At the time of the arrival of this instrument, Campeggio chanced to be
staying with Wolsey at his palace at Esher, and as the king was then
holding his court at Windsor, they both set out for the castle on the
following day, attended by a retinue of nearly a hundred horsemen,
splendidly equipped.
It was now the middle of September, and the woods, instead of
presenting one uniform mass of green, glowed with an infinite variety of
lovely tints. And yet, despite the beauty of the scene, there was
something melancholy in witnessing the decline of the year, as marked
by those old woods, and by the paths that led through them, so thickly
strewn with leaves. Wolsey was greatly affected. "These noble trees
will ere long bereft of all their glories," he thought, " and so, most likely,
will it be with me, and perhaps my winter may come sooner than
theirs!"
The cardinal and his train had crossed Staines Bridge, and passing
through Egham, had entered the great park near Englefield Green.
They were proceeding along the high ridge overlooking the woody
region between it and the castle, when a joyous shout in the glades
beneath reached them, and looking down, they saw the king
accompanied by Anne Boleyn, and attended by his falconers and a
large company of horsemen, pursuing the sport of hawking.
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