George. On the greensward edging the stream marched a brilliant
cavalcade, and on the right lay the old woods of the Home Park, with
long vistas opening through them, giving exquisite peeps of the towers
and battlements of the castle.
Half an hour brought the cavalcade to Datchet Bridge, at the foot of
which a pavilion was erected for the accommodation of the mayor and
burgesses. And here, having dismounted, they awaited the king's
arrival.
Shortly after this a cloud of dust on the Staines Road seemed to
announce the approach of the royal party, and all rushed forth and held
themselves in readiness to meet it. But the dust appeared to have
been raised by a company of horsemen, headed by Captain Bouchier,
who rode up the next moment. Courteously saluting the mayor,
Bouchier informed him that Mistress Anne Boleyn was close behind,
and that it was the king's pleasure that she should be attended in all
state to the lower gate of the castle, there to await his coming, as he
himself intended to enter it with her. The mayor replied that the
sovereign's behests should be implicitly obeyed, and he thereupon
stationed himself at the farther side of the bridge in expectation of
Anne Boleyn's arrival.
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