Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

him. Suddenly Henry pulled out a letter, and,
handing it to Wolsey, said sharply, "Is not this your
hand?"[11] The cardinal's reply was not heard by
the lords that filled the apartment, and who intently
watched the countenances of the two; but the letter
was understood to be an intercepted one relating to
the treaty which Wolsey had concluded with
France, without the consent or knowledge of the
king. The conversation lasted a few minutes longer,
and Wolsey was dismissed to dinner, but not
permitted to sleep under the same roof with the
king. This was the last audience he ever had of his
master, and Wolsey but too truly divined that the
star of his greatness had set. On the morrow the
two cardinals set forth on their journey, Wolsey
returning to London, and Campeggio directing his
steps towards his port of debarkation. At
Dover,[12] his baggage was strictly searched, by
the king's orders, for important papers, especially
the decretal [13] annulling his marriage, which
Henry had been permitted to see, but not to touch.
The decretal was not found, for this very sufficient
reason, that the cardinal, agreeably to instructions,
had burned it. All other important documents were
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