Charles' suppositions about the fate of King Henry VIII's fifth marriage turned out to be correct. Within a couple of years, it came to light that Katherine Howard was having an affair with a trusted courtier named Thomas Culpepper. Both Katherine and her lover were, of course, executed.
Henry remarried soon afterwards, to the widow Katherine Parr.
"He still hopes to beget more sons, as he still has but Edward," Charles told Katherine. "Yet to be honest, given both his size and his poor health, I don't believe he is still capable of performing the act, even."
"Yet I'm sure no one could ever tell him that," Katherine added, and they both laughed.
Charles was sent to fight in the war in France and returned a changed man. Never before had Katherine seen her husband so weary, so weak. It seemed as if the light had simply gone out of his eyes.
"I know that God shall call me home soon," he told Katherine.
"Please don't say such things! I don't know how I could ever go on without you!" Katherine cried.
Charles embraced his wife and kissed her forehead. "Please don't feel so sad, my love. We've shared many happy years together, and you'll always have those memories to treasure. The time to part is very near, but I'll wait for you on the other side, and soon we'll be together for all of eternity."
As Charles grew weaker and eventually became bedridden, Katherine seldom left his side, urging him to eat and drink, hoping against hope that he would take a turn for the better.
Lottie, now a lovely young woman, sat by her father's bedside with tears streaming down her face.
"Please don't leave me, Papa..."
"I must, my darling. As you once left me, now I must leave you. Dearest Lottie, I'll always be a part of you, and you a part of me. We'll see one another again someday. The love we share will never truly die."
Edward sobbed unashamedly. Arthur said little, and although he tried his best to hide it, even he was seen to wipe tears from his eyes from time to time.
The Wyatts all arrived to say good-bye to their long-time friend.
"I'll never forget the kindness you've always shown all of us," Elizabeth Wyatt told Charles. Her younger daughter, Evelyn, was in tears as well. Her older daughter, Kitty, seemed strangely unaffected, which wasn't lost to Katherine, who felt hurt that Kitty seemed so untroubled. Katherine, of course, knew nothing of Kitty's previous life.
As Charles' life ebbed away, Katherine summoned the priest, who arrived to administer last rites to Charles. Katherine sat by Charles' side holding his hand as he drew his last breath.
In Bavaria, Mary read the letter from her mother and burst into tears.
"I must travel to England right away," she told Philip. "My stepfather has passed away."
"My darling, I am so sorry." Philip embraced his wife and held her as she wept.
"Your mother has to return to England," he explained later to Victor and the twins, Elena and Elisa. The baby, Ernest, was too young to understand. "Something very sad has happened in her family and she has to go and visit her mother, your grandmother, for a little while, but she won't be gone for very long, and then she'll come right back home to us."
"Don't go, Mama!" cried Elena and Elisa, holding tightly to Mary's legs.
"I have to go, my darlings," Mary told them. "But your Papa will be here to take care of you, and Frau Gretchen, and the others."
Saying good-bye to her family and traveling back to England alone was one of the most difficult things Mary had ever done. Although she looked forward to seeing her mother again, she dreaded facing the sorrow and grief that she was sure to soon encounter.
The death of King Henry VIII only a couple of years later seemed almost anti-climactic to Katherine. His funeral was, of course, much grander and more lavish than Charles' had been, and although she had spent many years with Henry and had a child with him, she felt nothing more than a mild sense of finality when she heard of his passing. The death of Charles had left her with a raw, gaping wound, that at first had seemed almost unbearable. For days, all she could do was sit and cry and pray. By contrast, she felt that she had done all her mourning over Henry long ago, when he had cast her aside.
Despite how he had treated her, Anne of Cleves felt no joy at Henry's passing. Instead, she was kind-hearted enough to feel genuine sympathy for those who had loved him and would miss him. After all, she reasoned, if not for Henry, she would never have come to England and therefore never met Gregory. The happiness she now shared with her husband more than made up for any pain Henry had caused her.
Gregory, still bitter over the loss of his father, felt a vindictive sense of satisfaction at Henry's death, although he was, of course, too well bred to allow his feelings to show.
Anne, sensitive to her husband's pain, did not attend Henry's funeral, instead sharing a quiet day with Gregory, their young son Thomas, and their infant daughter Elizabeth.