I married him only during his life, and not for one moment afterwards,
so I came away and left them to bury him or keep him, as they choose;
I care not which."
"But--" began Henry, when Mary interrupted him, saying: "I will tell
you--"
I had taken good care that Wolsey should be present at this interview;
so we four, the king, Wolsey, Mary and myself, quietly stepped into a
little alcove away from the others, and prepared to listen to Mary's
tale, which was told with all her dramatic eloquence and feminine
persuasiveness. She told of the ignoble insults of Francis, of his
vile proposals--insisted upon, almost to the point of force--carefully
concealing, however, the offer to divorce Claude and make her queen,
which proposition might have had its attractions for Henry. She told
of her imprisonment in the palace des Tournelles, and of her deadly
peril and many indignities, and the tale lost nothing in the telling.
Then she finished by throwing her arms around Henry's neck in a
passionate flood of tears and begging him to protect her--to save her!
save her! save her! his little sister.
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