Hey guys, new chapter up! I've been first aid training all day (which is why this is quite late on), it was intense and I'm totally terrified about doing it on an actual human but at least I know what I'm doing haha anyway hope you enjoy the chapter
After her miscarriage Anne found herself in a great spiral of depression. It seemed as if everyone had abandoned her; her husband, her father, her brother, her sister (who had angered her by marrying a man who wasn't a noble without Anne's permission) and all her friends. She was completely alone in the world. It was at a time like this she wished that she had someone like Isabella – she knew that she had always been there for the King when he was unhappy and Henry always spoke very highly of her. She had also been there for Catherine, Mary and Brandon when they needed her and she had never proven herself to be untrustworthy but in her jealousy Anne had pushed away one of the only people she could have considered a friend.
It was during this time that Henry did come and see her. He told her that he loved her and that everything would be alright – he believed that they could still have more children and that they would have a son together. It was what she needed to hear and he had to say it to reassure himself at the same time. He had been in contact with Isabella and she heard what he was really feeling – he wanted to be strong for Anne but he was able to break down and be himself in front of his life-long friend, just as he had always been able to do. That is why he loved Isabella so and that was something that Anne would never be able to replace, no matter how hard she tried. Isabella would always be first in Henry's heart over her, even though she was his wife and Isabella a friend.
Following the death of Sir Thomas More Henry found himself less disposed to take council from the male members of the Boleyn family. He no longer desired to be with his wife and found himself constantly writing to Isabella. He was able to speak freely with her and charged her to come back to court. Isabella was happy to oblige him but not while the Lady Anne was still in power. She told the King that she did not wish to upset the Queen as it was well known that she did not like having Isabella around and that it may cause Her Majesty more stress. Isabella really did not need that hassle and he realised her true meaning. Henry said that he understood, he was finding Anne's ways and mannerisms were beginning to annoy him.
Henry was haunted by dreams and thoughts of Sir Thomas. His actions were starting to take their toll on him and he began to question his sanity on many occasions. He desperately needed some good news to be brought to him but alas none was to come. Secretary Cromwell told the King that there were riots happening in the churches. Those who His Holiness the Pope deemed heretics were destroying relics and tearing down buildings. Cromwell told the King that this was all in the name of the reformation and Henry happily accepted this as fact but in reality it was much more serious as often people who still appeared to accept the Catholic faith were being killed by those who took on the reformation more zealously and Cromwell was the one casting the sentences without the King's or council's permission.
Since her miscarriage and the murder of Sir Thomas More Anne had found that Henry was even more distant that he had been and rarely came to her bed chambers anymore. She knew that he had taken a mistress but she suddenly became paranoid that he was having numerous affairs – that he had a harem full of women somewhere. She became increasingly paranoid that he was no longer in love with her and that his affairs proved this. It also meant that if he never visited her she would never be able to conceive his desired son. She was also becoming increasingly paranoid about her safety; she was seen by some of her ladies maids talking to her brother George, she was telling him of her fears on her life.
It was apparently well known that there was a prophesy that a Queen of England would be burnt at the stake. Anne's paranoia that this was going to happen to her was increasing with each passing day. She tried to coerce the King into telling her where he was going when he left the castle (when she thought that he was going to visit his harem) but the only thing she did was succeed in annoying His Majesty, driving him away and falling further out of favour with him. Since she had become the Queen Anne clearly thought much too much of herself – her elevated position made her forget where she had come from and that she could be sent back there.
She began to drink more. At banquets she was always found with a large goblet of wine in her hand. The more she drank the more she made a spectacle of herself in public (again fuelling the anger of His Majesty the King). She drank to lessen the pain of her husband's distance but only succeeded in driving him further and further away. One night she confronted the King about his affairs. He flew into a rage and told her that the King of France would not accept the proposition of the marriage of Elizabeth to his son because Elizabeth was considered a bastard by everyone and that Anne was not Henry's true wife.
"That woman is a whore!" Charles Brandon proclaimed to Isabella one afternoon as the two of them took one of their walks around the grounds of the Princess Elizabeth's house. On occasion the Lady Mary would accompany them but today she had remained behind in order to pray in peace. "She treats me worse than I treat my dogs!" he added bitterly.
"But your dogs bite back, Your Grace." Isabella replied, a slight smirk playing on her lips. Charles turned to her, an amused expression on his face.
"That is exactly what Katherine said." he told her.
"And how is your lovely wife, Your Grace?" Isabella asked. Brandon sighed.
"She is well, she is with child." he said.
"Congratulations Your Grace. This is wonderful news." Isabella said smiling. She looked at Brandon and saw his downcast expression. "What is the matter?" she asked.
"I was unfaithful to her." he said sadly. "It was inexcusable. I thought I had grown out of my old ways, especially after Margaret but I found myself unable to resist the pull of a beautiful woman." Isabella gave his arm a small squeeze.
"You are not a bad person Charles," she told him switching to an informality to show how much she cared for his happiness. "you had a momentary lapse and you know it will not happen again."
"The look on Katharine's face though..." he began.
"She will forgive you." Isabella cut him off. "She loves you Charles and nothing will change that. Just give her some time and she will forgive you." Brandon patted her hand.
"Thank you Isabella, you have a wisdom well beyond your years." he stated.
"I simply have the gift of being able to read people very well Your Grace." she replied. "Now you were saying about the Queen before." Brandon's expression hardened.
"That woman makes my blood boil." he stated.
"And His Majesty is aware of your feelings?" Isabella asked, privately fearing that Charles may befall the same fate as Cardinals Fisher and Wolsey and Thomas More if he carried on talking like that.
"I know not." he replied. "I believe that she is aware of how I feel so I would assume that His Majesty does know, but he knows that I am his ever loving servant and does not listen to her council on me. As I imagine is the same in your case and the case of the Lady Mary."
"I would imagine so too. Anne has never kept her hatred for me a secret since her coronation, I would have thought that since I had been sent away to wait on the Princess she would have given up the delusion that I am trying to steal her husband from her and that I am his mistress but evidentially she has not."
"I have heard it on good authority that the Queen grows ever more paranoid by the day that the King will leave and will choose another wife for himself. The more she tries to cling to him the more she succeeds in pushing him further away." Brandon replied. Isabella raised an eyebrow.
"Well His Majesty does have a tendency to be fickle in his affections." she stated.
"Why is it that you never consented to marry him Isabella?" Brandon asked. "If it is not too bold a question. I know he asked you and that you turned him down." he added as an afterthought.
"I would not have been able to be the Queen that His Majesty would have needed me to be." she replied, looking away. She thought about what would have happened if she had accepted the King's proposal all those years ago and she knew in her heart of hearts that it was better this way. It was better for her to be His Majesty's confidant and friend without the responsibility of being his Queen when she may not be able to deliver what he and the Kingdom really needed
"I believe that you would have made a fine Queen, Isabella Lockhart." Brandon replied. Isabella turned to smile at him.
"Well better that the current one at the very least." she laughed softly. Brandon allowed himself a small laugh too.
"Better not let anyone else hear you say that." he told her.
"I don't think we should let anyone else hear a number of the things we say to each other Your Grace." she stated.