It was not unusual with Henry to visit the different offices of the castle
and converse freely and familiarly with the members of his household,
but it was by no means safe to trust to the continuance of his good
humour, or in the slightest degree to presume upon it. It is well known
that his taste for variety of character often led him, like the renowned
Caliph Haroun Al Raschid, to mix with the lower classes of his subjects
in disguise, at which times many extraordinary adventures are said to
have befallen him. His present visit to the kitchen, therefore, would
have occasioned no surprise to its occupants if it had not occurred so
soon after the cardinal's arrival. But it was this circumstance, in fact,
that sent him thither. The intelligence brought by Wolsey of the
adjournment of the court for three days, under the plea of giving the
queen time for her allegations, was so unlooked for by Henry that he
quitted the cardinal in high displeasure, and was about to repair to
Anne Boleyn, when he encountered Bouchier, who told him that Mabel
Lyndwood had been brought to the castle, and her grandsire arrested.
The information changed Henry's intentions at once, and he proceeded
with Bouchier and some other attendants to the kitchen, where he was
given to understand he should find the damsel.
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