There had been a long silence whilst Ursula mounted the stairs and finally disappeared, but the rustle of her silk skirt did not penetrate through the solid panels of the closet door. Wessex did not know whether she had gone, or had been ordered to wait until Her Majesty had quitted the room. He wondered now how soon he would meet her, how she would look when she finally released him from this torture-chamber. He knew that he would not upbraid her, and feared but one awful eventuality, his own weakness if she were guilty. Love such as his oft makes cowards of men. To the Cardinal's poisoned shaft he paid but little heed. The weary soul had come to the end of its tether. It could not suffer more. Beyond that lay madness or crime. Silence became oppressive. Then it seemed as if the key was being gently turned in the lock. CHAPTER XXV THE CARDINAL'S MOVE His Eminence had been left all alone in the room after the passage of Her Majesty to her own apartments. "And now, what is the next move in this game of chess?" he mused, as he took the key of the closet door from his pocket and thoughtfully contemplated this tiny engine of his far-reaching and elaborate schemes. "For the moment my guess was a shrewd one. His Grace of Wessex is in there, and had I not locked that door he would have precipitated a climax, which had sent Queen Mary into a fever of jealous rage, and the Spanish ambassador and myself back to Spain to-morrow." He listened intently for a second or so; no sound came from the inner room. Then he glanced up towards the gallery. There was, of course, no sign of Lady Ursula. Even if she intended anon to rejoin His Grace, she would certainly wait a little while ere she once more ventured to sally forth. The Cardinal very softly put the key back into the lock, and waited. Very soon the door was vigorously shaken. His Eminence retired to the further end of the room and called loudly-- "Who goes there?" "By Our Lady!" came in strong accents from the other side of the locked door, "whoever you may be, an you don't open this door, it shall fall in splinters atop of you." Time to once more recross the room, and turn a small key, and a second later the Cardinal stood face to face with the Duke of Wessex. "His Grace of Wessex!" he murmured, with an expression of boundless astonishment. "Himself in person, my lord," rejoined Wessex, trying with all his might to appear unconcerned before this man, whom he knew to be his deadliest enemy. "Marry!" he added, with well-acted gaiety, "the next moment, an Your Eminence had not released me, I might have lost my temper." "A precious trifle Your Grace would no doubt have quickly found again," said His Eminence with marked suavity. "Ah! I well recollect in my young days being locked in . . . just like Your Grace . . . by a lady who was no less fair."