In the meantime, one of Henry’s victims was nearing the end of her trials, and reached it even before the meeting of Parliament that was to pass sentence of death upon her. In the autumn of 1535 Katharine had what appeared to be a slight illness, from which she seemed to be recovering, when at Christmas she suddenly grew worse, and sent to Chapuys, begging him to come to her without delay. He had no great difficulty in obtaining the necessary permission, although his repeated requests to see Mary, and for her to visit her mother, had been utterly disregarded. He found the Queen suffering from extreme emaciation, and from sickness. She was unable to retain any nourishment whatever; but her condition improved during the few days that Chapuys remained with her, and she was able to converse with him, and listen to him for about two hours each day. She also slept better during that time than she had done before, so that her physician pronounced her out of danger. Chapuys, “not to abuse the licence” the King had given him, left Kimbolton, where Katharine was then residing, on the 5th January, but rode slowly, in case a messenger should be sent after him with the news that she was worse, in which event he had promised to return to her. On his arrival in London, on the 9th, he sent to ask Cromwell for an audience with the King. In replying to this request, Cromwell sent word that the Queen had died little more than forty-eight hours after his leaving her, and that the news of her death had reached the court on the preceding Friday. The suddenness of her end, and the circumstances immediately following it, caused so much suspicion, that at the time there was hardly any one who did not firmly believe that she had been poisoned. The account of what passed was thus communicated to the Emperor by Chapuys:—