'Yes, I did promise, and I will perform the ceremony, or, at least, I will be present at these espousals. It shall never be said by Alice De Clinton, or her uncle, that I shrank from a duty which required nothing but exertion to discharge. Ellen, Latimer, De Freston, nay, my mother, and all Ipswich shall see, that I care not for friends or relatives, and that the boyish fancies of my former days shall be forgotten in the duties of my office.' Then he sat leaning on his elbow, with hand upon his forehead, thinking of what he should write. Thinking, indeed, he was, all that night; and not one word could his proud spirit pen to his friend Latimer, or to Ellen, or her father. His servant came to ask his commands about Lord De Freston's messenger. 'Tell him,' replied the priest, 'I will give him his answer at six o'clock on the morrow.' So the restless spirit tossed him to and fro all night, and when the dawn arose, Wolsey arose with it, and might be seen walking under the magnificent frees of Magdalen Park. When he returned to his rooms, Arthur Burch was in great distress. His horse had been taken ill in the night, and, as the farrier said he would be quite unable to proceed on his journey, he came to petition Wolsey for the loan of one of his numerous stud. 'I have but one, Arthur, and that I shall want myself. Mine is but a poor substitute for thy noble Flanders black. Yet I can hire here better than thou canst. So thou mayst have my nag.' Arthur's eyes were open, and his tongue soon gave utterance to his astonishment. 'What, a'nt all those horses yours I saw in the stables? and a'nt all this great house yours? and a'nt you master of all these folks? They told me you were a-going to build a great tower, like Master Latimer's at Freston; and yet you say you've got but one horse!' 'All this is true, Arthur, and I have but this room, and that I call my own, and yet it is not my own, for I cannot sell it, or give it to any one. It belongs to the college. I am going to build a tower, but with the college money. Yet one day, Arthur, it will as much surpass Freston Tower as the King's palace does thy master's house. But we will not talk of these things. Go thou and look to thy horse, and if not fit to journey, take thou mine.' 'But the letter, your reverence?' 'Say I wrote none; but that I sent word by thee, that I will be there anon, ready to do what duty may be required of me.' So Wolsey dismissed Lord De Freston's servant, and prepared himself to follow him to Ipswich. CHAPTER XXVI. THE JOURNEY. A journey from Oxford to Ipswich in these days is as the swallow skimming along the air, save that his pinions make less noise than the gliding railway. Wolsey resolved to journey to his native town. Arthur's horse had recovered, and Arthur himself, taking advantage of a cavalcade to Aylesbury and Bedford, had already started.