“Your grace,” she replied gently, “I have a petition, albeit a strange one for so joyous an occasion, yet I pray you hear it in the name of Prince Edward.” “My girl, thou hast used an appeal to which we may not turn a deaf ear,” said Henry; “say on.” Mistress Betty drew a long breath; she was summoning all her strength to plead her cause. “Sire,” she said, “there is a prisoner in the Tower wrongfully charged with treason; an innocent man whom some enemy hath entangled. I pray your grace to hear his cause, to end this great suspense. Long, long he hath languished a prisoner without the opportunity to establish his innocence. And he is innocent!” she clasped her hands together with a passionate gesture, “Simon Raby is innocent!” she cried; “and oh, my lord the king, I pray you to think of the terrible strain of this long suspense!” “Simon Raby?” repeated the king; “once my equerry, I think.” “Ay, your grace,” replied the Duke of Norfolk, “the son of old Lord Raby of Sussex; an honest gentleman, who died nearly two years ago.” “An honest gentleman; ay, I remember him; he served my father well,” said the king, thoughtfully. “Cromwell hath been eager trapping his mice, but I would not keep a true man in jail. Hath he not been tried, Mistress Carew?” he added, looking again at Betty. “Nay, your highness,” she replied sadly; “he has languished long, and with no hope, nor have they let his friends see him.” “How long hath he been in the Tower?” asked Henry, gravely. “Fourteen months and more, Sire,” she answered. “’Tis too long,” said the king, frowning. “I have no will to keep a poor gentleman without a trial; this shall be looked into.” Betty’s heart beat high with hope, but she had yet a petition to make, and Henry saw it in her expression. Her beauty, her evident loyalty to the prisoner interested him. “Speak, sweetheart,” he said kindly; “what is in thy mind?” “I pray your grace to give me warrant to see the wizard, Zachary Sanders, who is also in the Tower,” she said; “they let no man see him, but I know that if he will, he can surely clear Lord Raby; and oh, I beseech your highness, to let me plead with him!” Henry smiled. “You are not like to plead in vain, fair mistress,” he said lightly; “for the sake of this blessed night, your petitions are both granted. Norfolk, bid my lord privy seal to give this pretty beggar a warrant to go into the Tower. But hark you, my wench, I charge you not to leave your heart behind you there,” and with a laugh at his own jest, the king passed on, surrounded by an ever-increasing throng of courtiers until the apartment of the queen was gradually deserted, save by her own attendants. The first white streaks of dawn were showing at the eastern horizon when Lady Crabtree and Betty left Hampton Court, and the mists of night obscured the scene. “Thou didst have rare luck, my girl,” said old Madam, drawing her mantle closer in the chill air; “and now there is a hope to end the matter.”