Disclaimer: I still do not own Reign
Once out of the hall and away from the prying eyes of courtiers, she hurried, stumbling slightly from too much wine. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes as she heard heavy footfalls behind her. Something in her hoped that it was Henry, coming to apologize. Showing her that he cared, if only a little. When a large hand grasped her arm and spun her around, she looked up into Richard's face. Richard? What was he doing following her?
"What? What do you want?"
"Catherine… I mean, uh, dauphine…"
"You may call me Catherine, Richard. Now what do you want? I am tired and would like retire to my rooms."
"I know this has been a difficult evening for you…"
"Yes, I have had many difficult evenings in my time. I hope that that is not your point in preventing my withdrawal."
"No, I mean, I just… I don't want you to feel alone here. I know to you I am only a friend of your husband's, but I hope you know that you may consider me a friend of yours as well."
Catherine was taken aback by this show of kindness. He had rarely even spoken in her presence before.
"Thank you, Richard. I… I'm grateful to you." She lowered her eyes, humiliated that even a friend of her husband's takes pity on her.
He reached up with his free hand to touch her face.
"Richard!" She hissed, removing her arm from his grasp.
"I'm so sorry!… I didn't mean... I didn't know!... You must know?..."
"Leave it!" She spirited away to her chambers.
In the weeks that followed Henry continued to bask in the glow of Diane's pregnancy and Richard continued to present himself as an empathetic listener for Catherine. At first she scorned him and doubted his sincerity, but as Diane's belly grew and Catherine's fear intensified she began to turn to Richard for comfort. At first he just listened as she voiced her anxieties, but as her panic rose deepened so did their relationship.
The night after Diane began her preparations for the nursery, most of the castle was asleep, but Catherine lay awake. She was trying not to think of her isolation, her hollow marriage, her sullied reputation as the unwanted wife of the Dauphin of France. She heard a tap at her balcony door. Pulling back the heavy curtains revealed Richard peering at her through the glass. She rushed to cover her nightgown, throwing on her discarded dressing gown.
"What the hell are you doing here at this time of night?"
He smiled, shutting the door. "Just thought I'd come check on you… I saw the candlelight so I knew you were awake… I just climbed up to make sure you were okay."
"Candlelight is not an invitation to come sneaking into my chambers! I'm… You shouldn't be here!"
"No one saw, I assure you… If you like I can leave?"
Although his presence in her chambers at this hour would be impossible to explain and she felt alarmed at his sudden presence in her space, she was desperate for company.
"No, you may stay. Just don't feel that you are at liberty to ascend into my chambers whenever the mood strikes you."
That was the night of the biggest mistake of Catherine's life. After several hours of pouring out her heart she broke down, she allowed another man into her bed. That's why she was here now delivering a child that was the punishment for her sin.