AN: Wow. Thanks for the warm welcome of this new story.
Part 2
1533
Sixteen years old, and she was walking along the ornate halls of Henry Tudor's court. Blair's heart pumped in her chest, so strongly she was afraid she would faint. Still, she held her chin high and commanded each foot to step before the other one. Her father would believe none of it. And her mother—her mother would eternally be grateful to the Boleyn family for providing this privilege.
She hardly remembered Anne's face, and yet Anne had paved the way for her to serve in the French court when she was fourteen and now—
Now Anne called her to be a maid of honor in her own court. Anne! She had been from a family as modest as Blair's, and now she would be queen! Blair's lips curved in pleasure and excitement. Her parents were in France growing grapes for wine and she, Blair Cornelia Waldorf, was going to sit in the right hand of the queen of England.
Blair spied the flurry of the servants taking silver candelabras from a room. Horses arrived out in the courtyard. She peered through the glass and saw chickens and boar and deer brought in. It shall be as grand as Anne wrote in her letter. Blair walked faster towards the chambers.
The guard bowed as she stepped into the room. Her lips parted at the scent of burning jasmine, and remembered faintly the scent surround her on the day she met Anne and the beautiful Mary Boleyn. She had been six then, and the Boleyn sisters visited their vineyard to say their farewells to Eleanor.
"Where are you going, cousin?" she had asked Mary. Blair touched the golden locks of Mary's hair and found it the most gorgeous treasure in the world.
"To England, my darling. It is time to return home."
"Where is England?"
And it was Anne who answered, "Across the Channel, ma cherie."
"Why is home so far away?"
"England is where we were born, Blair. It is where your mother was born. That is home." Anne had regarded her with amusement as Blair took more of Mary's blonde locks in her hand. "Someday you will see England, and you shall know how wonderful it is to be home."
"I hear Paris is beautiful," she told Anne.
"Nothing is more beautiful than home," Anne pointed out. "You shall see, Blair. Do not be content with anything less. When you see England, it shall be when it is at its most beautiful, because you deserve no less. You, after all, have Howard blood like I do."
"Then I shall see England, and I will have hair as pretty as Mary's."
"You shall have everything you want," she assured Blair.
"Anne, dear, do not fill the child's head with drivel," Mary cautioned.
Anne winked at Blair and wrapped her in an embrace. "Cousin, I shall see you on the other side."
Seated in the grandest seats upon the pedestal, it was difficult to miss them. Henry Tudor, almost revered in the great fear and hatred in the whispers of many in the French court. He was a powerful man, even seated. Blair spied the woman sitting beside him. At once, the queen stood and a large smile spread across her face.
When the queen stepped off her dais, Blair saw the intent gaze of the man standing behind her.
"Ma cherie!" At once, the king appeared right beside Anne who had wrapped her in a warm embrace. Anne turned to the king, and informed him, "Henry, this is my dear cousin Blair. She was such a tiny thing when I left France, Henry! Look at her."
Henry nodded, and said, "Welcome to my court, Lady Blair. Please, make yourself at home."
Blair dropped to a low curtsy. When she rose, her eyes landed once again on the dark-haired man who had stood behind Anne. Blair forced her attention back to Anne. "And you, majesty, are heavy with child."
Anne gave a secret smile and whispered, "I am not queen yet. You are here for my coronation. You, Blair, shall be my maid of honor."
The prospect was heady, and such honor that she had never thought was possible in this lifetime. Blair gasped aloud.
Anne held her hand. "Did I not swear to you, Blair, that you shall see England at its most beautiful? My lord husband shall ensure tomorrow, this kingdom is at its very best."
The man now walked towards one of the servants who bore a decanter of sweet wine. Blair followed his movement will her eyes. The king had returned to his seat and now was in deep conversation with his adviser. The man filled his goblet and drank. And then, while his lips glistened with his drink, he raised the goblet towards her. Blair drew a quick breath.
Anne's brows rose and the queen glanced in the direction that Blair looked. "Lord Charles Bass. Arundel's heir." Anne pulled Blair aside and said, "Blair, young, courtly love is danger." And Blair had heard of Percy, and her cousin's broken heart.
"Who speaks of love?" Blair denied, although her young heart had never been more aflutter.
The young man walked towards them, and bowed to Anne. "Forgive the intrusion, majesty. I have come to be introduced."
"Of course, Lord Bass. Lady Blair, from my mother's side of the family. She joins our court from two years serving the French queen. Blair, you have the pleasure of meeting Lord Charles, son of the earl of Arundel Lord Bartholomew." He kissed Blair's hand. When he did not leave, Anne added, "Is there anything else, my lord?"
Lord Bass took it as dismissal and bowed, then moved away. Anne grinned. "He is positively infatuated."
Blair smiled. "And so am I." She turned to her cousin and declared, "I think, Anne, I shall love him."
"If you want him, darling, so you shall have him."
Blair nodded. She was in England, and will participate in the glorious event of a queen's coronation. And she had just met the most intriguing man.
"I would have you dance with Lord Nathaniel." Anne pointed him out in the chambers. "I remember you had a fondness for gold hair."
"Another man. Why?" Blair asked.
"Because, Blair, this is how you will make Lord Bass chase you." When Blair looked on with skepticism, Anne expounded, "Did you ever believe in your life, Blair, that a Boleyn girl would be queen of England?" When Blair shook her head, Anne nodded in satisfaction. The queen patted Blair's cheek. "Trust me."
"But," Blair retorted, "I do not want to be queen."
"But you do want the Earl of Arundel's only son. Arundel—the oldest peerage in this kingdom. Howard or Boleyn, Blair, he is far above your station." Anne placed a hand on her shoulder. "Show him you are desirable, and you shall him like I have Henry."
1536
Three years had passed and not much else had changed. The very first day she met the King, she had been most nervous and worried of the occasion. Henry was an imposing character, and despite never having seen the man before Blair had assumed, rightly so, what large presence he had. In the large chambers where there were introduced, Henry commanded every corner.
Despite the bitter hatred that Chuck claimed against her now, Blair was eternally grateful for the hand that wrapped around her elbow as they walked towards the throne.
"Thank you," she murmured when she would have stumbled, and Chuck's grip stayed her and allowed her to keep what dignity she had.
Blair glanced at him, and for that small moment she recognized the playful smirk spread across his face. "I would not have you sprawled on His Majesty's floor, with your skirt over your head." And she realized that she was now standing right in that very spot where three years ago she first laid eyes on Chuck Bass—and he her.
Perhaps little memories gave him fondness for her—fondness he had since lost.
"It pleases us, Lady Blair," she heard from the throne, spoken warmly by the woman seated beside the king, "that you have come all the way from Arundel Castle to see us." Blair lowered her head, grateful for her Anne's unquestionable affection. "You have long been absent from court and the eyes of your sovereign."
Beside Anne, Henry regarded her with furrowed brows as he struggled to remember her. Blair held her breath, as terrified still of the man as she had been then. Henry had always favored Chuck's father until his most horrid death failing on a task for the king. True, in his impassioned rage Henry had stripped Bartholomew Bass of his wealth. But the king was the king and had frequently spoken warmly of Bartholomew, even wondered aloud what had happened to the son from whom he had denied the title.
Between Blair and Chuck, Blair knew, Henry would favor the young man from whom he had taken much.
"Come, Lady Blair, and kiss my hand," Anne instructed. "Our hearts have missed you so."
Blair made her way towards the throne. Chuck's hand on her elbow fell away. When she was near, she dropped to a curtsy before Henry, then approached Anne. "Queen Anne," she greeted. Blair took Anne's hand and kissed fondly Anne's hand. The queen leaned close to her, in her heavy, jeweled dress, and placed a kiss on her cheeks. "You look positively horrified, my dear," Anne whispered into her ear. "Your place is secure. Trust me. I am the reason we are here, remember? Take heart, Blair."
Blair returned to her place beside Chuck. When she faced the king and queen this time, Chuck did not place an assuring hand on her body.
"My ministers tell me that we have an issue with the holdings of the deceased Lord Bass, with Arundel Castle," Henry declared, assessing the two before him. "Lord Charles, we have not seen you in a while," he said, conveniently neglecting to add that Chuck had not appeared before the court since he was stripped of his birthright. "It was a sad day in court when your father passed. I respected him so."
To Blair, he said, "And you, my dear, so young and beautiful and widowed so early." Henry turned to Anne, and clasped his queen's hand. "I shall endeavor not to pass so young, my dearest, that you shall not find yourself a lovely, rich widow so soon in life."
Anne smiled and patted Henry's hand. "You shall outlive us all, my love."
"And so we have a dowager countess without a son, and the son from whom we took the lands," Henry murmured.
"Lord Jack held the title last, and used Lady Blair's monies to replenish his coffers," Anne reminded the king.
"And she has no title in England."
"Not then," Anne said. "But it was, I believe, for Lord Jack a fair trade."
Henry guffawed. "Of course Jack felt it was fair trade. Look at her, my dear," Henry said, gesturing to Blair. "With her purse and such a comely appearance, any man would take her."
It was at this that Chuck intervened. "Your grace," he said. Blair glanced at him and noticed the tick in his jaw. "I would ask that you keep in mind my lord father in this decision."
"Died in vain, if you will remember, Henry," Anne added. "My poor Elizabeth was almost born a bastard."
And so Chuck struck where it would most appeal to the king. "Would you deprive my heritage its male heir, your grace? If I may be so bold," he told the king, "should my family line lose its titles and its lands so that a childless widow may in the future give it sons that have none of the Basses' blood?"
It was a sore point with the queen, one that Blair knew would speak to the monarch.
Anne, finally, showed her sharp tongue that many in the court so disliked. "And do you propose to throw her into the streets, Lord Bass, now that Jack Bass has depleted her worth and left her penniless?"
Chuck glanced at Blair sideways. "Having known Lady Bass well, I am certain she will land on her feet, with a man far nobler and richer than Jack."
Blair struggled to keep mum, to trust in her cousin as she had asked. But she had been out into the streets and it was horrid. London was unlike Paris, and she would not survive. Penniless and widowed, she would likely end up with only one option—and despite the reputation that preceded her because of her relation to Mary and Anne, Blair would never wish to trade her honor for survival. "Your grace," Blair said, "if you will hear me." Anne turned to her with wide eyes. Even Chuck looked at her in surprise.
"And so," Henry said in a low tone, "she speaks."
Blair swallowed. "I have it in good faith," she said, her voice faint at first, but growing stronger as she continued, "that Lord Jack wished for me to stay. He said it on his dying day, and servants in Arundel shall speak to its truth. Majesty, I am countess and it must not change for the sole reason that Bartholomew's heir happened to return when he wished." She took a deep breath, and saw Anne nod. She took a deep breath, and said, "Who is to say my lord Charles shall not again abandon his home on a whim?"
Chuck tore his gaze from her, then focused his attention on the king. Blair bit her lower lip
"The peerage is dependent on the castle, your majesty," Blair stated from another king's proclamation on the transfer of the peerage. "And I hold Arundel castle."
Henry leaned down, with his elbows on his knees. He regarded the two as he rubbed his chin with thoughtful fingers. "You, young children, bring trouble to my mind."
"I apologize, majesty," Chuck answered gravelly. "But I shall not stand for a stranger from France to steal what is rightfully mine."
Henry made a clucking sound. "You were winning up until that time, Bass," Henry intoned.
Chuck threw Blair a look. Then his eyes widened at the remembrance. Blair said, in muted glee, "Strangers from France, with English blood, have every right to be in this room, and claim this kingdom, Chuck."
"I thank you, my dear," Anne proclaimed, and Blair could hear from her voice that the queen knew they had already won.
Henry cleared his throat. "Very well," he said. "I have made my decision." Blair held her breath. Beside him, Chuck straightened and prepared himself for defeat and rejection. Henry gestured towards Blair. "Here we have the lovely widow of the last earl, who from all accounts, has made the Bass estate her home. And the people that remain adore you, my dear. You have given them your wealth. Sadly, it was not enough to revive the land." The king turned to Chuck. "And here is the prodigal son, who walked away from us when he was displeased by the king's command."
Blair saw the moment Anne's eyes lit up.
"You deserve to live in your late husband's land, countess," the king declared, "and to take it with you to gain the interest of your next husband. You no longer have your gold, so you will need the title and those lands."
"Your grace!" Blair exclaimed gratefully.
The king held up his hand in silence. "And you have been given very little," he told Chuck.
Chuck narrowed his eyes. "I shall take what I have and build on it, majesty. I am Bartholomew Bass' son."
Henry nodded. "And you have. I have learned of the gold you have made in the Continent, Lord Bass. You are, in fact, Bartholomew's spawn. And I have long regretted taking your birthright from you." The king glanced at Blair first, before continuing, "Do you understand that Lady Bass cannot find a husband now that her dowry is gone?" Chuck did not respond.
Henry asked Blair, "And you, my dear, understand that those lands will die under your care-without the hand of a man, or the gold for seeds and cattle."
Blair supposed that she already knew what the king would declare before he even did. She knew the moment Chuck did as well. Her eyes fell to the hand that reached for hers. His grip on her fingers was tight, hurtful. She closed her eyes and tears seeped out.
"Lady Blair, Lord Charles—"
"No," the queen whispered. "My lord—"
"You are the answer to each other's dilemma. On the morrow, you shall wed." Henry turned to his left, and motioned to his guard. "Call the archbishop."
tbc
