Play something else!"
The two young people seemed not to understand. Accordingly the Queen
continued: "The Wars of the Roses, children, did not end altogether
at Bosworth but--in the Tower happened much that is best forgotten.
Take a book and read something."
"We have been reading all the morning," answered Anne surnamed
Boleyn or Bullen.
"What are you reading then?
"Chaucer."
"_The Canterbury Tales_? Those are not for children: Chaucer was a
jester. You had better take my book. It has beautiful pictures."
The young Percy took the little breviary, and, going down the path
as though they sought the shade, they both quietly disappeared from
the Queen's eyes.
But from the library four eyes had followed them, those of the King
and the Cardinal, while they turned over the folios.
The King was uneasy, and spoke more for the sake of speaking than
because he had something to say, and so did the Cardinal.
"You ought to aim at the Papacy, Cardinal, as Hadrian's successor."
"Yes, so they say."
"What about the votes?"
"They are controlled by the Emperor Charles V and King Francis I."
"How can one bring such a discordant pair into harmony?"
"That is just what requires diplomatic skill, sire."
"You cannot stand on good terms with both."
"Who knows? The Emperor has taken Rome, and placed the Pope in the
Castle of St.
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