"
"Has your majesty any further commands? "said Suffolk. "I saw Norris
in his prison before I rode forth to you."
"Let him be taken to the Tower, under a strong escort, at once," said
Henry. "Lord Rochford, I suppose, has already been removed there?"
"He has," replied the duke. "Shall I attend your majesty to your
followers?"
"It is needless," replied the king. "They are waiting for me, close at
hand, at the foot of Datchet Bridge. Fare well, my good brother; look
well to your prisoners. I shall feel more easy when Anne is safely
lodged within the Tower."
So saying he wheeled round, and striking spurs into his steed, dashed
through the trees, while the duke rode back to the castle.
Henry had not proceeded far, when a horseman, mounted on a sable
steed, emerged from the thicket, and galloped up to him. The wild
attire and antlered helm of this personage proclaimed the forest fiend.
"Ah! thou here, demon!" cried the king, his lion nature overmastered by
superstitious fear for a moment. "What wouldst thou?"
"You are on the eve of committing a great crime," replied Herne; "and I
told you that at such times I would always appear to you."
"To administer justice is not to commit crime," rejoined the king.
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