“It is in vain, I tell you,” said Butts, staying him.
“Let me go, sir,” said the earl, furiously. “I shall go mad if I lose this great prize.”
“You need not lose it,” replied Butts. “The will, is here. Take it, and get it stamped. The keeper of the royal signet may be bribed to acquiesce, and witnesses can be procured in the same way.”
“Your counsel is good, but it cannot be followed,” cried Hertford. “Sir John Gage knows that his Majesty designed to make some alteration in his will, and that it is unsigned. The constable is impracticable; there is no purchasing his silence. All is lost.”
“Not so,” rejoined the ready-witted physician, apparently troubled with as few scruples as Hertford himself. “As yet, no one but ourselves is aware of the king’s condition. The signing of the will shall not be disputed, even by Gage. Bring hither the keeper of the signet; bring also the Earls of Essex and Arundel, Sir William Paget, Sir William Herbert, and any others upon whom you can rely, to serve as witnesses. Leave the rest to me. About it, quick!”
“It shall be done; and if the scheme prosper, I shall not be wanting in gratitude to its bold contriver,” replied Hertford. “While I am on my errand, do you give orders, as if from his Majesty, that no one but myself and those you have mentioned be allowed to enter the chamber. Our plan will be marred infallibly if Gage and my brother gain admittance.”
Butts promised compliance, and Hertford disappeared by the secret entrance.
The physician next wetted a napkin, and applied it to Henry’s brow, shifting the pillows at the same time, so that the breathing of the dying monarch became sensibly relieved. He then drew the curtains about the bed, so as to hide in a great measure the upper part of the king’s person; and afterwards placed a small table, with writing materials upon it, at a little distance from the couch on the left; so disposing the lights within the chamber that the bed was left completely in darkness.
These precautions taken, he proceeded to the ante-chamber, and calling the chief usher, gave him the orders that had been suggested by Hertford.
He was only just in time, for he had scarcely retired when the Constable of the Tower and Sir Thomas Seymour made their appearance; but they were refused admittance to the king’s chamber. In vain Seymour, who was full of anxiety and impatience, remonstrated. The ushers were inexorable.
Ere long came a grave-looking personage in a black robe, with a small box under his arm. This was William Clerc, the keeper of the royal signet. He was allowed instant entrance.
Shortly afterwards came the Earl of Hertford, accompanied by the Earls of Essex and Arundel, and the others designated by Butts, all wearing countenances of extreme gravity, as if bound upon some object of the utmost seriousness and importance. Bowing solemnly to Gage and Seymour, they passed on, and were instantly admitted.
“This is very strange,” remarked Gage. “I cannot understand it. His Majesty told me himself that he would not be disturbed for an hour. Are you quite sure, sir, that the orders are express against our admittance?” he added, to the chief usher.
“Quite sure, Sir John,” replied the individual addressed, bowing respectfully. “Doctor Butts delivered them to me himself.”
“Hertford has outwitted us, Sir John,” remarked Seymour. “We shall neither of us be executors.”
“For my own part, I care not,” rejoined Gage. “I do not covet the distinction. But I hope the king’s intentions will be strictly carried out.”
Not long after this came Cranmer, who marched straight towards the door, but was detained like the others. The archbishop then joined Gage and Seymour, and was talking with them of the king’s dangerous condition, and deeply deploring it, when Butts appeared at the door, and after a word from him to the usher, all three were admitted.
What they beheld was this. Grouped round the little table, with writing materials upon it, were the persons who had subscribed the will as witnesses. Nearer the darkened couch, but with his back towards it, stood William Clerc, by whom, previous to its attestation, the will had been stamped at the top of the first page and the end of the last, and who had just delivered the instrument, thus signed and attested, to Hertford.