Jane jumped as another vase shattered on the floor.
"Edward, I swear if you won't be quiet, the whole court will hear you!" Thomas hissed clutching at at his older brothers arm to stop him for reaching for more breakables. "Do you really want that nest of vipers knowing what is happening?"
Jane sheepishly looked to the floor as both her brothers eyes turned to her. All morning since she had mustered the courage to tell her family what she had done, Jane had been listening to their insults. Listened to Edward railing and Dorothy try to plead her case.
"You two are blowing this out of proportion," Dorothy said soothingly. "He'll still divorce that witch! And now Janey is even more of an angel in his eyes. It may take a little bit more time, but you two are acting like this is over. It is far from over!" At this she sent a smile to Jane. Jane returned it before glancing back at Edward, who glowered at her.
"But how long will it take? How long can she possibly keep him interested without opening her legs?" Jane flinched at the vulgarity and the strength of his anger. "Jane if you lose the king because of this folly-"
A knock on the door silenced all the Seymours. Thomas jumped to pull the door open to reveal the king's usher. The king wanted to speak to the Lady Jane. Her siblings all turned to look at her as Jane stepped forward. She could see the encouragement in Dorothy's eyes and the warning in Edward's. She followed the usher through the halls as she tried to focus on what to say to the king. What had happened at the Tower? Did Jane really talk Henry into reconciling with Anne? What would become of her now? Her brothers were right, she really was stupid. But no matter what happened, Jane couldn't help feeling like she had done the right thing. If she had climbed into the throne after an innocent woman was murdered, her reign would have been cursed.
This thought helped her through the corridors and into the king's private chambers. And when she saw the conflicted look on Henry's face, she knew she had made the right decision. Henry poured them both a goblet of wine and sat down heavily into the chair opposite her. For a moment neither of them spoke. Henry took a deep drink for his glass and Jane reached for hers and took a dainty sip.
"She's innocent, Jane" his voice broke her out of her thoughts and she looked up into his eyes. She immediately wanted to reach across and take his hands. He looked so at war with himself. "She's innocent and I don't know what to do. What do I do with her? She can't give me a son. She isn't fit to be my queen. Half of Europe hates me for splitting with the church for her and half of my country hates me for splitting with Katherine for her." Jane kept her silence as Henry ranted. "Damn her for lying to me. If I had known how this would turn out, I never would have..." he broke off and took another drink from his goblet. He looked up at Jane and if she didn't know any better she would have thought he was going to cry. His anguish was clearly etched into his features as he looked at her pleadingly. "But I can't kill her. I can't kill an innocent woman. Even for you, my darling Jane"
She shook her head emphatically, setting her goblet on the table and allowing herself to take his hands. "Henry I never wanted this to happen. I would never want that on your conscious and I would never want that hanging over our marriage. You must do what is right for all of us. If you must keep her as your wife-"
"How can I do that knowing what I know?" he interrupted. "How can I do that after all the pain and suffering that we have endured? But you know how long Katherine fought for her place! If Anne does the same, I might never be free of her." He bit his lip thinking about Katherine's stubbornness, about how long she held out against him and how much easier things would be if she had just been dutiful and done what he had asked. Anne was twice as stubborn and strong willed. And after her bout in the tower, the people would rally behind her. He was stuck with her.
"But what if she doesn't."
Henry stared at his goblet as he processed her words. He glanced up at Jane and found her wide eyes thoughtful.
"What if she doesn't want to fight. Katherine's main objective was to protect her daughters rights-" she caught Henry's warning glance "-or what she thought was her rights. What if you protected Elizabeth. What if you offered her a way to gracefully step aside without declaring her daughter a bastard. Make her an offer so that she'll still be a high lady and she might let you go." Jane's words made everything sound so simple. If Anne was willing to see reason, it would be so much easier to divorce her. It would be quick and painless and then he could have his darling Jane without the cloud of barely disguised murder hanging over him.
"And then you could be my queen" He started to like this idea, but he knew if wasn't going to be that easy. "But we'd have to watch her. We'd have to make sure that the country knew she was being well provided for. We could marry her off to someone else that we trusted, but she'd have to stay at court..." He cut off, knowing what a position at court would be.
"She'd be my lady" Jane said stiffly.