Thanks to ..xx for betaing this! I also have a tiny favour to ask - do you think we can make it to 100 reviews before I post the next chapter? Please? Pretty Please? I've only got seven reviews to go before I reach that magic number, and it really would make the best of Christmas Presents. Anyway, enjoy, and most of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Chapter 21

A Gift for His Majesty

It was Christmas 1532, and Anne, once again, was at the centre of the Court. Masque after masque proclaimed her Queen of Peace, Queen of Winter, Queen of Christmas...every single title the Master of the Revels, who, coincidentally, happened to be our brother George, could make up for her, save for the one she really wanted – Queen of England, Ireland and France.

But even that was only a matter of time now, and everyone knew it, especially with the way the King was showering Anne with gifts, even giving her the pick of the Treasury at the Tower, as though she was a Princess of the Blood born and bred, as if she was equal in rank with his sister, my mother-in-law, the Lady Mary Brandon nee Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk.

George gave me many a key role in the masques he planned too – I was the Angel of Good Will alongside Anne's Queen of Peace, the Duchess of Snow and Ice alongside her Queen of Winter, and even the Princess of Merriment alongside her Queen of Christmas. I adored it. Like my sister, I had a good sense of rhythm, a good, clear voice, and a tendency to enjoy being in the limelight, so all these key roles were only a chance for me to bask in the admiration of the Court. My sister-in-law, Frances Brandon, was at Court too, though, as she did not enjoy having to play second fiddle to my sister, she was annoyed at having to take orders from a Boleyn, even if he was the Master of the Revels.

To George's credit, he did not seem to mind. He laughed it off with his usual easy grace, saying that with Anne's star risen so high, and ours risen with her, we were bound to have attracted enemies somewhere, and gave Frances a key role in a masque all the same – that of Anne's opponent, the Princess of Ice and Melancholy in the masque where Anne played the Queen of Christmas. I however, was slightly more worried. Frances was Sir Charles Brandon's favourite daughter, despite being his third, and if even she dared openly show her displeasure with our family, how long would it be before other people did too?

I discussed it with my husband, but he too was close to his sister, and he only said "Frances is like my mother. She's loyal to the Crown, fiercely loyal. She can't see that your sister is the best Queen Consort there could ever be for England, but we can limit her influence on my father for now, and when your sister is brought to bed, and delivers a son, well, believe me, she'll be the first person to be kneeling before your sister, swearing her fealty. I promise you that, because I know my sister, and I know full well that a Prince would change her opinion of yours in an instant." Henry snapped his fingers to show me how quickly Frances would become one of my sister's most loyal supporters, if Anne only gave the King a son, and then pulled me to him, embracing me warmly. I sighed, and allowed him to hold me tight, relaxing against his muscular chest.

"But for now, put a smile on your face, Eleanor. We have to go in to present our gifts to the King and your sister any moment. Don't show them your concerns, no matter what they are."

"Anne is my sister!" I protested angrily. Henry caught my hand and hushed me quickly.

"In private, yes. In public, no." he whispered hastily. "In public, she is the Lady Anne Rochford, Marquess of Pembroke, and the King's future bride, and you are Lady Eleanor Brandon, Countess of Lincoln, and you have to act like it. Now come on."

Henry gracefully slid my hand along his arm until it rested lightly upon his forearm, and turned towards the door. We entered the Great Hall behind my cousin, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and his betrothed, the Lady Frances de Vere, and proceeded to the dais, where my sister and the King sat side by side on ornate gold and silver thrones.

There was the traditional exchange of Christmas greetings, and then Henry summoned a pageboy with an imperious jerk of his flaxen head, who ran up bearing the expensive gifts we had selected for our monarch and my sister – a belt studded with jewels for the King, and a necklace of finely beaten gold set with star sapphires for my sister. They thanked us warmly – Anne even rose to her feet to kiss us both graciously - and then invited us to stand beside them on the dais as they received the rest of their gifts from the other courtiers.

Between all the presentations, Anne beckoned me to lean down to her, and murmured into my ear "I have to speak to you alone, sister."

"My rooms. Tonight, after the banquet. Henry's going for a moonlight ride with some of the other young men. I'll be alone." I murmured softly, reminding her to keep a smile on her face as the next pair of courtiers, Sir Anthony Browne and his wife Alice, came forward to present their gifts to the King. She nodded slightly in agreement, and then dropped the subject completely.

****

That night, I was seated alone by the fireside, having dismissed my maids for the night. My golden hair was loose and tumbling haphazardly down my back, and I was admiring the locket Henry had given me for Christmas – one of mother-of-pearl and amber and containing a portrait miniature of himself with our daughter Margaret, who was already a year old, and extremely pretty for her age. A swathe of rich conker brown velvet lay on my lap, for it was the gift Anne had given me and I was considering having a gown and hood made from it. His Majesty had presented me with a brooch of silver and jade, and I had already placed that reverently in my jewellery box. All of a sudden, there was a slight tap at the door, and Anne looked in.

"Eleanor?"

"Anne. Come in. You're just in time. I'm trying to decide what kind of a gown I should have made from this."

"Give it here. Now stand up so I can see you." Anne ordered, surveying me critically, and holding the sumptuous fabric up against me as I stood before the mirror. A few moments later, she nodded, and pulled it away, motioning to me to sit down again.

"I'd go for a tight bodice and a straight skirt. Show off your figure whilst you've got one. Encrust it with opals and diamonds. You'd look worthy to be any Queen's sister in a dress like that." she answered.

"Perhaps. I shouldn't have another one made yet, though. It'll be too expensive for my Henry to pay for."

"I'll pay for it myself. You have to look worthy of a King, worthy of being royal – especially right now, right when I'm almost there, almost a Queen crowned and anointed." Anne replied, the hint of the French accent still strong in her voice, even after all these years, and I closed my eyes in bliss at the sound of it, sliding off my stool on to the floor, and laying my head in her lap.

"But you wanted to speak to me. What is it?" I asked.

"Well you see, little sister – are we quite alone here?" For once, Anne was the one not quite sure of herself, not quite in control of the situation, and I was the calm one. What a change it was from the days of my childhood, when my beloved sister had always been the one in charge, the self-assured one, the gracious one, no matter what. I nodded reassuringly.

"We are, Anna-Maria. Quite alone, I promise you. Tell me what you want to tell me. No-one else will hear you, I promise."

"Eleanor, I've missed my course. Mary entertains the notion that I might be with child, but I want your opinion too. You've had a child of your own; what do you think?"

"Well, when's your next one due? Your next course, I mean?" I had to fight the urge to leap to my feet in excitement. So much hung on Anne getting herself with child that I scarcely dared breathe, just in case it was a false hope.

"This week – and I haven't bled yet." Anne replied. Now I really did begin to allow myself hope of Mary's notion becoming reality. It was already Saturday – the week was almost over. Tilting my head back so that I could look up at her, I reached back with one hand to touch my sister's arm.

"Anne, don't quote me on this, but, if you haven't bled by New Year's Day, I should begin to think of telling the King. From what you tell me, there's a very good chance that you might well be with child."

****

I watched Anne like a hawk for the remainder of the month. I watched the maids changing her bed linens too which was something I had never done before in my life. They were never stained – not one night passed where I had to shrug my shoulders and say to myself "Ah well. Not this month, then. Perhaps the next."

By New Year's Day, Anne was certainly with child. Over the last week, the two of us had secretly embroidered a christening robe - one of white French lace and embroidered with golden roses. Once we had finished it, I expected Anne to tell the King, but Anne kept her secret a day or two longer, waiting until all the excitement and festivities of celebrating the New Year had died down before suddenly saying, seemingly out of the blue "My God. I still have a gift for the King. How could I have forgotten to give it to him? Madge, would you be kind enough to go to his rooms and ask him if he has a minute to come and see me so that he can receive it?"

"Of course, my lady." Madge muttered quickly, rising from her seat by the fire to do Anne's bidding. Anne glanced at me as she left, and I dismissed the rest of her ladies too, telling them that Anne wished to see the King in private. They scurried out like a flock of chattering starlings in silk and satin, and I hurried to Anne's side. "Are you going to tell him?"

Anne nodded, smiling at me confidentially, and I burst into a fit of joyous laughter, which I hastily stifled as we heard the King's footsteps sounding in the passage outside. He came in, checked on the threshold at the sight of the empty room, and then knelt to kiss my sister's hand, even as the two of us rose in unison to drop into our curtsies to him.

"Anne. My love. I came as quickly as I could. Lady Shelton said you wanted to see me? I hope nothing is amiss?"

"I did, Henry, but nothing is amiss. In fact, nothing has ever been better. I simply wanted to see you alone so as to be able to give you something. Something I hope you will treasure greatly." Anne flicked her hand to send Madge out of the room, and then turned to me. "Eleanor?"

It was all she needed to say. I laid the christening robe in her lap, and she picked it up and handed it to the King. "Happy New Year, Your Majesty."

For a moment, he could not make sense of it, and then he looked up – looked up to see my sister's enigmatic half-smile, and the shine of suppressed glee in my sapphire blue eyes as I watched him.

He could scarcely get the words out to ask her "Is it true? Are you -?"

"Carrying your child?" Anne asked confidently. "Yes, Henry, I am."

And then it sank in, and the King was out of his seat with a whoop of joy. He crushed Anne to him, murmuring a litany of words, all of them her name, punctuated with fervent whispers of thanks.

"Anne – Anne – Thank God – Thank God – Anne…"

Without another word, I slipped from the room. There was no need to intrude on the King's joy, nor that of my sister. We Boleyns had just given the King the greatest gift he could ever have asked for, and he and my sister deserved to be able to enjoy their great happiness in peace. Better to leave them alone than to stay. Better to leave them alone in private informality. Better to leave them alone as a man and his sweetheart than to keep them a King and his favourite.