Letter
Chapter 8
London, July 1531
To Don Domnio di'Tartaglia di Montemurlo
23 July, 1531
Dearest Papa,
Yesterday I had the great honor of being made the acquaintance of the queen very informally in the chapel and today I was presented to the king and his mistress. The meetings were night and day from each other.
My impression on the queen is that she is a very traditional Spanish lady set in her ways. She seems to care for the king. I would not go as far as saying she loved him. She certainly does love the country though and very much wants a son.
King Henry VIII has all the trappings of a king (court, servants, money, etc.) but does not display the behavior of one. To be frank he is a vapid rake. After saying hello to me he asked me to remove my veil, and after seeing my face, well Papa let me just state that I now understand why you told me English were wolves. The way he eyed me makes me cringe even now hours later.
His mistress's name is Anne Boleyn. She is very pretty and in her twenties. After spending an hour with her this afternoon I have begun to see why His Majesty would abandon his wife for the woman. She is very passionate and intelligent and while I would not call the queen a dunce, from what I can see all she cares about is having a son and it has most definitely taken its toll on her.
Now Papa, correct me if I am wrong, but Mama's sister Elizabeth was married to a Boleyn, wasn't she. The only reason I ask is because Anne has mother's eyes; my eyes, and Felicia commented that we look very similar.
As I was saying, I spent the afternoon with Lady Anne and we have formed a tentative friendship. She dragged me away from Felicia, Maida, and Adriano. I spoke with her for little more than an hour about a variety of subjects.
After speaking with Anne I had a lovely conversation with Cosimo and the group of Sangue Spade you sent here with me.
Yes and what a lovely conversation that was. . .
Adriano dragged her directly to Cosimo from the gardens. She was getting sick of being dragged from place to place as if she were a dog. He finally let her go in front of a chair at a table where Cosimo and all the other Sangue Spade were sitting. He gave her a look that very clearly said sit, so she sat while he turned to address the group.
"She was dragged out of my sight today by the Lady Anne Boleyn and did not come back to where I along with both of the women's ladies were waiting for them for over an hour." He sat after the last word left his lips and the entire table turned to her in question.
"In my defense after Lady Anne went back to tell them to stay I did ask why it was so important that Adriano, Felicia, and Maida did not witness our conversation. She did not answer the question."
Cosimo met her eyes from across the table. "And what did you speak about while you were off by yourselves?"
"She was warning me off the king and felt the need to ask me if I was a virgin, if not in those words."
He gesticulated for her to go on and she rolled her eyes. "Essentially I told her that I have no reason to go after the king for his rank and going to bed with him would ruin the lives of a lot of people."
Cosimo nodded as if to say she had done well at least in that sense.
"Signore, I have a few things I would like to say to Dona Mariabella." Adriano stated. He was given a wave in response, so he went on, once again meeting Celeste's eyes. "Dona, this afternoon I was not so much upset that you went a bare twenty yards away from me. It was more that you went those twenty yards with Anne Boleyn. You are in danger all by yourself, but there are many families here that are planning the demise of Lady Anne."
Her demeanor became suddenly serious. "Catherine's supporters?"
"Yes and no. There are those that think Anne is an unstart and she needs to be put down and then there are others that find her family's ideas to be too radical for their tastes and think that killing Anne would take away any power that the Boleyns have. And then there are those that want themselves or their daughters have her position."
She took a deep breath. "So being with Anne without one of you," she met the eyes of every man around the table, "could lead to my death by simple proximity, and if I were to witness such a crime happening then I could very well be marked for death."
"Yes."
"I see. Are we finished here?"
"Yes." With that Celeste got up and left the table.
They have, for all intents and purposes forbid me from being around Lady Anne because she is in grave danger. There are several people who want her dead. You are probably sitting in your study agreeing with their assessment of the situation. You were after all the one who trained them.
Now, I ask for news of home. How are Dominic and Allessandro? How many new recruits for the Sangue Spade? And though it is a bad subject I must ask. Papa how is Ferdinand.
Know that I love you and cannot wait to see you again.
Love,
Mariabella Celeste Giovanna Aurora di'Tartaglia di Montemurlo
Celeste sprinkled sand over the paper to dry the ink and then sealed it with blue wax and her personal crest. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. She knew her father would not like the information she was passing on and Allessandro would not like that she had made friends with Lady Anne.
She looked out her only window and saw how dark it was getting. It was time for supper.
Charles sat on a bench over-looking the ladies' lady's maids and the man Cosimo sent to follow them. None of them looked happy to be left behind while the ladies spoke privately. As time went by the man got more and more twitchy, constantly reaching for his rapier and looking back to the direction that Anne and Mariabella had gone.
When they came back, Anne's attitude toward Mariabella had totally changed. They were laughing together arm and arm. He watched on as Mariabella put a hand on the man's shoulder and he knocked it away. To Charles that spelled lovers, and yet he still pegged her as an innocent.
As he watched him drag her away he became incensed and followed the group back through Whitehall straight into the suite of rooms that was put aside for the Italian emissary. He watched them go into their privy chambers and sit down.
After hearing what the man said and the way he said he couldn't leave, so he watched and listened. He counted twelve men aside from Cosimo and the man that had waited for her. Listening to them speak, he finally realized just how important Mariabella was to these people and how competent their spy network actually was.
When Mariabella got up to leave he ran back to his quaurters. Thirteen men all in on a meeting about protecting one woman. Why could see possibly need that many protectors?
