Thomas looked with concern at the dazzling figure before him. “Your Grace,” he said, “I must speak to you frankly. I am un-suited to the task.”
“Nonsense! There is not a man in this realm whom the task becomes more. We command you to it, Thomas. We will have no other. It is your bounden duty to your King and your country to accept. We will take no refusal.”
“My lord, Your Highness, your most gracious Majesty, I must speak as my conscience commands me. I cannot give my support to the divorce.”
The King's eyes seemed to disappear in his fleshy face. He flushed and drew back. He was silent for a few moments, as though he were considering which of his roles to play. He might roar: “Send this traitor to the Tower.” On the other hand, he might continue to play the part of benign monarch who respects an honest man.
He needed this man. He was the only man in the realm fitted for the task. All agreed on that. The learning and integrity of Sir Thomas More, the respect he had inspired on the continent of Europe, were necessary to England.
The King decided.
“Thomas,” he said, “you have your conscience, and I have mine. By God's Body, I have been worried enough in my thoughts by my most sinful and incestuous marriage. I know the pain of a nagging conscience. And on this matter, Thomas More, you and I are not of one mind. I regret it. Thomas, I regret it mightily. But as a man of conscience, I respect a man of conscience … mistaken though I know him to be. For, Thomas, you are a learned man. I doubt it not. You are a good man, and we are proud to have you as a subject. You have been favored by God. I know of that family at Chelsea, and one day, Thomas, I am going to visit Chelsea. I am going to see it for myself. I am going to give the kiss of friendship to those merry daughters of yours, to that jolly wife. Yea, that I will. You have been favored in your family….” His voice sank almost to a whisper. “You do not understand how lonely a man can be—even though he be a King—who lacks that which God has given you with lavish hands. Thomas More, there are a few matters which you do not understand as worldly men understand them. And this is one of them. But I am a man of wide views. I understand you… even though you understand me not. And, Thomas, I will have you for my Chancellor and no other. And this matter which plagues me day and night shall put no barriers between us two. Dismiss it, Thomas. It is no affair of yours. Come, Chancellor More. Take the Great Seal of England, and your King will put the seal of friendship on your brow.”
Henry leaned forward and kissed Thomas's forehead.
It was not for the Lord Chancellor to meddle in this matter of the divorce, thought the King. That was the task of the clergy. He had two new friends in mind from whom he hoped much: Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell.
It would seem that I have fancy for these Thomases, thought Henry; and he smiled pleasantly as he looked into the face of his new Lord Chancellor.
6
MARGARET WOULD NEVER FORGET RUSHING TO GREET him when he returned in his barge. She would never forget the jaunty smile on his face; but while he might deceive others, he could never deceive her.
“Father?”
“Well, Meg, see you not the change? The Under-Treasurer left you earlier this day. The Chancellor is now arrived.”
“Chancellor, Father … .you!”
“A worthy Chancellor, though a humble one, as says my lord of Norfolk.”
“But… the King's divorce?”
“I have told him that I can have no hand in it; and it seems he accepts my refusal to do so, as Norfolk accepts my humble birth. And, Meg, with so many ready to accept so much that is unpalatable to them, I was perforce obliged to accept that which I would fain refuse.”
“It is not a good thing, Father. It is not a matter for jokes.”
“It is not good, Meg, and therefore is it meet that we should joke, for by doing so we can make light of what we cannot refuse to undertake.”
“Could you not have refused?”
“I tried, Meg.”
“But… surely you have a free choice?”
“I am the King's subject and as such must obey the King's command. Come, let us to the house. I'll warrant you'll smile to see the family's reception of this news.”
Slowly they walked toward the house, and Margaret's heart was full of misgiving.
LORD CHANCELLOR!
The family received the news with wonder.
Alice was mockingly proud. “So, Master More, you have made a great man of yourself in spite of all.”
“Rather say, wife, that they have made a great man of me in spite of myself.”
Alice looked at him with beaming pride. “To think that a husband of mine should be the Lord Chancellor!”
“Why, Alice, you have grown two inches taller, I'll swear.”
Alice was in no mood for raillery. “This means we shall need more servants. Why, who knows whom we shall have visiting us now. Mayhap the King himself!” Alice grew a shade paler at the thought. “Now, Thomas, should His Grace honor us, I shall need to know a day or more ahead.”
“Shall my first duties as Chancellor be to warn the King that if he should visit Lady More he must give her good warning?”
“Have done with your nonsense! 'Twould not be unknown, I trow, for the King to visit his Chancellor. Why, he was so much in and out of the houses of the last Chancellor that people did not know whether they were at the King's or the Cardinal's Court.”
“And now the Cardinal's Courts are the King's Courts. Has it occurred to you that all the last Chancellor's possessions are now the property of the King? Do you not tremble for your own, Alice? For remember, they are the property of the new Lord Chancellor, and why should the new one fare better than the old?”
“Have done with such foolish talk.”
“Well, Alice, here is something you will like better. There is to be a visitor this night for supper.”
“A visitor. Who is this?”
“His Grace of Norfolk.”
“Tilly valley! And it already three of the clock! Tilly valley! What shall I do? I should have been given notice.”
“But, Alice, since you need twenty-four hours' warning of a King's visit, is not three hours enough for a Duke? Commoners call five minutes before a meal, and may have a seat at our table.”
“My Lord Norfolk!” cried Alice, growing red and white at the thought.
“His Grace will honor us, Alice. He made a delightful speech when I took the Seal. He stressed my virtues which, he said, were so great that they made him indifferent to my humble birth.”
Alice bristled, but she was still thinking: His Grace of Norfolk! The first nobleman in the land … and here to supper. Next it will be His Grace the King. I know it.
“And, Alice, my dear, do not fret,” said Thomas, “for such a second-rate compliment is only worthy of a second-rate supper. Let us be natural with this noble Duke. Let us treat him as we would a passerby who looks in to join us at supper. After all, he will expect no more of us—because we are such humble folk.”
But Alice was not listening. She must to the kitchen at once. She must see that the beef received the necessary basting. Had she known they were to be so honored she would have got one of the new turkeys. She was going to make her new sauce, adding the chopped roots of the wild succory and water arrowhead. She would set her cook making further pies. And her latest pickle should be set upon the table. She would show my lord of Norfolk!
“Now, Master More, do not hinder me. If you will ask great noblemen to supper, then you must give me time to attend to them.”