“You think me still angry with you,” said the princess. “But you are mistaken. I have reasoned myself out of my jealousy. How is it that the queen-dowager is not here to-night?”
“She will be here anon,” replied Seymour, gloomily.
“Oh, she is expected, then?” cried Elizabeth. “Do you still nourish the ambitious projects you once entertained, my Lord Admiral?”
“I am as ambitious as ever, princess,” he rejoined, vehemently, and almost sternly; “but I have lost that which would have been the chief reward of my struggle.”
“How know you that?” she rejoined. “If you make no effort to regain what you have lost, the fault rests with yourself.”
“Princess!” exclaimed Seymour, in a voice trembling with emotion, “you drive me to despair. You revive all my passion. Yet it must be crushed.”
“But I do not bid you despair,” said Elizabeth. “I am half inclined to forgive your perfidy, provided you swear never to deceive me in future.”
“No more, I pray you, princess,” cried Seymour. “You tear my very heart asunder. I love you better than life. For you I would give up all my ambitious projects, for you I would sacrifice every earthly object. And yet—”
“What remains?” exclaimed Elizabeth. “But I will trifle with you no longer. Your manner convinces me that you really love me, and I will therefore own that you still remain master of my heart.”
Seymour could not control the impulse that prompted him to seize Elizabeth’s hand, and press it fervently to his lips; but he repented as soon as he had done so, and let it drop.
“This torture is beyond endurance,” he exclaimed. “I can bear it no longer.”
“What is the matter?” she exclaimed.
“I cannot speak,” he replied. “You will know all anon. Pity me! pity me!”
“In Heaven’s name, calm yourself, my lord, or you will attract attention to us,” said Elizabeth. “What means this extraordinary agitation? What has happened?”
“Question me not, princess. I cannot answer you,” replied Seymour. “Think the best you can of me—think that I ever have loved you—that I ever shall love you.”
With this, he respectfully took her hand, and led her into the crowded chamber.
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Chapter XII
IN WHAT MANNER THE LORD ADMIRAL’S MARRIAGE WITH THE QUEEN WAS ANNOUNCED
Meanwhile, the lord protector, accompanied by the Earl of Warwick, continued to walk through the apartments, noting their splendor with a jealous eye. Perceiving what was passing in his mind, Warwick sought still further to inflame his anger.
“What thinks your Highness of this fête?” he asked. “‘T is a sumptuous affair. The lord admiral will ruin himself if he gives many such.”
“His prodigality is unbounded,” cried Somerset.
“Yet he has an object in it,” pursued Warwick. “He would have all eyes turned on him as towards the rising sun. Your Highness will do well to be on your guard, for you may rest assured that all this display is only part of a deep-laid scheme to supplant you. Do you not note how your brother has gathered round him all those of the old nobility who are known to be unfriendly to your Highness? Do you not see that he is trying to propitiate the Romish party? With what intent are Gardiner and Tunstal here?”
“His design is plain enough. But I fear him not.”
“Your Highness had best not be too confident. Do not let him strengthen himself too much, or he may become too powerful for you.”
“I would deprive him of his post at once,” cried Somerset, “but he has so much influence with the king that such a step might be dangerous. I must have an excuse for severity. But let us to his majesty. Dorset, I see, has returned with my lady marchioness and his daughter.”
“The king seems wondrously fond of the Lady Jane Grey. Mark how he hangs upon her words, and what a lover-like attitude he assumes! Dorset, I am sure, persuades himself his daughter will one day be Queen of England.”
“If he indulges any such notion he will find himself mistaken. But the king is too young to have any such thoughts as yet.”