Death by the axe was the doom awarded to her by the
king, and the day appointed for the execution was Friday the 19th of
May, at the hour of noon.
Leaving the conduct of the fatal ceremony to the Duke of Suffolk, who
had orders to have a signal gun fired from the summit of the White
Tower, which was to be answered from various points, when all was
over, Henry repaired to Windsor Castle on the evening of Thursday.
Before this, he had formally offered his hand to Jane Seymour; and
while the unfortunate queen was languishing within the Tower, he was
basking in the smiles of his new mistress, and counting the hours till
he. could make her his own. On the Tuesday before the execution, Jane
Seymour retired to her father's mansion, Wolff Hall, in Wiltshire, where
preparations were made for the marriage, which it was arranged should
take place there in private on the Saturday.
On arriving at the castle, Henry gave out that he should hunt on the
following morning in the great park, and retired to his closet. But he did
not long remain there, and putting on the garb of a yeoman of the
guard, descended by the narrow flight of steps (already mentioned as
occupying the same situation as the existing Hundred Steps) to the
town, and proceeded to the Garter, where he found several guests
assembled, discussing the affairs of the day, and Bryan Bowntance's
strong ale at the same time.
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