Welcome back! So this chapter was a bit tedious to write because of all the research. I am also torn: I would really like to give Anne and Henry the happy ending that Anne deserves. But I would also like to explore the reigns of the successive queens through the eyes of Catherine. Please, let me know what you think! Happy ending for Anne or historical accuracy?
-o-
A few remarks: I will summarise the events of 1527-1529 in these next chapters, simply because not that much was happening in England as the Pope and Campeggio did deliberately delay talks and negotiations. So something from 1529 might hapen in 1528. Just so you know :)
-William Tynedale was an English reformer who sympathised with some of Luther's ideas.
-Christmas in Tudor times lasted from the 25th of December until Ephiany on the 6th of January. Gifts were exchanged not on Christmas Day but on the 1st of January.
Autumn, Hampton Court Palace
Catherine
~o~
The king held court in the splendid house the Cardinal had given him, but no grand entrance hall, no sprawling formal gardens could hide the fact that Wolsey had achieved nothing in the king's great matter. When Catherine had seen him again in London after the summer progress, she was shocked. The Cardinal had suffered and survived an attack of the sweating sickness, but his skin had turned from a healthy pink to grey and he had lost weight, so that his red robes were billowing around is slimmer frame. Sickness and failure had also changed his demeanour and bearing: Once proud, loud, jolly but respectable, he was now walking with sloping shoulders and could not manage a weak smile in the sight of his replacement at the king's side. Anne had recovered from the sickness, her spirit was unbroken, but London offered new challenges for her. In fact, Anne was constantly furious, even more so since Katherine, as Queen Consort, had joined them in the capital after a summer with her daughter. Henry had no choice but treat his wife cordially to quash nasty rumours surrounding his and Anne's relationship. The annulment would come, he was certain, but he was not willing to allow washerwomen's gossip to stain Anne's honour.
Cardinal Campeggio had arrived a week ago, three months late and far less decisive than the king had wished, but Henry was full of boyish confidence, and how should he not be? All his life, he had always got what he wanted.
While the king withdrew to his office chamber with his advisors and Campeggio, the court was deprived of their sun. Anne held court like a queen in her own chambers, as far away from the Queen's as Henry had been able to manage, and Cat was constantly out of breath from running from one end of the palace to the other, caught between Henry's two women like the sun between the horizons. On the few occasions, when Anne did wait on the Queen, the room grew colder than the Scottish highlands and no laughter, no singing broke the silence. It was a relief when the Queen withdrew to pray and asked Cat to go with her, although that meant spending a few very uncomfortable hours on her knees.
When she left the Queen's small private chapel again, her mistress remained behind, asking God to lead her, asking God for help that he had not granted her in the many years of marriage. She had never been blessed with a living son, her greatest sin in the eyes of the king and court.
Anne had already taken her leave and with her most noble ladies.
Margery Horsman, the new Seymour girl, a plain, soft-spoken little doll, and Lucy Talbot, Francis' young sister who had killed Catherine with looks near on a thousand times now, were the only maids of honour left in the Queen's audience chamber. The Seymour girl, Cat could not remember her name, was embroidering an altarcloth, deaf and blind to her surroundings it seemed but Catherine knew this type of girl. They heard everything, saw everything, and told their families who used this knowledge for their advancement. The Seymours were an old family but not yet powerful enough to truly matter. Old Sir John was an ambitious man though and had set his eyes on an advantageous marriage for his young daughter, to William Dormer or perhaps Francis Bryan. Catherine was careful in the girl's presence. Margery Horsman and Lucy Talbot did not know this sort of caution, they were gossiping shamelessly in a corner and Cat knew that both she and Anne were certainly subject of their chat.
Margery had already set her eyes upon the duke after he had danced with her and blamed Catherine for his loss of interest. Indeed, Brandon had not looked at her twice since that night, but instead he looked at Catherine often, and in a way that made her blush and her heart race. She knew that she had no cause to hope that he was still interested, nor could she accept his proposal even if he asked for her hand now. He won't. And why would he?I have not given him cause to like me, nor have I given him cause to this his advances might fall on fruitful ground. I should have shown him, I should have treated him kindly, I should have never looked at Talbot twice…Alas, it is all irrelevant now.
The bitterness of that realisation was her constant companion these days but she tried to focus on the good things.
Brandon's attentions and kindness were more than she had hoped for and she would try to be content with calling him friend. Margery Horsman was not content at all though and had found a willing partner for her gossiping: Lucy Talbot hated Cat even more for what she had done to the poor Francis who now resided in a stately manor with his pretty wife, squandering his father's wealth. A grim fate indeed.
She heard her name as she walked past the two of them, Lucy had not bothered to lower her voice. They cannot hurt me, it is their jealousy, they are bitter and angry, nothing more. But she felt subdued nevertheless until Jane Seymour rose from her chair and spoke with her soft, gentle voice: "You two bring great shame upon the Queen's ladies with your endless prattle. I suggest you do something useful until Her Majesty returns or she might be very cross with you indeed."
Well roared, lamb.
Catherine smiled at the girl gratefully and Jane, picking up her needlework again, returned it.
She was clever enough to know that Anne would rise high and that Cat wielded far more influence than Margery Horsman and Lucy Talbot. A clever girl, and as ambitious as her father under her demure pale gown.
The epitome of ambition sat in a throne-like chair in the beautiful east wing of Hampton Court Palace and tapped her toes impatiently as she waited for the king.
When Cat entered her audience chamber, Anne leapt to her feet as gracefully as a cat.
"The Queen must have sinned terribly that she had to pray so long." Her courtier's smile graced Anne's thin lips. "And I cannot forgive her for keeping my closest friend away from me so long." She lead Cat into an antechamber and her mood was immediately changed. Under her witty courtier's mask, Anne was as impatient and desperate as the king.
"Nothing." She cried. "That old man has achieved nothing. The Pope is still imprisoned by Katherine's nephew and this legate is as slow of mind as he is of foot. They will never grant us the annulment."
Catherine took note of the 'us'.
Anne did have a point in all truth. With the Pope in the Emperor's hands, Henry would not get what he wanted. To make matters worse, it seemed as if the Queen had somehow managed to get her beringed hands on the original document, the dispensation granted by Pope Julius years ago, that clarified that Henry and her marriage was indeed legitimate. Of course it was, no one did truly doubt this. But Henry's happiness was far more important for the English court than the law of Rome or the Emperor's contentment. Once Pope Clement was free, Campeggio would hopefully decide in the king's favour or else...Henry had never been denied anything and he was a child with extremely dangerous toys. Cat just hoped that Campeggio was wise enough to see the potential threat. France was once again about to declare war on the Habsburgs and the conflicts that were boiling on the continent were too numerous to count. There was Luther in Germany, circulating his papers and heretical ideas, protected by powerful princes. The Emperor was everywhere but his realm seemed to to prove too much of a challenge, to vast a territory for him. No, it was a tumultuous state the world was in at the moment and England should stay out of it.
"Campeggio will grant the annulment." Cat tried to calm Anne. Her temper had started to annoy everyone but the king and she needed more than Henry's love for what she was trying to achieve. "Do not worry, before summer, you will be wedded." Hopefully. Cat did not know how long Henry's passion would last… what if it cooled before he had placed a crown upon Anne's head? She would be damaged goods, she would be the woman who was too ambitious for her own good.
Her soothing tone seemed to calm Anne a bit.
"I do hope so. For him." She sat down on an elegant upholstered chair. "Wolsey is still whispering in the king's ear and I do not like it."
No, Cat did not like that either. The Cardinal did all he could for Henry's annulment but he had not even lifted his fat finger for her or her father and that was something she could not forgive. The Cardinal had lost the king's trust though and it would not take long to convince Henry to send the man to his diocese in Yorkshire and get rid of him once and for all. For all Cat cared, he could rot in York or find his faith or father some more bastards, as long as he lost what he held most dear: His power.
"I want you to join the king and me for dinner tonight. It will be an intimate affair while Wolsey hosts a feast for Campeggio but I want it to be entertaining nevertheless. And my brother's terrible wife will have to be invited too. Save me, Cat, if you have a heart."
Jane Parker Boleyn was indeed not a very pleasant lady. Curious and gossipy, jealous and greedy without knowing what she really wanted, Cat was trying to steer clear of her.
"I will be there if you wish." No one refused Anne these days.
"It was not a command." Anne looked shocked. "Do not do this to me. You are my friend, are you not? My sister? You are not like the others, you have always been at my side, and I at yours. I need you, Cat, now more than ever."
"And I will stay right at your side, Nan. It was a jape, nothing more. Who else will be there?" Him, please. Not him, please.
"Why, so that you know whether it is worth dressing up?" Anne's cheeky smile spoke volumes. She always knows what I'm thinking.
"The king will be there… my father, and my brother, of course. He is married but handsome enough to be worthy of your red dress, don't you think?"
Years ago, it had been their plan to convince their father to allow George Boleyn to marry Cat or to allow Henry Stafford to marry Anne, so that they would truly be sisters.
"Is this kind of torture what you normally do to your friends, Anne?" Cat had to smile.
"Oh, only to them." Her friend grinned. "Well, who else is there? Francis Bryan, of course, so handsome despite his eyepatch and a true adventurer at heart. Didn't you want to be captured by pirates once?"
"Didn't we swear never to talk about our childish dreams again?"
"And Nicholas Carew will be there, as boring as Bryan is interesting. Henry Norris of course, entertaining and loyal, just how a nobleman should be. And the ladies! My poor widowed sister, of course, my lady mother, my beloved sister in law, our dear Mary Norris and Carew's wife, Elizabeth, of who I am very fond." Anne's teasing smile had never faded. "And, do you deem our company worthy of lavish apparel?"
"I deem you worthy of -" Catherine started but Anne laughed. "Ah, I might have forgotten a certain nobleman...Young enough, rather handsome but of low birth, you will not be interested. Although he does have a title now. Duke of Suffolk. Yes, he will be there too, sitting next to the king. How could I forget?"
"Perhaps it was the wine?" Cat suggested. "Or the exhaustion from making fun of your poor friend. I beseech you, Anne, be quiet tonight or you will humiliate me in front of the whole inner circle. The duke and I-"
"The duke and you?" Anne was still grinning. Nothing lifted her spirit as much as making fun of Cat. She never meant to hurt her but it still stung. Cat did not like talking about Brandon at all.
"The duke is not interested." She admitted unhappily.
"Next you tell me he has lost his heart to horse-faced Margery!" Anne put her hand on Cat's.
"Sometimes I truly think you are still fourteen, Cat."
"Am I the one playing silly games or you?"
"I have little cause for merriment at the moment." Anne admitted. "Henry is sure the annulment will be granted but I feel like he does not think ahead enough. Katherine is too powerful still and the churchmen here will never accept me. There is need for reformation in our English churches." There was. The church was corrupt and far too powerful, no longer was the Pope the successor of St. Peter, now he tried to surpass even Jesus in his glory. The church was too rich, the bishops were too worldly.
"Have you spoken to the king about it?" It was a difficult subject. Years ago, the king had written a whole book to defend the church, it had earned him the title Defender of Faith...but now that he was so dissatisfied with Rome, the tide might have turned.
"I gave him William Tynedale's book. He is reading it now but he is already enthralled. 'This is a book for kings' he said."
That did sound promising.
Soon, Cat left to dress for the dinner. Anne had been right, now that she knew that the duke would be there, she would dress lavishly and elegantly. Her gown was green, as he had once complimented her on the colour that went so well with her eyes. She wore pearls to look demure and left her hood on the dresser. She was still a maiden after all, young and ready for matrimony. He should remember that.
A string of pearls and emeralds adorned her long golden hair and her chambermaid told her that she looked very pretty. Cat gave her a groat for that.
The dinner was entertaining and interesting, Sir Francis Bryan was indeed exciting though he was one of those men that would take a slightly lifted skirt as an invitation. Cat was careful not to smile at him directly. She had had enough scandals lately.
"For Christmas, we will go to Greenwich. I want magnificence and splendour. Campeggio will be impressed by the pomp with which we celebrate Christ's birth." The king was all wrapped up in preparations again.
"There must be a long mass in the morning, and one at midnight."
Henry waved Carew's remark away.
"Masses, yes. But I want a masque and a few plays...perhaps not Greek but English this time. Arthur and his Guinevere." He looked at Anne with fondness, seemingly forgetting about Lancelot.
"A wonderful idea." Lord Rochford, Anne's observant father had surely not missed the tiny detail Henry had forgotten, but he seemed not to care. "A dance afterwards and a tourney if the weather is not too harsh?" he suggested in his subtle, even voice.
"Brilliant." Henry's eyes were glistening with excitement. "And a hunting trip to Windsor. No, better to Richmond. Are you still up for it, Charles?"
Henry grinned at his best friend.
"Always, Your Majesty. Although I would like to see my children at Christmas."
Sometimes, Catherine forgot about the duke's two little daughters.
"Ah, of course. Tell my nieces that their uncle loves them dearly."
Anne turned to Cat. "Do you not want to see your wards, Catherine?"
She did, yes. But she would have rather told the king herself, in a quiet minute.
"If His Majesty gives his consent." She smiled at the king.
"If my beloved lady can do without you for a while?" Anne was almost allmighty these days, even the king asked for her consent-
Anne smiled. "I cannot, and yet, it would be unjust to deprive these children of their aunt for so long. But Lady Catherine should not go alone. Can you spare one of your noble friends, my king, to accompany her? George, you would love Suffolk in winter no doubt."It was a trick of course, and Cat saw through it. But hoepfully no one else.
George Boleyn seemed eager enough, most probably because it meant he would get away from his wife but someone else interrupted him.
"The children can be brought to Westthorpe, if you wish, my lady." Suffolk's tone was nonchalant but Cat knew what this meant. She would spend Christmas with him and his children. And the wards that were now her children. In the house that he had once lived in with his wife.
"That is too generous, Your Grace, but not necessary. I need no travel companion and I am happy to go to Sudbury, you have done enough already."
He refusal stemmed from insecurity and shame and he seemed to notice that.
"Oh, I insist, my lady."
That seemed to settle it.
"You must be back for the festivities on the New Year's Day. And I will be very cross with you, Charles, if I do not like your gift."
"I have put much thought into it, Your Majesty, so I will be very cross if you get cross with me."
Henry laughed heartily. "Touché."
Catherine was more than excited. Once again, she would be all alone with Brandon. This time, she swore, she would be pleasant and kind. But it was still weeks till their departure and Anne withdrew to Hever soon, to care for her ageing grandmother, she claimed, but it was pure strategy. Whenever Henry became too heated, too adamant that she should share his bed, Anne withdrew- and Henry had to beg for her return. She was a kind mistress though and after a few weeks, she would return to court and Henry was cautious not to push her again...for a while. It was fear that motivated Anne in that respect, for Henry's affections were known to be loved him truly, Cat knew, although no word of that love reached her family's ears. But Anne was no milkmaid who was in love for the first time. There had been Henry Percy, and that unlucky affair had taught her a few things. That affair had also left a bitter aftertaste and a hearty dislike for the Cardinal whose ruin was so near.
~o~
Without Anne, courtly life was dull. Henry hid in his chambers for days and when he came out, the dinners and feasts could not lift his spirits. Sometimes, he went hunting with the gentlemen of the privy chamber and sent Anne game and birds with herbs and pastries. He sent her jewels too and love letters that were so passionate that Anne did not even allow Cat to read them.
It was another dull November afternoon in the Queen's chambers. With Anne gone, all ladies were waiting upon Katherine again but the air was full of guilt.
"I want to take a walk in the gardens." Katherine announced.
She could not be serious. The Queen never went for walks, hence her stout figure. The weather was wet and cold and most ladies shivered in their fine brocade gowns as they looked out of the window. The park looked sad and grey without the winter snow that would hopefully come.
"Lady Catherine, Lady Carey, Mistress Boleyn. Walk with me."
Anne's family and confidantes. Cat could hear the other ladies sigh with relief.
What did the Queen want from them? Tell them to tame Anne? To convince her to let the king go?
She wrapped herself in a wool cloak, fine but not elegant and warm enough for the harsh weather.
They walked silently between high hedges and empty flowerbeds.
"Mistress Boleyn, I am shivering. Fetch me my fur cloak."
Ah. That's the way the wind blows.
They walked a bit further.
"Lady Carey, be so kind and find my dog. He will need some fresh air as well."
And just like that, Cat was suddenly alone with the Queen.
"What have I done to you, Lady Catherine?" The Queen looked at her with a solemn face and sad eyes. "Have I not treated you kindly? Have I not talked to the king on your behalf? All my ladies betray me, but your betrayal hurts the most. You are my Judas, Catherine, but where are your thirty pieces of silver?"
Cat swallowed.
"I have never betrayed you. Nor will I ever."
The Queen smiled at her sadly.
"If not in deed then in word and thought. Your friend wants to sit on my chair, wants to wear my jewels and wants to sleep in my bed and you will give her everything she wants. What if she decides that she would like me better in a tomb?"
What the Queen insinuated was-
"Your Majesty, I would never -"
Katherine raised her hand to stop her outburst.
"Enough. You know where your loyalties lie. As do I."
"My loyalties lie with the king." These words were hard and harsh but necessary nevertheless. Did the Queen not see that she had lost, no matter what the legate said, no matter what ambassador Chapuys wanted? The Emperor had less power in England than King Henry and soon enough, his Queen would see that, too.
"As do mine." Her will was iron, her back unbent, but how would that serve her?
"The king does not think so, Your Majesty."
"As his wife, it is my duty to keep his conscience clean and him on the path God has chosen for him. What His Majesty suggests is against God's will."
God's will did not matter as much as the king's but Cat did not say that.
"Then I hope that God will show the king soon, Your Majesty. May He keep you."
There was nothing else to say. A part of Cat admired the Queen's stubbornness and strength, the other part knew that an oak tree would not survive the storm, only the willow was flexible enough to bend but not to break.
She will not bow, she will not bend, so she will break.
Soon enough, Jane Parker returned with the Queen's cloak and Mary with the lapdog but the Queen wanted to return to her stuffy chambers. "It is too cold for me but you seem to enjoy this weather, Lady Catherine. If you would like to stay here for a while, you are excused."
Cat had little choice but to stay outside now. The wind was cold but her cloak warm enough, so she did not mind. Being chased outside like an unruly dog was not something she enjoyed though. She feels betrayed and is angry at everyone. It hurts her more than she allows anyone to see.
The gardens were deserted and she started to enjoy the walk. Free for the first time in weeks.
The trees had changed colour, just like the courtiers and leaves were blowing in the wind. This autumn was Anne's and the winter would be hers too...but spring? New green would come, replace the old. Anne would not be able to keep the king's appetite forever. What would happen then?
"Enjoying your walk?"
Cat's heart jumped at the sound of his voice and she scolded herself for her silliness.
Charles
~o~
She was all alone in the gardens, lost in thoughts and he could not resist the desire to speak to her alone again. At court, he was so rarely alone with her. Fool, fool, fool. Even if he asked her to marry him now, even if he confessed his feelings for her...she would only accept because she felt she was indebted to him.
"Enjoying your walk?" he asked and cursed himself for the stupid question and for disturbing her. Surely there was a reason why she was outside all alone and certainly he was the last person she wanted to see.
He could not stop thinking about her, not about the words she had said that night, her sweet smiles that were now directed at him. He had won her respect, it seemed but he wanted more. Yet, she was too proud to give that to the man who had saved her life. By saving her, I have doomed myself.
"I enjoy the calm." She smiled. Was that a hint?
"Then I will not disturb you-" he started but she shook her head vigorously.
"Forgive me, that was not what I meant. If you want to walk with me?"
I would walk to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham barefoot with you at my side.
He took her arm, felt her cold fingers on the sleeve of his quilted doublet.
"How is the king?"
Still mad in love with your little friend and ready and willing to make the whole continent his enemy to have her.
"Anxious."
"So is Anne." He thought he could hear a trace of disapproval. "She will be calmer once Campeggio has made his decision."
"That depends on his decision." Charles half-hoped the papal legate would deny Henry his young mistress but felt guilty for it at the same time. It was not only his duty to support his sovereign, it was also his pleasure to support his friend.
Catherine only shrugged. "The king will find a way."
Henry would never relent, that was true. He was not used to not getting what he wanted.
""How is the Queen?"
Catherine still served her mistress although she was called to wait on her friend more often these days.
"Unbent, not yet broken." There was a pause. "She called me her Judas...And she is not wrong. It was her favour and kindness that brought me to court...and now that she has lost her power, I desert her."
It was Henry's desire that brought you here, Charles wanted to say but he did not want to remind her of those days.
"You support your king. That is your duty." He said instead and wiped away the topic with a wide gesture.
"Are you looking forward to spending Christmas with your wards?" He did not want to talk about a topic that they did not agree upon.
She took the hint. "Very much. It is the first time in months that I see them. I am sure they have all outgrown their clothes." She laughed.
It had been a silly, a sentimental notion of his to celebrate Christmas with her and his children but he did not regret it.
"They are always growing up too fast." God, I sound like an old man.
"Certainly." She smiled. "I am very much looking forward to Christmas."
I thank you all for your kind reviews! They really motivate me and inspire me! Thank you.
