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
  • 高拱诗选

    高拱诗选

    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。
  • Wolfville

    Wolfville

    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。
  • 法华十罗刹法

    法华十罗刹法

    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。
  • 夢月軒詩鈔

    夢月軒詩鈔

    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。
  • The Man Who Was Afraid

    The Man Who Was Afraid

    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
  • 倾世绝恋之赫舍里清韵

    倾世绝恋之赫舍里清韵

    千古一帝康熙爱新觉罗·玄烨与其一生中最爱的女人赫舍里氏的故事。康熙是在怎样的情形下爱上了赫舍里氏?赫舍里氏又为何成为康熙最爱的女人,以致她的儿子一出生便被立为太子?令康熙念念不忘一生的女人到底是怎样的?她美丽智慧,助康熙立千秋大业。她红颜薄命,成为康熙心中永远的痛。这个女人——赫舍里·清韵,是个传奇。一切精彩,皆在《倾世绝恋之赫舍里·清韵》。
  • 凡隐花都

    凡隐花都

    奉老子头之命执行一个任务,保护他一个生死至交好友的安危。可这个任务的难度大大的超出了意料之外。事出太过诡异,矛头频频指向主角。渐渐地,一个针对叶家爷孙两的惊世大阴谋开始浮现出来。一身惊世骇俗的武功,一套出神入化的医术,看他如何潜伏于花都的同时暗中消灭障碍!人若犯,必诛之!君子报仇,十年不晚。可惜,我是小人!
  • 缔造契约

    缔造契约

    时代变迁,神被证实真的存在,而且跟神签订契约便可借助神的力量。神,一个无法揣摩的存在。人,一个追求力量的弱小。契约初现,天地变幻,契约魔化,众生沉陷。力量重要还是感情重要?他,一个无法跟神沟通的人类,同样被列为神的死亡名单的人类。“待我万古归来,缔造帝王契约,横扫诸天神抵,抹除横空乱世。”她,一个不相信神的的人类,同样是神的死亡名单上的一员。“死亡是我唯一的本钱,拥有死亡的我,不信神,只信人。”祸乱开,心依旧,守万古,死又如何。情还在,心相伴,共进退,缘永不失!
  • 激战多维大脑之传奇

    激战多维大脑之传奇

    由于个人原因,书名改了,在起点。《大脑英雄传说》。恳请围观。****——书作者还有一部小说《激战多维‘男女’之传奇》,天天更新,敬请书友跟读。
  • 邪王追妻:狐仙撩人

    邪王追妻:狐仙撩人

    当她一不小心穿越成狐狸怎么办?废话,步步升道开启体系,但这男人怎么办?!!!本文正直正经【你确定?】,不会一言不合出现脱离本文的内容【what?】请放心入坑。
  • 鬼蜮术师

    鬼蜮术师

    鬼使神差遇到了传说中的五鬼抬棺,本来只是好奇看看,竟然无意中被装入齐天棺,来到鬼蜮,作为一名资深的茅山术师,抓鬼那是小事,但是苍云却是高兴不起来:“苍天啊!!!为什么这里最低等级的鬼我想收了都这么难!!!”从最低层次的存在,到鬼蜮巨头之一,从鬼蜮到其他四界,每一处都有他的传说。
  • 宿命里轮回

    宿命里轮回

    林紫莹带着前世模糊的记忆遇见了花心的余子诺,以为是命中注定的情缘,便勇敢的追求自以为是属于自己的幸福。却不料,现实的无奈残忍的伤害着她对爱情的执着,余子诺终究还是另娶他人。绝望的伤痛唤醒了林紫莹前世的记忆,她终于在都市生活中百转千回的找到了属于自己的真爱。
  • 姑娘庙

    姑娘庙

    深山悬崖之上立有一阴庙,人称姑娘庙,究竟它拥有怎样的力量,让那一带的古人不信神佛信鬼魂?历经千百年沧桑,竟无人知晓它的来历。荒废的庙宇,消失的神像,刻有奇怪音符与文字的石碑,连着祖坟地道的枯井。一切的一切,都被历史尘封,它安静的等待着有缘人的到来。一个拥有灵异体质的女大学生因为机缘巧合来到姑娘庙,从此,生活中的灵异事件大爆发,生活中无处不在的诡异事件,梦中溪边的辫子姑娘,究竟这一切的源头跟谜底在哪儿,我们往更久远的方向看去--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 女王的眼泪

    女王的眼泪

    一个弃婴,由他抚养成人,他颜貌不改。告诉她她是他的,一辈子他要宠她,若敢离开,后果自负!当她即要把心交付,他却甩头离去,当他与别的女人牵手,将她的爱情卑微地践踏。她怒了:“秦少天,我与你势不两立。在他日日醉酒之际,她光芒四射,凯旋归来。用女王的姿态征服世界。但在内心深处,是何等脆弱。当她卑微的时候谁看见过?当她在内心崩溃的时候谁看见过。命运无常,没有选择,奇妙的缘分,将二人相聚。让二人仇恨,让二人痛苦。
  • 绝品医仙

    绝品医仙

    修真天才遭女师祖欺骗身亡,竟然重生成都市内无恶不作的豪门大少。不是猛龙不过江,不是大少不嚣张。