Sir Francis Bryans' investigation was taking an unusual turn. When the King of England had given him the task of finding Reginald Pole and the Lady Elizabeth he would have thought finding Pole would have been the easiest. Pole was trying to get support for his invasion of England so therefore there should have been no trouble for Francis in finding him. Unfortunately Sir Francis was forced to take Thomas Seymour with him. The mission Sir Francis was involved in required intelligence and finesse, attributes that Thomas didn't possess. Edward Seymour had the abilities his brother lacked and would have made a far better choice but unfortunately after Sir Francis affair with Edwards' wife the likelihood of Francis returning home alive would have been impossible if he had took Edward with him. Fortunately for Sir Francis Thomas Seymour was staying outside the palace gathering information or probably getting drunk but it didn't matter to Francis as long as he was out of the way.
Finding his cousin had been a stroke of luck. Whilst he had heard rumours of Marys' charitable work he wasn't sure they could have been the same person. The Mary he once knew tended to stay out of politics but here she was advising Catherine De Medici on how to repair her marriage. Sir Francis had just spent hours listening to Diane rant and rave about Marys' interference. Francis had no interest in Diane's relationship with the Dauphin he was more concerned about the King of France's intentions with Elizabeth.
Francis was just about to plan his next move when he sensed someones presence in the room. Sir Francis pulled a dagger out of his sleeve when a voice stopped him, "I'm sure even you aren't so foolish enough to murder a King in his own palace."
"Apologies your majesty, I wasn't expecting you." Sir Francis was surprised that the King would approach him on his own.
"I know why you're here." The King didn't see any reason for pleasantries. His spies already told him of Sir Francis Bryans' mission. "You're looking for Cardinal Pole and I would like to offer my assistance."
This made Sir Francis very suspicious, "Why would you go against the Pope's wishes to help me?"
The King of France sighed, "I'm not going against the Pope's wishes. I'm going against the Emperor." The truth was King Francis had no desire for the Emperors' puppet the Lady Mary to take the throne but Sir Francis Bryan didn't need to know that. "I'm sure that with Pole's arrest the Pope will find some other means to secure Englands' future."
Sir Francis was no fool, judging by the Kings' words his plan was to champion Elizabeth against Mary but Sir Francis was smart enough not to voice these suspicions. "What do you want in exchange for this assistance?"
"Once you've apprehended Cardinal Pole I want you to leave France." The King stated. "You can tell King Henry that his daughter is safe under my protection and if he wishes to contact her he is free to do so."
Sir Francis couldn't help but think that King Francis approach was clever. Whilst the Emperor had gained an enemy by taking the Lady Mary away and denying Henry access to her, King Francis was allowing Elizabeth access to her father increasing his chance for an alliance against the Emperor. However Sir Francis Bryan couldn't help but point out one certain flaw with this plan, "What if my King decides just to take his daughter back by force?"
"Henry could try but he risks fighting a battle on two fronts." King Francis explains, "Regardless whether he wins or loses to France the Emperor could just destroy what's left of England and place Lady Mary on the throne." The King of France approached Sir Francis looking to intimidate him, "Also I wouldn't get any foolish ideas of taking Elizabeth single handed, she is well protected. Should you choose to go after her you'll not only die but lose an opportunity to capture Pole so what's it going to be?"
Sir Francis Bryan knew he had little choice but to agree to King Francis terms. He knew that King Henry wouldn't be happy to learn that his daughter was in King Francis clutches but at least Sir Francis would be able to rid England of one enemy. Sir Francis Bryan had already decided to not tell Thomas Seymour of this development as it could jeopardise the mission but that didn't mean he couldn't share this particular information with his cousin. Sir Francis knew that Mary had only had Elizabeths' best interests at heart and she had the right to know what the King of France had planned for her niece. However Sir Francis wouldn't inform Mary of this development until he apprehended Pole and was safely out of France.
Henry had just finished reading through Charles Brandon and Thomas Cranmers' findings. The King of England should have been shocked by the outcome but he wasn't. The dreams that plagued the King at night said that Anne was innocent but he didn't want to believe it. Although the final moments of their marriage hadn't been good and though there were times where Henry thought it would be easier if he wasn't married to Anne anymore he knew that there wasn't a woman in the world who could make feel the way Anne did.
When Henry first brought the investigation against Anne forward, he wasn't sure whether he wanted Anne to be guilty or innocent but when Cromwell brought forward the guilty verdict Henry saw red. At first he thought she had done it to get back at him for his affairs but when charges against George were brought up he thought she must have done it out of desperation for a son. Whatever the reason Henry felt humiliated and wanted to take it out on her and to a certain extent Elizabeth.
It was thinking about Elizabeth now made him feel worse. Whilst Mary suffered the humiliation of being demoted to a bastard at least she had the good will of her mothers' supporters, Elizabeth had no one. Anne's own uncle condemned her to death as well as her first love Henry Percy. The King knew Henry Percy wouldn't fight for her just as he didn't fight for her when Wolsey refused their marriage. King Henry fought to marry Anne for six years, it was the main reason why she fell in love with him but somewhere along the way Henry stopped fighting for her and just let her enemies take her. How could he face his daughter knowing the part he played in her mothers' death?
"Henry?" Charles Brandon shifted nervously wanting to know if his investigation was satisfactory. The King had told Charles what would happen if he thought Charles was being dishonest. Charles knew that the evidence he given was truthful but what he didn't know was how the King was going to react to it.
"Thank you Charles for your honesty." Henry said calmly which surprised both Cranmer and Charles. "You have earned my trust and I would like you to arrest both Thomas Cromwell and Lady Jane Rochford for treason."
"There may be a slight problem with arresting Lady Rochford your majesty." Thomas Cranmer spoke up nervously. "Before we could question her she went mad. Maybe it was the guilt of what she had done or the fear that she would be found out I could not say but it's against the law to execute a mad person."
"Then have the law changed." Henry glared in rage clenching his fists. "She should consider it as a small mercy that I'm ending her life rather than having her live with the guilt of her betrayal."
Charles and Thomas couldn't tell whether Henry was referring to the Lady Rochfords' guilt or his own feelings on letting Anne die but they knew better than to argue. "I'll escort them to the Tower right away your majesty." Charles bowed and left to carry out the Kings' wishes leaving the Archbishop alone with the King.
"What will you do about the men who declared the Queen guilty?" Thomas Cranmer asked.
"I don't know." Henry said honestly. "A part of me wants them dead but that would make me more of a tyrant than I am already."
"Surely your majesty exaggerates." Cranmer said trying to sooth his King. "The people love you."
"Your very kind Cranmer but I know what the rest of Europe thinks of me." Henry sighs despondently. "They wouldn't send people to overthrow me if they didn't think of me as a monster."
"They want to overthrow you because they don't agree with your views on religion." Thomas Cranmer argued, "They sent a man to kill your wife because they believed that she was the cause of your change of view. Now that she is gone and you haven't returned to the Catholic faith they want to eliminate you as well."
"I won't go crawling back to Rome." Henry said defiantly, "I won't be part of a religion that conspires to murder a Queen for doing nothing more than support her husbands' decision." Henry knew he didn't take the break from Rome lightly but he knew that his marriage to Katherine had been cursed before he even met Anne and she was willing to support him in his decision. Jane never supported his decisions regarding Mary or religion but she knew better than to argue. Anne believed in Henry and he rewarded that belief by having her killed.
"Then you have far more courage than the other Kings of Europe." Cranmer stated firmly. "You will need that courage in the times ahead but you'll also need some strong men to follow you. These men who declared your wife guilty are not strong but weak and desperate to please you."
Henry agreed with the Archbishops' assessment but he was uncertain of how to proceed. "What would you have me do?"
"Let them know of you displeasure," Cranmer answered confidently, "but give them an opportunity to earn your trust back as the Duke of Suffolk has just done. Whilst I don't believe all of them will be as successful as Charles Brandon, you won't be perceived as a tyrant for offering them a second chance."
"Thank you for your council." Henry really did appreciate the Archbishops' advice. Unlike most of his councillors Thomas Cranmer did what was best for England whilst the others did what was best for themselves. The challenge for Henry was sorting out those who did have Englands' best interest and those who didn't. Once Henry had thought Cromwell had Englands' best interests at heart but he proved to be false. In order for Henry to learn from this experience he needed to see Cromwell one last time. He needed to discover why Cromwell wanted Anne dead.
Mary Stafford and Catherine De Medici walked through the palace gardens. Catherine had just finished telling Mary of her success in seducing her own husband. "Diane is positively seething." Catherine laughed.
Mary laughed thinking of Diane's misfortune, "A part of me wonders Catherine if you did this more to get under Diane's skin rather than to get your husband back."
"Mary you misjudge me, I love my husband." Catherine smiled coyly, "Getting under Diane's skin is just a happy coincidence."
"All the same I wouldn't gloat too much in front of his highness." Mary advised, "We wouldn't want him to accuse you of being ungracious to his former mistress now would we?"
"I think it's too early to consider Diane as his former mistress yet but it's a beginning." Catherine knew her husband was trying to appease Diane but at least this time he wasn't shutting out Catherine altogether. They had been spending a lot of time together recently and she had not only Mary to thank for that but also someone else. "Where is Sir Francis Bryan? I would like to offer my thanks in helping me get my husbands' attention too."
"He left as soon as he captured Cardinal Pole." Mary didn't know whether to be relieved or worried by her cousins' departure. Since they last spoke Mary couldn't get his words out her mind. She didn't know whether she could trust King Francis anymore.
"I still don't understand how the Cardinal was found." Catherine said voicing her opinion. "If Pole was smart he would have kept his distance from the reformers and only speak to those of the Catholic faith. The only way he would be found is if one of his own faithful had betrayed him and that would be impossible considering he was under orders from his holiness himself."
Mary didn't comment, she never shown allegiance to either one or the other. She didn't agree with the conflict it caused that's why she had made sure her girls had tutors that were tolerant of people's belief. Mary had hoped that when they were older Annie and Elizabeth could decide for themselves as their mothers had done. Some may have called it naïve, others may call it heresy but Mary wasn't going to force her girls to believe in something they didn't.
They were suddenly approached by a young maid, "I have a message for you my lady."
Catherine recognised the young woman as Diane's servant and glared, "What's your mistress's message? Stay away from my own husband."
"Actually the message isn't from my mistress and it isn't for you your highness." The young maid blushed shifting nervously. "It's a message from Sir Francis Bryan to be delivered to his cousin after he left for England."
"Now I'm intrigued." Catherine watched as Diane's servant handed the note over and scurried away. As Mary read the note Catherine began to worry as her friend turned pale. "What is it?"
"I know who betrayed Pole to my cousin." Mary breathed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Sir Francis told you?" Catherine was surprised that Sir Francis Bryan would trust Mary with such sensitive information.
"He wanted to warn me of a potential threat to my niece." Mary explained clutching the note in her hand.
"I don't understand. What does Pole's capture have to do with Elizabeth?" Catherine was very fond of the young girl and didn't want anything to happen to her.
"Pole was given a special dispensation to marry Elizabeths' sister the Lady Mary granting him a bigger claim to the English throne." Mary said quietly, "The Emperor was going to support this claim but now with Pole captured and on his way to England Marys' claim to the throne is weakened. King Francis wants to support Elizabeths' claim to the English throne that's why he's having her tutored alongside his children. He's grooming her to be Englands' Queen."
Catherine began to put the pieces together, "So you're telling me that my father in-law gave away Cardinal Pole's location to thwart the Emperors' attempts to place Mary on the throne."
Mary nodded sadly, "You know how the Pope feels about my sister. If he finds out what King Francis did to get Elizabeth on the throne it could put us all in grave danger."
Catherine couldn't help but nod in agreement. Catherine knew that world, one her relatives was Pope at one point that's how she became Princess of France in the first place. She knew of the danger Elizabeth would be facing. "You need to get rid of that letter before anyone else see's it." Catherine advised, "There's still a chance that Sir Francis Bryan could be lying to you in order to drive a wedge between you and the King. He may want to frighten you into returning to England with Elizabeth.
Mary couldn't help but agree with Catherine's logic but she wasn't so sure. "How can I be sure of King Francis intentions toward my niece?"
"There is only one way to be sure and that's to speak to the King yourself." Catherine answered and took Marys' hand in reassurance. "Mary even if you are no longer sure that my father in-law has Elizabeths' best interests at heart be sure that I will always care for Elizabeth and see that no harm comes to her." Catherine had meant it, Elizabeth changed her life and it was only fair that Catherine would protect the girl.
Henry arrived with Charles at the Tower. Charles tried to discourage Henry from visiting Cromwell but Henry was insistent. Henry had kept his distance from Anne's trial and that led to her as well as other men to be executed. It wasn't as though Henry doubted Cromwells' guilt but discovering the truth about Anne had shaken his confidence. He needed to be sure his decision was right.
On his way to the dungeons Henry noticed the chapel that he knew to be Anne's final resting place. Charles saw that his friend was distracted, "Your majesty?"
"I have to see her Charles." Henry made his way to the chapel and looked around the sparse surroundings, "This is where a Queen of England is laid to rest." He then looked to the warden Master Kingston, "Do you even know where she was buried?"
Master Kingston led the King to an unmarked spot in the chapel, "She lays here alongside her brother George your majesty."
Henry looked at the spot in disgust, "They shouldn't be here amongst the traitors." Henry knelt down and placed his hand on the spot where she was buried. "They should have a tomb befitting their station."
"You could build a new tomb here for them your majesty." Charles suggested.
"Perhaps you didn't hear me Charles." Henry stood up and looked Charles in the eye, "I want them moved. I want them to be honoured not left here forgotten. Brereton can stay here where he belongs with the rest of the traitors but Smeaton, Norris and George will be moved. I want a memorial to be built in their honour somewhere else in London and as for Anne I want her to be buried alongside other Kings and Queens of England not traitors do you understand Charles?"
"I understand your majesty." Charles knew better than to argue with the King on this matter. He knew that such a project would be difficult considering that Anne and the others have been dead for so long but he knew Henry would not be swayed. "Do you still wish to see the prisoner?"
"Yes." Henry answered with certainty, "I want to look him in the eyes and ask him why? I want to know why he would conspire against my Queen." Henry marched to the dungeons with purpose. As soon as her entered Cromwells' cell the prisoner instantly bowed and begged for mercy but that was not what Henry wanted to hear. "I did not come here to listen to you plead for your life, I want to know why did you lie to me about Anne? Why did you want my wife dead? Answer me!"
Thomas Cromwell cringed at the Kings' temper. "I did it for you your majesty. You wanted to be free to marry Jane Seymour so I gave you a way out like I did with Katherine."
Henry didn't believe Cromwells' lies. "There is just one problem with that Cromwell. You didn't arrange for Katherine to be executed for outrageous charges. Those charges made me a laughing stock throughout Europe and you're telling me that you did this for me." Henrys' rage was building and he approached Cromwell threateningly. "Anne didn't have powerful relatives like Katherine ready to rally to her cause. Anne would have walked away quietly for Elizabeths' sake but you wanted her dead and I demand to know why!"
"It was the monasteries!" Cromwell panicked in fear. "The late Queen believed that the sudden closure of the monasteries would cause unrest in England."
"What?" Charles exclaimed in shock, "You both followed the same religion why would she disagree with you?"
"We may have followed the same religion your grace but we had different ideas on how to bring the Reformation to England." Thomas Cromwell explained, "She wanted the land from the monasteries to be given back to the English people and the buildings to be used for charitable purposes. She didn't like the fact I was stripping the monasteries of their wealth and selling the land off cheaply to the nobles."
"All those people in the Pilgrimage of Grace, all those deaths and I blamed her." Charles felt he was going to be sick. He remembered every single one of those deaths and rather blame himself for their suffering he blamed Anne because it was easier.
"Charles?" Henry was confused by his friends' distress. Whilst Henry had given the order for the deaths he hadn't seen the massacre like Charles had done.
Charles did not hear Henry; he was completely lost to his anger at Cromwell. "If you had just listened to her instead of conspiring against her those deaths could have been avoided but no you were so sure that your way was the right one."
"How would you know?" Cromwell argued. "They hated Anne and the Reformation. They probably would have rebelled anyway."
"It would have been a good chance for Anne to earn the people's love and support." Henry reasoned. He remembered how desperate Anne was to prove herself worthy to the people of England. She had studied Elizabeth Woodville's own coronation meticulously in the hope of making her coronation successful. Anne wanted to be a good Queen but neither he nor Cromwell would let her. "We should leave Charles, there is no more left to say."
As they left the Tower Charles felt the need to apologise to his friend, "I'm sorry for misjudging your wife like that Henry. Maybe if I tried to get to know her more…"
"You probably would have ended up dead like her other supporters." Henry finished thinking of George, Norris and Mark. He thought of Mark especially and all the suffering he endured before he falsely confessed to adultery.
"Even so I truly wish to atone." This time it wasn't a means to save his neck Charles really wanted to make it up to Anne in some way. "Perhaps if I help carry out the late Queens' wishes for the monasteries in her name."
"That's a good idea Charles." Henry smiled genuinely at his friend. Anne may have failed in giving Henry a son he wished for but he had also failed to allow Anne to accomplish her dreams as Queen. Anne wasn't like Jane; she wouldn't just be content in providing Henry with heirs Anne wanted to make a difference. Whilst Anne would be unable to accomplish her goals during her lifetime, Henry would ensure that her dreams for England would be accomplished.
King Francis had invited Mary to join him for dinner but she had lost her appetite. The note from her cousin was playing on Marys' mind. She tried to look for any sign that he wished to use Elizabeth as a political tool but he showed none. However Francis noticed Marys' strange behaviour and asked, "Is there something wrong my love? You've hardly touched your food."
"I have no appetite your majesty." Mary said laying her cutlery on the plate. "I received a distressing note from my cousin." The King froze at the mention of Marys' cousin. He should have known Sir Francis Bryan wouldn't keep quiet. Mary reading the Kings' reaction, "So you're not even going to deny it."
Francis looked to his servants and waved his hand, "Leave us. I wish to speak with the Countess alone." After the servants had left he looked at Mary. "I did it for your niece. Elizabeth is a bright intelligent girl deserving of the title Princess."
"If the Pope finds out what you've done he will blame Elizabeth and will send his men to kill her." Mary argued.
"Not if he finds out and besides you misjudge him." Francis insisted, "Once one of his representatives meets Elizabeth and you he will see you aren't a threat to the true faith."
"The Pope's representative is coming here?" Mary was truly frightened now. "Why?"
"I invited him to see for himself that you are no threat." Francis informed. "You must understand how important it is for you to gain their trust."
"I don't care if Elizabeth gets reinstated as Princess." Mary insisted, "I just want her to be happy."
"You don't understand Mary." Francis held Mary wrist trying to sooth her, "Your sisters' enemies like the Emperor were able to speak to the Pope directly filling his head with lies about her. The Pope believed those lies and sent one of his assassins to deal with her. I believe this particular assassin confessed to committing adultery, a William Brereton. This man died believing he was carrying out Gods' work. If you can't convince Pope of your loyalty you run the risk of not only endangering your life but Elizabeth and Annie as well."
Mary felt like she couldn't breathe. The Pope had sent a man to England to kill her sister based on hearsay from the Emperor. Now Francis wanted Mary to convince the Pope of her loyalty but she didn't know if she could. How could she convince the Pope of her loyalty when she despised him so much for taking her sister away.