of it in a few hours from this spy. There was little doubt that there was one also at the Temple Bar printer's, so that altogether it seemed inevitable that their treasure should be printed on the continent.

When there was a little leisure from his attendance upon the Cardinal, Miles with his father went by barge from Westminster to Greenwich to see Sir Harry Guildford and his family.

As he anticipated, Sir Harry Guildford was found in his room at the palace, and welcomed Sir Thomas, and spoke in warm commendation of Miles. But Sir Thomas was not so pleased about this; Miles was his son, and he had done all he could to make his father's visit to London pleasant, and also had used all the influence he possessed to further his business; but this was of small account to the old man, as he still refused to think of Lady Audrey as his future wife, and there was still the old grievance about the farms outstanding still, so that to Sir Harry's commendation Sir Thomas gave little more than a dissatisfied grunt.

When they reached the family mansion in the town, and the old man saw how warmly his offending son was welcomed by the girls and boys, as well as by Lady Guildford herself, he grew silent and grim once more. Of course he was elaborately polite to his hostess, and civil towards the young people, but Miles could see that it cost an effort, and he was not much surprised when, an hour later, his father declared that he must go back to Westminster at once.

"But, father, the rowers have scarce had time to rest after their long pull—and we must wait until the tide turns," said Miles, in a tone of expostulation.

They had come down in one of the Cardinal's private barges, and the men had gone to enjoy themselves at one of the alehouses in the neighbourhood of the river.

But the old man declared he must go back at once, and Miles was compelled to go in search of the boatmen, and ask them to have the barge in readiness the moment the tide turned. As he went back he met his father, to his great surprise, and once more he explained that they must wait a little longer—a half-an-hour at least—and so they might as well go back to Sir Harry Guildford's.

"You shall never enter that house again!" stormed the old man. Miles looked at him in dumb amazement, but as they were in the street, he drew him towards the park, where they could have their talk with fewer listeners passing.

Miles began to think his father had gone crazy on the subject of this marriage, for it seemed that Sir Thomas had discovered what Miles himself scarcely knew until the fact was stated to him. And then it seemed that the knowledge flooded over him, making him almost oblivious of what his father was saying, in the rush of joyful enlightenment that suddenly threatened to overwhelm him.

"This Cicely Guildford is no match for you," Sir Thomas was saying, when Miles stopped him with an imperative "Hush, father! You know not what you are saying."

"Ah you take me for a blind fool then, I suppose," foamed the old man in his wrath. "You bring me here to see this girl, and think I shall see no more than if she was her sister Elizabeth."

"I know not what you have seen, sir," said Miles, his voice trembling, "but I can assure you—"

"And I say you are a liar, if you are my son, for it is plain as the nose on your face that you are in love with the wench, and she with you!"

"Father! father! remember you are speaking of a lady who is quite a stranger to you."

"And you would have me believe she is a stranger to you too, I suppose," sneered Sir Thomas.

"Nay, father—did I not tell you that Sir Harry Guildford had been good enough to welcome me as a friend of his family? I told you that I came to Greenwich sometimes to visit these friends, as well as when my duty of attending the Cardinal brought me to the Court."

"But you did not tell me that you were in love with this girl!"

Miles was about to say that he did not know it himself, until his father made the discovery; but he thought it would be wiser to be silent about this, until he had had the opportunity of seeing Mistress Cicely again, when perhaps he might be better able to judge whether his father's surmise was correct as to her feeling towards him.

Now, however, in the confusion and tumult of his feelings—hopes and fears—he could only feel thankful that he was not obliged to go back at once and face his friends, for how could he speak calmly to Mistress Cicely, until he had time to put his own thoughts in order? So he was not sorry when the barge was pushed off from the Palace stairs: and the presence of the rowers at one end, though it did not prevent talking, hindered his father from scolding and raving, as he might have done.

The old knight, however, was no less earnest in pressing upon him the claims of Lady Audrey; until at last, for peace sake, Miles agreed that the case of such a marriage should be submitted to some learned priest, that an independent opinion might be obtained upon that point before any more was said about it; though he was careful at the same time to guard against giving any hope, that he would follow the royal example in this matter of his marriage.

But having conceded this much, he was allowed to sit in silence and think of Mistress Cicely Guildford, and wonder he had not discovered the secret of his own heart before. Rude fingers had torn away the veil that hid it from himself, yet, he could not but feel thankful that he had taken his father to pay this visit; though he felt equally thankful that the business which had brought his father to London was well-nigh settled, and that he would go back to Woodstock in a few days.

But Sir Thomas was determined to have some legal, as well as Church opinion, about the proposed marriage with Lady Audrey; and, if it should be favourable to his wishes, then he would take a house in London, and send for the young widow and her mother, that the marriage might be brought about with as little delay as possible. So, while Miles sat and dreamed of the sweet pure face he had learned to love, his father was wondering where he had better go for advice for the delicate business he was contemplating.

Hitherto Miles had been at his service in every emergency; but Miles was not to be trusted in this matter, and so he sought counsel of a chance acquaintance he had made during his stay.

"You need a learned priest, and a man well versed in the law," said his new friend.

"Well now, there is a priest who preaches sometimes at St. Dunstan's, and I have heard the gossips say that there is not another in London like him for learning. Why not seek him out, and lay the matter before him? The man of law is more easily found, and I will take you to one on whose judgment you can rely."

So Miles was told the next day that this friend was going to take his father to see some other part of London; and the two went together to lay the matter before the lawyer first.

But when the client stated the case the man of law was too wary to give a direct opinion.

"Marriage is a Sacrament of the Church, and therefore can only be decided by the Church," he said. "We have a royal example that such marriages can be made legal by help of the Pope, and therefore I cannot say they are illegal for others."

It was small comfort, perhaps, to Sir Thomas, but he was glad enough of it, and, as he had no idea that Master William Tyndale was a friend of his son's, he went without scruple to "The Sign of the Golden Fleece," and asked to see the priest Master William Tyndale.

But Sir Thomas thought he would be more cautious this time, and not give his name, so he simply told Monmouth, whom he saw at the door of his shop, that he wanted to see the priest on a matter of conscience, and he was taken upstairs, and Master William Tyndale sent for to see this grim-looking old penitent, as the merchant thought him. He was not the first who had come on the same errand, for here in London there were many strangers coming and going, who had not their own parish priest at hand, upon whom the burden troubling their conscience could be laid; so that from preaching in St. Dunstan's Master Tyndale had become the recipient of many strange confessions.

Owing to these visits having been paid before, a little room had been set apart for this use, so that strangers were not taken to the little bare closet where his work of translation was being done; and to this room Master Tyndale was summoned.

The stranger placed before him the case of Miles and Lady Audrey, but carefully suppressed all names, or any allusion to that of the King. The priest, however, at once pointed out that the two were almost precisely similar, further observing,—"And I do not hesitate to say that such marriages are against the law of the Church and the law of the land. For State policy this royal marriage was allowed to take place, but God bath not prospered it, for the King has no heir to live. There is but the Lady Mary, and how know we that the distaff can rule in this realm of England?"

"I care not who rules England so that my son may rule a goodly estate by-and-bye," growled the old man. He was by no means grateful for such an outspoken opinion upon the matter, and he rose from his seat and went down the winding stair, forgetting to leave the customary gift for the priest in his anger.

He only vouchsafed a grunt to the merchant, as he asked if he had seen Master Tyndale, and then hurried away towards Temple Bar.

Nothing seemed to come of these enquiries, but men's minds were turned to consider the King's marriage with his deceased brother's widow, and thus prepare the way for events in the future which at present were undreamed of by any, unless it was the man who ruled England both in Church and State matters.

Miles was startled by the announcement that his father made to him a day or two after their visit to Greenwich. Sir Thomas sent for him one day, and announced that he was going home at once. He had met with a party of gentlemen who were to start with their servants from "The Magpie" the next morning, and Sir Thomas had decided to journey with them as far as Oxford.

"But why should you be in such haste, father?" said Miles. "The business that brought you to the Chancellor's Court is not quite settled yet,—why not stay a day or two longer? There is no lack of travellers going from 'The Magpie' to Oxford."

But Sir Thomas shook his head. "I must get back," he said, "for it may be I shall have business with the Pope."

"Then it will go through my master's hand," said Miles, "for, as Cardinal Legate, he has the settlement of all disputes, and the granting of all dispensations for this realm. But, my father, be wary how you invoke the help of the law in any quarrel. You say our estate is sorely impoverished by the changes that are going on; do not waste the substance that remains for any shadow the law can give you of future benefits." Miles ventured to say this much, because he knew how many poor men were made poorer by seeking the help they thought the law ought to give them. His father said nothing of having visited a lawyer and Master Tyndale on the subject of his marriage, but Miles shrewdly guessed that he had been somewhere, and that the advice he had received had not been in accordance with his wishes; and the Lady Audrey was not mentioned during their last interview.

Sir Thomas had succeeded in getting some abatement in his taxes, but the old man would rather the business had failed and the marriage proposals prospered, for now he would most certainly have to hand over the dowry of the Lady Audrey, and this would compel him to sell a good many sheep, for it was to stock the farms that had been turned into pasture that the lady's money had been expended, and he had not been able to save more than half of it by the sale of the wool the sheep had produced. And it was for the sake of this money he was so anxious Miles should marry the young widow.