登陆注册
19315300000078

第78章 PRINCESS ELIZABETH.(3)

"I say that Cranmer will never be so insane, nay, so criminal, as to fulfil your wish. I say that you can never be my wife."She looked him full and square in the face. "Have you not then told me that you loved me?" asked she. "Have I not sworn to you that Iloved you in return? Must we then not be married, in order to sanctify the union of our hearts?"Seymour sank his eyes to the ground before her pure innocent look, and blushed for shame. She did not understand this blush; because he was silent, she deemed him convinced.

"Come," said she, "come; Cranmer is waiting for us!"He again raised his eyes and looked at her in amazement, "Do you not see, then, this is all only a dream that can never become reality?

Do you not feel that this precious fantasy of your great and noble heart will never be realized? How! are you then so little acquainted with your father as not to know that he would destroy us both if we should dare to set at naught his paternal and his royal authority?

Your birth would not secure you from his destroying fury, for you well know he is unyielding and reckless in his wrath; and the voice of consanguinity sounds not so loud in him that it would not be drowned by the thunder of his wrath. Poor child, you have learned that already! Remember with what cruelty he has already revenged himself on you for the pretended fault of your mother; how he transferred to you his wrath against her. Remember that he refused your hand to the Dauphin of France, not for the sake of your happiness, but because he said you were not worthy of so exalted a position. Anne Boleyn's bastard could never become Queen of France.

And after such a proof of his cruel wrath against you, will you dare cast in his face this terrible insult?--compel him to recognize a subject, a servant, as his son?""Oh, this servant is, however, the brother of a Queen of England!"said she, shyly. "My father loved Jane Seymour too warmly not to forgive her brother.""Ah, ah, you do not know your father! He has no heart for the past;or, if he has, it is only to take vengeance for an injury or a fault, but not to reward love. King Henry would be capable of sentencing Anne Boleyn's daughter to death, and of sending to the block and rack Catharine Howard's brothers, because these two queens once grieved him and wounded his heart; but he would not forgive me the least offence on account of my being the brother of a queen who loved him faithfully and tenderly till her death. But I speak not of myself. I am a warrior, and have too often looked death in the face to fear him now. I speak only of you, Elizabeth. You have no right to perish thus. This noble head must not be laid upon the block. It is destined to wear a royal crown. A fortune still higher than love awaits you--fame and power! I must not draw you away from this proud future. The Princess Elizabeth, though abused and disowned, may yet one day mount the throne of England. The Countess Seymour never! she disinherits herself! Follow, then, your high destiny. Earl Seymour retires before a throne.""That is to say, you disdained me?" asked she, angrily stamping the floor with her foot. "That is to say, the proud Earl Seymour holds the bastard too base for his coronet! That is to say, you love me not!""No, it means that I love you more than myself--better and more purely than any other man can love you; for this love is so great that it makes my selfishness and my ambition silent, and allows me to think only of you and your future.""Ah," sighed she, mournfully., "if you really loved me, you would not consider--you would not see the danger, nor fear death. You would think of nothing, and know nothing, save love.""Because I think of love, I think of you," said Seymour. "I think that you are to move along over the world, great, powerful, and glorious, and that I will lend you my arm for this. I think of this, that my queen of the future needs a general who will win victories for her, and that I will be that general. But when this goal is reached--when you are queen--then you have the power from one of your subjects to make a husband; then it rests with your own will to elevate me to be the proudest, the happiest, and the most enviable of all men. Extend me your hand, then, and I will thank and praise God that he is so gracious to me; and my whole existence will be spent in the effort to give you the happiness that you are so well entitled to demand.""And until then?" asked she, mournfully.

"Until then, we will be constant, and love each other!" cried he, as he gently pressed her in his arms. She gently repelled him. "Will you also be true to me till then?""True till death!""They have told me that you would marry the Duchess of Richmond, in order thereby to at length put an end to the ancient hatred between the Howards and Seymours."Thomas Seymour frowned, and his countenance grew dark. "Believe me, this hatred is invincible," said he; "and no matrimonial alliance could wash it away. It is an inheritance from many years in our families; and I am firmly resolved not to renounce my inheritance. Ishall just as little marry the Duchess of Richmond, as Henry Howard will my sister, the Countess of Shrewsbury.""Swear that to me! Swear to me, that you say the truth, and that this haughty and coquettish duchess shall never be your wife. Swear it to me, by all that is sacred to you!""I swear it by my love!" exclaimed Thomas Seymour, solemnly.

"I shall then at least have one sorrow the less," sighed Elizabeth.

"I shall have no occasion to be jealous. And is it not true," she then said, "is it not true we shall often see each other? We will both keep this secret of this tower faithfully and sacredly; and after days full of privation and disappointment, we will here keep festival the nights full of blissful pleasure and sweet transport.

But why do you smile, Seymour?"

同类推荐
  • 罗湖野录

    罗湖野录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大法鼓经

    大法鼓经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 放光般若波罗蜜经

    放光般若波罗蜜经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • The Jolly Corner

    The Jolly Corner

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 评琴书屋医略

    评琴书屋医略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 穿越之傲娇王妃已上线

    穿越之傲娇王妃已上线

    她,被自己最信任的人欺骗,由于机缘巧合,一朝穿越,决心造就一个不同的自己,一个非凡的自己,并且遇到了那个属于她的他。他,一个并不受宠的王爷,可是谁也没想到他还有着另一个未知的身份,在茫茫人海中他一眼就看上了她,并决定将她收入囊中。他们能碰溅出怎样的火花呢?
  • 江东三公子

    江东三公子

    三国大时代,是冷血与热血的较量,激情和无情的碰撞。文者斗智,武者斗勇。孙翊,斗天下!几许英明陨,几多温情存,亲临局中局,目睹计中计。只为神州立命,只为天下太平。写一幕“天数如然”的传奇,道一出“代汉者,当涂高”的绝迹。(正史为主,野史为辅,欢迎雅正。)
  • 轮回之七星之恋

    轮回之七星之恋

    《七星之恋》一度轮回,天界大神尽损落唯有悟空,七星逃脱升天!上古大神为报私仇,迫害人间,愿归洪荒。七星苦尽甘来,力保人间,续写了人仙大战
  • 金光明最胜王经

    金光明最胜王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 逝去的那段时光

    逝去的那段时光

    他们之间发生过太多故事,人生中的起起落落,一波未平一波又起。。。。。。。
  • 神级崛起

    神级崛起

    重生在十二年前,他要绝对主宰自己的人生前世他是个普通的大学生,现在他崛起成为了修行者仰望的存在
  • 无限之爱

    无限之爱

    准备了三种简介,喜欢哪种?1、这一个男人写的言情,当然这个男人并不只会写言情。2、无限流的言情。3、我其实想说,简介比小说难写。
  • 顾影连年

    顾影连年

    现世大陆,顾家与唐家有着解不开的恩怨,顾家妃岑与梓吟的身世之谜,神秘莫测的眷公子究竟又背负了怎样的恩怨?顾家灭门,妃岑为此回到了幽海,开始进入七百年前就开始的恩怨中同时也陷入了朝堂争斗与江湖恩仇。幕后之人渐渐浮出水面……
  • 六臂魔神录

    六臂魔神录

    当一个普通少年穿越到魔界,会给这片光怪陆离的世界带去怎样的改变?魔界的首饰粗糙到渣,魔界的酒不醉人,魔界的吃食难以下咽……别人已经习惯,但显锋看到的却是无限的商机。看我们生活在社会底层的显锋,如何抓住机遇,融合血脉,觉醒六臂,在魔界混得风生水起,叱咤风云,成为一代绝世强者。在显锋看来,魔界许多东西都差,但惟有美女不差,幸好魔界并不是一夫一妻制,不然真要谗死。当魔神消失无踪,魔帝万年不出,龙族无尽山强势上位,成为所有人的信仰领袖。而显锋又与无尽山有着千丝万缕的联系,最终,他能否躲过暗处的眼睛,安然成长,最终成就霸业?
  • 灵渊九剑

    灵渊九剑

    太古岁月中的不速之客,百万年前的背水一战,帝殇,魂灭,执念。一个有天纵之资的少年——龙阳,如何剑指灵渊,谈笑间风云变,融苍天之念,化阴阳为眼。诸神的殇,残碎的梦,一个时代的更迭,又一个璀璨的大世到来,战乱生,斩乱神。血染江山的画,风月不见,泪落在谁的心上。角落里,你背对着我,如此,安好?