The San Francisco call., 1903-01-18

During my recital she sat with down
cast eyes and tear-stained face, playing
with the ribbons of her hat "a.
When / was ready 10 go she salo:
Please say TO Master Brandon J should
hke-to- see-him if he cares to come. IL
oniy tnat 1 may tell him how 1t nap
Il greatly fear, in fact. know he will
not c0me' said |. The cruelest blow or
ALL worse even than the dungeon, or the
sentence of death, your failure to
save him. He trusted you so implicitly
At the time of his arrest he refused to
allow me TO tell the King, saying he knew
yeu, wou see to it-that you were pure
An. did he say that?" she asked, as
a SAD little smile lighted her face.
His faith was so entirely without
doubt that his recqil from YOU Ms is eSr1e snatn
sPoa6lns gFfa E e goes ooNeTsd to Ne% Span enf
iiciently for him to travel"
This sent the last fieck of color from her
face, ano with the words almost choking
her throat: Then tell him what L have
said TO you and perhaps he will not feel
So"
Il cannot do that either. Lady Mary.
When l mentioned your name the other
day he said he would curse me If ever
spoke II again In his hearing.
'ls II so bad as that?" Then medita
the reason for the killing? Would not
compromise me, who had served him so
Ill, even TO save his own life? Noble, no
ble!' And her lips went together as she
rose to her feet No tears now; nothing
but glowing, determined womanhood.
Then | will 60 TO him wherever he may
be- lie shal forgive me, no matter what
my fault
Soon after this we were on our way to
London at brisk galop.
We were all very silent, but at one time
Mary spoke up from the midst OF rev.
erie During the moment when 1
thought Master Brandon had been execut-
ed-when you said 1t was too late-it
seemed that | was born again and all
7 u-n oh In, ba
very texture of my nature by the shock.
as as they say the grain Of the iron cannon
is sometimes changed by too violent eX-
plosion." And this proved to be true in
some Tesnects.
We rode on rapidly and did not stop in
LONDON except TO giye the horses drink.
After crossing the bridge Mary said half
TO Jane and half to herself: II will never
marry the French King-never." Mary
was but a girl pitted against a body of
brutal men, two of them rulers of the
two. greatest nations on earth-rather
heavy odds. for one woman.
We rode down TO Greenwich and en-
ment, as the Princess was in the habit
Of going and coming at will.
The King and Queen and most Of the
courtiers were in London-at Bridewell
and Baynard CastIe-where Henry was
vigorously pushing the loan Of five hun
dn@a dped th6usand 16u and, crowns. crowns for Mary's
which. at that time he took any active
interest. Subsequently. as you know, he
became II rterested in the divorce laws.
and the various methods whereby man,
especially a King, might rid himself Of
a distasteful wife; and after he saw
the truth in Anne Boleyn's eyes, he
adopted combined policy of church
and state craft that has brought a
deal of senseleSs troure ever since-and
is like to keep ii up.
As. to Marys dover Henry was to
pay Louis only four hundred thousand
crowns, but he made the marriage an
excuse for an extra hundred thousand, to
be devoted to his own private. use.
When Re arrived at the palace the
girls went to their apartments and l to
mine where 1 found Brandon reading.
There was only one window to our COM
mon room-a dormer window, set into
the roof and reached by a little pass
age as broad the window itself, and
perhaps yard and half long. In the
alcove thus formed was a bench along
the wall. cushioned by Brandon's great
campaign cloak. In this window we
often sat and read, and here was Bran
don with his book. 1 had intended to
tell him the girls were coming, for when
Mary asked me if l thought he would
come to her at the palace and when I
had again said no, she reiterated her
intention Of going to him at once; but
my courage failed me and I did not
I knew that Mary ought not to come
to our room. and that If news of it
should reach the Kings ears there
would be more and worse trouble than
ever. and. as usual, Brandon would pay
the penalty for all. Then again If 1t
were discovered 1t might seriously COM
promise both Mary and Jane, as the
world is full OF people who would rather
say and believe an evil thing of another
than to say their prayers or believe
the holy creed.
had said as much to the Lady Mary
when she expressed her determtnation
10 go to Brandon. She had beensfn the
wrong so much of late that she was
humbled, and / was brave enough to say
whatever [ felt: but she said she had
thought it all over. and every one
was away from Greenwich it would not
be found out il done secretly.
She told Jane she need not go: that
she, Mary. did not want to take any risk
of compromising her.
You see trouble was doing good
work I'm tie Princess. and had made 1t
possible for a generous thought for an
other to find spontaneous lodgment in
her heart. What great thing it is, this
sympathy and makes US tender to an
others pain. Nothing else so fits US for
earth or prepares US for heaven.
Jane would have gone. though. had
she known that all her fair name would
go with her. She was right you see,
when she rold me, while riding over to
Windsor that should Mary's love bios
som into a full-grown passion she would
wreck everything and everybody includ-
ing herself perhaps, to attain the object
of so great a desire.
1t looked now as If she were on
the high road to that end Moth
Gould S have kept her from @ going
to Brandon that evening. There was an
inherent force about her that was ire
sistible and swept everything before IT.
will, stronger and infinitely better con-
trolled than her own. and 1 diu nUt know
how 1t would all turn out.