Hey guys just a little bit of filler info heading towards Anne's demise and Queen number three. Hope you enjoy :)
Once she had helped the Lady Jane move into the Palace Henry offered Isabella her her previous place back at Court. Isabella warmly accepted his offer; as much as she loved being with the Lady Mary and the Princess Elizabeth she had missed being in the company of His Majesty and her other friends. She also had a great desire to find information out about the Queen. Lord Suffolk had told her, on one of his many visits that there were a number of people – Chapouis the Emperor's Ambassador included – that thought she was a witch. Isabella knew that this was ridiculous but she wanted to find out what possessed them to come to this conclusion.
Isabella also knew that this kind of thinking could get rid of the woman permanently and she would not feel any sorrow for her if it did. She was not particularly a treacherous person but it was widely known that as Queen Anne was dividing the country. She was forcing anyone who supported Catherine and the Catholic faith to recant and go into hiding for fear of execution, she had practically driven Catherine to her death, she had forced the King to get the country extradited from the Pope, Rome and the rest of Europe and she was, in the opinion of many, an all-round despicable woman. None of the other European Monarchs wanted anything to do with an alliance between their children as they saw Elizabeth as a bastard. Basically her actions had caused the King, and in turn England, to be completely isolated in Europe.
Upon Isabella's return to the Palace Henry had her placed back in the service of the Queen, he had her once again around Anne all the time. The Queen was not happy about this – she disliked the fact that Henry had gone and appointed Lady Seymour as one of her ladies maids but to ask back Isabella! Henry knew how much Anne disliked the woman and now he was forcing her back into their house (to be frank Isabella wasn't exactly happy about it either). Anne was certain that Isabella was conspiring with the Lady Mary to bring about her downfall – Catherine may have died and been laid to rest but Anne was still paranoid and her paranoia was worsening by the day.
Isabella quickly settled back into life in the Palace and as she did she suddenly realised how much she had actually been missing being cooped up in the Princess Elizabeth's house. The seriousness of the whole reformation was been glossed over while she was there when Suffolk spoke of it – she hadn't realised that people were actually dying because they refused to give up their faith. This was not necessarily the King's doing – he had just made it possible. He had not actually ordered the deaths himself but because of the position he had placed himself in others (such as Cromwell) were taking it upon themselves to act out vigilante justice.
Another thing that Isabella had missed was the scrutiny around Anne from her other ladies maids. Isabella was told by one Lady Sheldon (who was also Anne's cousin Madge) that a number of men were often seen coming in and out of the Queen's chambers. These men included Mark Smeaton, the King's court musician (a man whom Anne seemed to be very fond of), her brother George and Mr Norris (the man who was supposed to be courting Lady Sheldon). Anne was often seen touching and kissing these men – apart from Norris who had only been seen talking to her. However Norris had seemed very infatuated with Her Majesty and her ideas and values when he had spoken to her.
It was clear to Isabella that on Anne's first meeting with the Lady Jane she took an instant dislike to the girl. It may have been because the King had suddenly desired for her to be placed in Anne's services or it may also have been because she saw a flicker of the affection that she had first shown for the King in Jane's eyes and the same affection in his. She did not want anything – no man, woman or child – to take away the affection of the King from her.
During her time back in court Isabella found herself striking up a friendship (that Anne knew nothing about, otherwise she would have immediately put a stop to it) with the Spanish Ambassador Eustice Chapouis. Both Isabella and Chapouis had a great love for the late Catherine and very little to pass to the current Queen. The two often reminisced about Catharine's kind and loving nature, they were both very sorry for her sudden death. It came to pass that Chapouis was able to be granted a release of Catharine's autopsy after she died. He told Isabella that there was a black growth on her heart that was evidence of poisoning. That begged the question; could Anne have ordered for the poisoning of Catherine? That much was uncertain but it did fill them both with fear for the safety of Lady Mary.
It also came to pass that His Holiness Pope Paul commissioned the King of France to invade England – a request that Frances was not necessarily happy to grant. The Pope stated that there was to be no forgiveness for Henry's crimes – he was to be excommunicated from the Pope, Rome and the Church of the faithful. This mean that he would be cut off from Europe completely and it was all Anne's doing.
One afternoon the King held a jousting match for his amusement and entertainment. Anne was not in attendance that afternoon as she feared that the excitement of the tournament might harm her unborn son. Many of her ladies maids, Isabella and Jane included went to the festivities. Isabella found herself sat in the company of the Duke of Suffolk's young wife, Katherine, and George Boleyn's wife Lady Rochford.
"Pray tell why is the Queen not in attendance?" Lady Rochford asked.
"Her Majesty fears that the excitement of the tournament may cause harm to her unborn son." Katherine explained.
"She is sure it is a son?" Lady Rochford asked. Isabella and Katherine shared a look as if to silently ask where she was going with this. Isabella found she got on well with Suffolk's wife – this was probably due to the good relationship she had with her husband – but she was not sure about Lady Rochford.
"Well one can never been completely certain in these respects but Her Majesty is very certain that she is carrying a son." Isabella remarked. She needed to remain impartial, especially because she was in the Lady Anne's service and she was sitting very close to the Queen's sister in law so she did not want to say too much in favour of any one party.
"I certainly hope that she has not visited the same astrologer as last time." Lady Rochford said, a small smile playing about her lips. Isabella and Katherine looked at each other again – a comment like that could be seen as rather treacherous and Lady Rochford should be careful. Katherine opened her mouth to say something but a commotion on the ground caught their attention. During his joust with Henry Norris the King had fallen off his horse and been crushed.
After the accident the King showed no signs of life for almost an hour – the entire country was worried about him and it seemed as if he would die. He was taken care of by the finest doctor in the country but it still seemed as if he had no hope. Eventually he did regain consciousness and the entire Kingdom rejoiced. Isabella went to see the King shortly after he regained consciousness and he was very happy to see her, it had been so long since the pair had last spoken properly even though they did not have too long.
Not long after his accident Henry called Jane into his room to tell her of his affections for her. Jane modestly accepted him and allowed him to kiss her. During this kiss Anne walked in on the two of them and flew into a rage. She was devastated that her husband was whoring with another woman (as she put it) and screamed at him so almost all the castle could hear. That night she had another miscarriage and lost yet another child. The King was furious when he found out and said that he would speak to her once she was well again. Anne, however, was not going to take this insult lying down. She said that if he hadn't been kissing another woman she would never have gotten distressed and lost the child. Whoever was to blame the damage was done and there was nothing either of them could do about it.