More’s unwillingness to talk about his meeting with the cardinal foreshadows his later refusal to discuss his opinions about the Act of Supremacy. Though Alice understands in this instance not to press the matter, she eventually takes offense at not being allowed into her husband’s confidence. Again, More places more weight on the practical considerations of the matter than on even his love and respect for his family. Not wanting to implicate them in his affairs, he leaves them out of them, remaining a conscientious yet solitary man.

Alice foreshadows Wolsey’s death when she comments about how colds affect great and common men alike. Wolsey soon dies, and his death seems an implicit affirmation of Alice’s statement.