A black veil fell over his head, and was rapidly twined around his
brow in thick folds.
Amid yells of fiendish laughter he was then lifted from the ground,
thrust into the hollow of the tree, and thence, as it seemed to him,
conveyed into a deep subterranean cave.
II. In what manner Wolsey put his Scheme into Operation.
Foiled in his scheme of making Wyat the instrument of Anne Boleyn's
overthrow, Wolsey determined to put into immediate operation the plan
he had conceived of bringing forward a rival to her with the king. If a
choice had been allowed him, he would have selected some high-born
dame for the purpose; but as this was out of the question - and as,
indeed, Henry had of late proved insensible to the attractions of all the
beauties that crowded his court except Anne Boleyn-he trusted to the
forester's fair granddaughter to accomplish his object. The source
whence he had received intelligence of the king's admiration of Mabel
Lyndwood was his jester, Patch - a shrewd varlet who, under the mask
of folly, picked up many an important secret for his master, and was
proportionately rewarded.
Before executing the scheme, it was necessary to ascertain whether
the damsel's beauty was as extraordinary as it had been represented;
and with this view, Wolsey mounted his mule one morning, and,
accompanied by Patch and another attendant, rode towards the forest.
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