'They lie far in the Western Ocean; I had an Italian would have built me ships to reach them,' he said, and Katharine answered: 'I do take them to be a fable of the ancients, for they had no heaven to pray for.' When his eyes were not upon her she was not afraid, and the heavy weight of his hand upon her shoulder made her feel firm to bear it. But she groaned inwardly because she had urgent words that must be said, and she imagined that nothing could be calmer in the Fortunate Islands themselves than this to walk and converse about their gracious image that shone down the ages. He said, with a heavy, dull voice: 'I would give no little to be there.' Suddenly she heard herself say, her heart leaping in her chest: 'I do not like the errand they have sent my cousin upon.' The blessed Utopia of the lost islands had stirred in the King all sorts of griefs that he would shake off, and all sorts of remembrances of youth, of open fields, and a wide world that shall be conquered--all the hopes and instincts of happiness, ineffable and indestructible, that never die in passionate men. He said dully, his thoughts far away: 'What errand have they sent him upon? Who is your goodly cousin?' She answered: 'They put it about that he should murder Cardinal Pole,' and she shook so much that he was forced to take his hand from her shoulder. He leaned upon the manage rail, and halted to rest his leg that pained him. 'It is a good errand enough,' he said. She was panting like a bird that you hold in your hand, so that all her body shook, and she blurted out: 'I would not that my cousin should murder a Churchman!' and before his eyebrows could go up in an amazed and haughty stare: 'I am like to be hanged between Privy Seal and Winchester.' He seemed to fall against the white bar of the rail for support, his eyes wide with incredulity. He said: 'When were women hanged here?' 'Sir,' she said earnestly, 'you are the only one I can speak to. I am in great peril from these men.' He shook his head at her. 'You have gone mad,' he said gravely. 'What is this fluster?' 'Give me your ear for a minute,' she pleaded. Her fear of him as a man seemed to have died down. As a king she had never feared him. 'These men do seek each other's lives, and many are like to be undone between them.' His nostrils dilated like those of a high-mettled horse that starts back. 'What maggot is this?' he said imperiously. 'Here there is no disunion.' He rolled his eyes angrily and breathed short, twisting his hands. It was part of his nature to insist that all the world should believe in the concord of his people. He had walked there to talk with a fair woman. He had imagined that she would pique him with pert speeches. 'Speak quickly,' he said in a peremptory voice, and his eyes wandered up the path between the rails and the stable walls. 'You are a pretty piece, but I have no time to waste in woeful nonsense.'