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they saw about them, of the manner in which he dressed his servants, so that many of them were more richly clad than his guests. In the kitchens now his master cook, attired in scarlet satin with a gold chain about his neck, would be directing his many servants as though he himself was the lord of this manor; and that was how Wolsey would have it: that each man – from his steward who was a dean, and his treasurer who was a knight, to his grooms and yeomen of the pastry and his very scullery boys – should know, and tell the world by his demeanour, that it was better to be a page of the pantry in the household of Cardinal Wolsey than a gentleman steward in the house of any nobleman under the King.
    As he brooded, his man Cavendish came to the door of the apartment and craved his master’s indulgence for disturbing him, but a certain Charles Knyvet, late of the household of the Duke of Buckingham, was begging an audience with him.
    Wolsey did not speak for a second. He felt a surge of hatred rise within him at the mention of the hated Buckingham. There was a man who had been born to wealth and nobility and who never failed to remind the Cardinal of it. It was in every look, every gesture and, often when he passed, Wolsey would hear the words: butcher’s dog.
    One day Buckingham was going to regret that he dared scorn Thomas Wolsey, for the Cardinal was not the sort to forget a grudge; all insults were remembered in order to be repaid tenfold; for that dignity which he had had to nurture,having cost him so much to come by, was doubly dear to him.
    This was interesting. Knyvet to see him! He knew that the fellow was related to Buckingham – a poor relation – who had been in the Duke’s employ until recently. There had been some difference of opinion between Master Knyvet and his rich relation, with the result that Knyvet had been dismissed from the ducal household.
    So he came to see the Cardinal.
    Wolsey regarded his hands thoughtfully. ‘You discovered his business?’
    â€˜He said it was for the ears of Your Eminence alone.’
    The Cardinal nodded; but he would not see the man – not at the first request. That would be beneath the dignity of the great Cardinal.
    â€˜Tell him he may present himself again,’ he said.
    Cavendish bowed. The man was favoured. At least the Cardinal had not refused his request for an interview.
    So Cavendish went back through the eight rooms, which had to be traversed before the Cardinal’s private chamber was reached, and in which none who sought an audience might wait.
    Now Wolsey could hear shouts on the river, the sound of music, and he decided it was time for him to leave his apartment and cross the park to the water’s edge, there to receive the party, for it would contain one before whom even a great Cardinal must bow.
    He made his way down his private staircase and out into the sunshine; standing at the river’s edge he watched the boat approach the privy stairs. In it was a party of men dressed in dazzling colours, all heavily masked and wearing beards, some of gold wire, some of black. The Cardinal saw with somedismay that the masks, the false beards, and caps of gold and scarlet which covered their heads were all-concealing, and this was going to be one of those occasions when it was not easy to pick out the King.
    Usually his great height betrayed him; but there were several who appeared to be as tall. A faint irritation came to the Cardinal, although he hastened to suppress it; one of the first steps to disfavour was taken when one betrayed a lack of interest in the King’s pastimes. That was one of the lesser ways in which the Queen was failing.
    â€˜Welcome, gentlemen,’ he cried, ‘welcome to Hampton Court.’
    One of the masked men said in a deliberately disguised voice which Wolsey could not recognise: ‘We come from a strange land, and news of the hospitality of the great Cardinal has been brought