XXVIII THE FALL OF THE GREAT CARDINAL 265 XXXII THE PROPHETESS' WARNING XXXIII THE MEETING OF THE KINGS. 294 307 CHAPTER I THE KING'S MESSENGER As he sang a love sonnet, a rider cracked his hunting whip at a leaf on a bough and scattered a spray of yellow gorse-bloom to the winds. His overflowing spirits bespoke his sunny nature. He sat well in his saddle with an easy abandon, and with reins dangling loosely, for his superb mount started not at his master's vagaries with his whip, but galloped along as if in perfect accord with his mood. The song of the rider burst forth again, as the intense life action of his horse was communicated to him; and he cared not that his trunks and shoes were drenched with dew when the animal took its way through the deeper ferns which rose in prodigal luxuriance as high as the rider's knees. The horse lifted his limbs with grand confidence, showering sparkling dewdrops everywhere, which looked like diamonds flung broadcast. The morning was young, yet it found him well on the road, for the king's message could not be delayed; and an attraction awaited him at the end of his journey. The cardinal's favorite, the young heir of Northumberland, and Thomas Wyatt, who was the bearer of the king's message, |