"No time to dress, your highness - besides you will not need to be clothed for long" he says, this man who is leering at her body and suddenly, suddenly Mary realises that she is only in her nightgown and she feels worse, especially at the press of his body against hers and especially that he seems to be enjoying the signs of her fear and suddenly, suddenly she is angrier than ever. And she realises Seymour has dropped the dagger from her throat and Mary, Mary kicks him as hard as she can and has the satisfaction of hearing a grunt of pain. But he grabs her by the hair and suddenly, suddenly he throws her to the bed and Mary's scream dies in her throat as the man looms over her.
"If you will not behave like a lady, I will not treat you as one. This bed will do as well as any other to make you my wife" and then Seymour, then he starts cutting her night gown to pieces as he holds her down and someone, Mary thinks distantly, is screaming. It takes her a moment to realise that it is her own voice and Seymours face is terrible as he leans over her, clearly searching for a gag and then he...then he….Mary never finishes the thought, because suddenly Seymour is gone and there are guards in the room and her ladies in waiting are crowding her.
It emerges that one of the ladies that Seymour had drugged had eaten lightly that night and had therefore thrown off the effects of the drug far earlier than Mary's other ladies and had been able to sneak away to summon the guards when Seymour was...distracted. But that comes later. At this moment Mary just wants quiet, just wants to be in a place where her bed is not. She's going to have to have that bed burned, Mary thinks, oddly calm inside her head as her ladies help her into a tub of steaming hot water and carry away the remnants of her nightgown, though she's sure that sometime soon that calm will shatter, at this moment it is carrying her through.
Except it is too much. Too many voices, too much noise and the press of people around is making Mary feel sick and she wants to demand that they all leave but somehow the words stick in her throat and she simply lets her ladies dry her and dress her in fresh clothes and rebraid her hair and fetch a chair for her to sit by the fire as they give orders for food and mulled wine to be bought. She only finds her voice when one of her ladies starts to cry and then, it turns out that Mary spends much of the time comforting her as she does asking for the Duke of Essex to be sent for immediately.
Mary knows that whatever her feelings of uneasiness about the man he is deeply loyal to her family and moreover the one person in the palace who can be trusted to tell her father what has happened and...Philip oh, Philip. Will he still wish to wed me, when he knows of this, Mary thinks - what might Seymour say of what happened after all? Perhaps that I had invited him into my rooms and will Philip think me a wanton?
Mary is crying when Thomas Cromwell arrives but he doesn't comment on it. He doesn't crowd around her either, but instead chooses a chair across from hers, leaving a table between them. He lets Mary choose to come closer if she wishes and that, that is somehow more comforting than anything any other person has done for her this night and Mary feels her heart lift, at least a little. He may be many things (a reformer, her father and stepmothers lover) but Mary appreciates his gesture in this moment.
She tells him the story in stark terms, half wishing she did not have to speak of it but knowing she must and closes with "and I swear on the bible I did nothing to entice or tempt him, your Grace" to which Cromwell merely says "I believe you, your highness" with great solemnity, kindness and no trace of either pity nor blame. It matters to Mary, in that moment, more than she can say and she hopes it shows in her face for all she can do is nod tightly.
Mary doesn't realise she has said 'but will Philip? Will my father?' until the words leave her mouth and she stops, ashamed at her forwardness but Cromwell only looks at her gently, the way, Mary realises later, that he looks at her siblings.
"Your husband to be is a good man, a man of great kindness - if he lives up to it and I believe, your highness, he shall - then he shall believe you as he should. And as for your father." for a moment Cromwell pauses, "forgive me Mary, I know and understand that you cannot be easy with who I am to your father and the Queen and I would never expect you to be but I promise that your father will believe you and will not think less of you for what an evil man has made you endure."
It is then that Mary waves her hand at her remaining ladies (who have thankfully moved away, though they still in sight of her and Cromwell) to stand back a little more - all but her two most trusted who will remain in the corner. She does so because she does not know that she can control her tears and she does not wish to cry in front of any more people this night.
"But how can you know, Master Cromwell? Have you ever told my father such a thing as this?"
Cromwell looks away for a moment. It is only for a moment but it is enough and suddenly, suddenly Mary knows and she, she does not know what her thoughts are.
"Tell me, your grace. Tell me how you know." It is not precisely an order but it is not precisely not one either.