Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/319

1540.] He grew superstitious about his repugnance, which he regarded as an instinct forbidding him to do an unlawful thing. 'I have done as much to move the consent of my heart and mind as ever man did,' he said to Cromwell, 'but without success.' 'I think before God,' he declared another time, 'she has never been my lawful wife.' The wretched relations continued without improvement till the 9th of May. On that day a royal circular was addressed to every member of the privy council, requiring them to attend the King's presence, 'for the treaty of such great and weighty matters as whereupon doth consist the surety of his Highness's person, the preservation of his honour, and the tranquillity and quietness of themselves and all other his loving and faithful subjects.' It may be conjectured that the King had at this time resolved to open his situation for discussion. No other matter can be ascertained to have existed at the time worthy of language so serious. Yet he must have changed his purpose. For three weeks longer the secret was preserved, and his course was still undecided. On the evening of the 6th or 7th of June Sir Thomas Wriothesley repaired to Cromwell's house with the ordinary reports of public business. He found the minister alone in a gallery, leaning against a window. 'Were there any news abroad?' Cromwell asked. Wriothesley said he knew of none.