Mary Stafford was glad to be back in Boulogne. The recent events in court seemed like a nightmare and now she was awake playing with her son George. Mary wished Annie and Elizabeth was there with her as both Elizabeth and Annie saw very little of George. Sometimes George even forgot he had an older sister. Mary wondered if it had been the same for her own brother when she and her sister were in France whilst he had been left in England. Somehow the three of them remained close despite having spent so many years apart. Mary hoped George, Annie and Elizabeth would have that same bond. Her thoughts were interrupted when George called from near the window, "Mama look."
Mary looked out of the window and saw group of ships approaching. "Brigitte!" Mary called out to her servant in a panic, "Get your father to gather the men. War is approaching."
"Are you sure my lady?" Brigitte asked worriedly looking out the window seeing the ships.
"My late husband was a soldier. He died in battle." Mary explained, "I know the signs. Have your father gather the men. Have the women gather fresh linen for bandages and prepare for siege."
"I'll have Father close the gates in the lower town." Brigitte began to rush out of the room.
"Not before you have the people gather as much crops as they can possibly carry." Mary ordered, "My husband once said every army marches on its stomach. Well the army arriving won't be marching on food from my land."
"What will you do my lady?" Brigitte asked.
"I'm going to send word to King Francis informing him of the danger." Mary began to write a letter. "Hurry Brigitte. It won't be long until they arrive."
Mary Tudor was enjoying her role as acting regent. Though there was some lords who resented taking orders from her there were others who were supportive of her. The most surprising one was Archbishop Cranmer. When she was younger she thought the man was pure evil but as she spoke to the man face to face she soon realised that out of all the councillors he was the only one who wasn't trying to further of his own agenda. As far as Mary could tell Cranmer preferred to be away from court but he was there to help in any way he can.
It had been Cranmer who informed Mary of the trouble going on at Lambeth. According to Cranmer a girl came to one of his charity projects requesting aid for her unborn child. After further questioning the girl was a ward to the Dowager Duchess who ran Lambeth like a glorified brothel. Horrified at this Mary seized the estate in the name of the Crown. The girls who lived there would be separated into various schools run by Anne Seymour. The Duke of Norfolk would be heavily fined for his mothers' lack of care toward the girls who lived there. Norfolk of course objected but Mary warned him that if he had a problem with her actions he should take it up with her father. Mary knew Norfolk wouldn't argue as it was well known that the King despised him for using the women in his family like pawns and would be even more furious at the treatment these girls received.
One of the girls who lived in Lambeth Lady Katherine Howard became Marys' lady in waiting. She was a bit flighty for Marys' tastes but she meant well. Katherine entered the room and curtsied, "My lady a Bishop Gardiner is here to see you."
Mary inwardly groaned. Her time in Spain made it easier for Mary to spot fanatics a mile away and as soon as Mary met Bishop Gardiner it was obvious to her that he was one of them. "Send him in."
Bishop Gardiner walked in carrying a bunch of papers. "I have some papers I would like you to sign."
Mary looked at the papers in disinterest, "These are arrest warrants."
"Aye madam." Bishop Gardiner confirmed, "These people were seen spreading heresy amongst the commoners."
"What kind of heresies your eminence?" Mary had a feeling she knew what kind of heresies Bishop Gardiner was referring to and she didn't like it.
"Heresies against the Catholic church madam." Bishop Gardiner looked at Mary hoping she would understand as it was well known her mother was a follower of the Catholic faith.
However what Bishop Gardiner didn't know was that Mary formed her own views on the Catholic faith. "England is not a Catholic country your eminence and therefore I cannot sign these arrest warrants."
Bishop Gardiner was shocked at Lady Marys' rejection and proceeded to plead his case, "My lady your mother…"
Mary interrupted Bishop Gardiner right there, "Do not speak to me of my Mother." Mary raged, "My Mother served the Catholic Church faithfully for years at a great cost to her marriage and how did the Catholic Church repay her? They now call her liar and declared her daughter who she fought so hard for a bastard. So don't come here and speak to me of my Mother."
Bishop Gardiner could see he would get nowhere with the Lady Mary and decided to leave. "My apologies madam. I see now that you have completely lost your way."
"You wrong your eminence." Mary seethed at the arrogance of this man. "I've found it and I'll tell you this. As long as there is breath in my body I will not allow innocent people be tortured or burned for their beliefs in England. You want that go and live in Spain with the inquisition but it will have no place in England." Mary had meant it too. She saw the fear that Spanish inquisition caused in Spain and she also heard the stories. It was not Gods work they were doing but the work of the Devil, because it was only the Devil who took pleasure other people's pain. The Hell she had witnessed in Spain would not take place in England Mary would make sure of it.
Prince Henry was frustrated with his father. He tried desperately to convince King Francis to free Diane as she was merely a tool in Queen Eleanors' schemes. However King Francis wasn't convinced as far as he was concerned Diane still committed a heinous crime by attempting to kill Mary. What followed was a long argument between father and son. In Henrys' view his father was being a hypocrite. If Mary had been in Diane's position King Francis would do everything in his power to save her. However Francis pointed out to his son that Mary wouldn't be in Diane's position because she wouldn't have done what Diane did.
As Henry stormed away he bumped into one of his fathers' messenger who dropped a message from Boulogne. Henry growled thinking what more could his fathers' whore could possibly want. Angered with his father and Mary Stafford he tore up the message and went about his business. It was time his father knew how it felt to be kept away from the woman he loved for a change. Unfortunately for Prince Henry he had no idea just how important that message was.
King Henrys' army was camped just outside of Boulogne. As it was expected the gates were sealed but that did not matter. The army had been experimenting with gun powder and some of his men had already begun tunnelling to reach the foundations of the wall. However that would take time and some of the men were getting impatient. The Earl of Surrey couldn't keep his doubts silent and the doubts soon found their way to other soldiers.
Charles Brandon walked in as Henry was studying the maps. "It would have been easier if you gave us more time to prepare." Charles observed, "We're hardly going to reach the capital with such limited supplies."
"We're not going to invade the capital Charles." Henry stated looking at his papers.
"I don't understand." Charles voiced his confusion, "I thought the whole point of this war was to rescue Elizabeth. If the Spanish reach the capital before we do…"
"They won't Charles because like England they had to rush to gather their supplies too." Henry spoke confidently, "Why did you think I asked them to rush into this war?"
"You wanted them to fail but how does attacking Boulogne help us with Elizabeth?" Charles could see Henry had some sort of plan in his mind but Charles had problems deciphering it.
"There is a potential prisoner in Boulogne that I know the King of France won't mind trading for Elizabeth." King Henry knew this strategy was risky as King Francis may not go for the deal.
However Charles Brandon was still not following. King Henry couldn't possibly have meant Mary Stafford as there was no guarantee that she was even in Boulogne. That had only left one person, "The Kings' bastard George Stafford, but would the French nobles even consider trading a bastard for a Princess?"
"Elizabeth was just a bastard in the eyes of Europe before Francis somehow ended up swaying them into thinking otherwise." Henry commented with a wry smile, "It's only fair that I return the favour by helping George reach to new heights, maybe not to raise him up as a prince but something that would be valuable in the eyes of France."
Charles was intrigued by this plan but it still meant nothing until they had George Stafford in their hands. It was strange to see how much Henry had changed over the years. In the the earlier years of his reign Henry didn't tend to think that far ahead. Battles like this were just a quick and easy way for him to reach glory like Henrys' favourite King Henry V. However glory wasn't on Henrys' mind as he was entering into this battle. All of Henrys' thoughts were on bringing Elizabeth back to him. Charles hadn't seen his friend this driven since Henry battled to make Anne Boleyn his Queen. Who knew how far Henry was going to go to retrieve his Princess?
King Francis was struggling to enjoy the night's festivities but he couldn't. Thoughts of Mary played in his mind. He couldn't blame her for wanting to stay away for it was their relationship that drove his Queen Eleanor to try and tear his beloved down. Francis couldn't help but despise the woman he had married; he could never imagine Claude doing such a thing. Francis decided to push the thoughts of that vengeful woman out of his mind and focus on the festivities until a man barged into his court with a panicked look on his face, "Your majesty some dyer news!"
That was all Francis needed was more bad news. "What is it?"
"Spain and England have made an alliance." The man cried, "They've launched an invasion force."
Francis son Prince Charles placed a protective arm around Elizabeth who suddenly looked very pale but she tried to hold herself together. King Francis then turned to question the messenger, "When do they plan to invade?"
"Now your majesty!" The messenger exclaimed, "The Emperor marches from the south whilst the King of England marches on Boulogne as we speak."
Francis thoughts immediately turned to Mary who was in Boulogne with his son George. "How could this of happened?" He raged, "How could they launch an invasion force without us knowing!"
Prince Henry suddenly shifted nervously thinking about that letter from Boulogne he just discarded. It was obvious Mary Stafford had tried to warn his father of the danger but in his anger for what happened to Diane he threw it away. Prince Henry saw how his wife was beginning to notice his strange behaviour so he quickly made up an excuse to deflect the blame off him. "It was probably Queen Eleanor father. You know that she was sending secret letters to Spain there was a good chance she could have been intercepting messages too."
King Francis may have believed his son but Catherine knew better. She knew that every letter that Eleanor sent had been intercepted and read just like Elizabeths' letters to her father. Not only that, Eleanor was shut away in a convent before the invasion struck. Maybe the discarded Eleanor was used as pawn to justify war but there was still the matter of Mary Stafford not informing them of the danger. If her husband was smart he would have accused Mary of conspiring with the King of England but for some strange reason the Dauphin avoided mentioning Mary all together. Catherine had strange feeling that her husband knew something about this but she never spoke of it. Catherine knew that if her husband fell she and her children would fall with him that was something she couldn't allow.