On the home stretch now, thank you everyone for sticking with me and for all your support, favourites and reviews, love you all loads :D
"You know," Henry told Isabella one afternoon while the two were out walking together. "they are already suggesting that I remarry."
"Who Your Majesty?" Isabella asked.
"Members of the council; Hartford and such." Henry replied.
"Do you thing that is such a good idea, Your Majesty?" Isabella asked after a moment's thought; would Henry honestly consider remarrying for the sixth time? What on earth could possibly happen to the next poor unfortunate woman who agreed to become the next Queen of England?
"I do not know." Henry sighed. "If the next is anything like my last wife I would rather not enter into marriage again."
"That is certainly a wise decision, Your Majesty." she replied, smiling warmly at him. He smiled back at her.
"If the right woman came along though..." Henry began. "I fell as if all I have ever done is rush into marriages though."
"What do you mean by that?" Isabella asked.
"Well I married Catherine almost immediately after you turned me down. As soon as the divorce to Catherine was settled I immediately married Anne and after her execution I married Jane. After the time spent grieving her death I entered into marriage with Anne of Cleaves and as soon as our marriage was annulled I was marrying Katherine Howard." Henry reeled off.
"And out of all of those women only the Lady Anne of Cleaves still lives." Isabella said giving him a playful smirk.
"You're still with me." Henry said returning her smirk.
"Ah but that is because I have never been married to you." he giggled and Henry chuckled too. He loved the sound of her laugh; he had always loved the sound of her laugh. Isabella was the one woman who had been there for him through it all and had remained faithful to him throughout – she had never forsaken him and had never wanted anyone but him. Why had he been so stupid? Why had he allowed Isabella to leave and not insist that she marry him? Why had he allowed Cromwell to keep them apart after Jane had passed away?
He loved this woman so much and should never ever have let her go. He should have held her that night when he proposed to her and never let go of her – his life would have been greatly different if he had married Isabella. After the heartache and shame that Katherine Howard had put him through he was sure that he would have been a great deal happier if he had married Isabella. He would be a great deal happier if he still could marry Isabella.
"Would you marry me Isabella?" he asked. "If you had the chance to say 'yes' when we were seventeen, would you take it?"
"Of course I would." she replied. "I never should have turned you down."
"I never should have walked away from you that night." Henry said taking her hand and stopping her from continuing. He tenderly cupped her face and gazed into her eyes. "I never should have allowed others to keep us apart for all these years."
"We never should have done a lot of things over the years Henry." Isabella replied, placing her hand over his and smiling sadly. Henry sighed.
"You are right, Isabella, as usual." he told her. "You have always been right."
"What can I say: it's a gift." she laughed softly.
"Would you still want to marry me now?" he asked. He seemed to be speaking in such earnest that she was quite taken aback. "You are the perfect woman for me Isabella and I could not ask for anything more." She placed her hand on his cheek lovingly and smiled at him, tears beginning to fill her eyes.
"I fear we have missed too many chances over the years Henry." she stated. Henry sighed and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I was afraid that you would say that." he told her. "I was also afraid that I would agree with you. I love you more than I have loved any other woman in my entire life."
"And I you." Isabella replied. "There has never been another man for me save Your Majesty." Henry pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately. "If we were seventeen again I would never let you go but I fear that we have left it too late to pick up where we left off."
"You are right Isabella." Henry said letting go of her. "Too much has happened for us to simply continue as if it had not." The pair continued along the path in their walk. "As long as you stay at court with me then I will be content." he replied.
"Whatever makes Your Majesty happy will altogether please me," Isabella told him. "and I would not be parted from you again for the world." Henry smiled at her, took hold of her hand and kissed it once again.
Shortly after her walk with the King Isabella was informed by the Lady Mary that both herself and the Lady Elizabeth had been restored to the line of succession. Mary was over the moon with this news, which in turn made Elizabeth happy as well. This meant that one day there was a chance that both girls would grow up to be Queen of England after their brother of course. That Christmas Prince Edwards was presented to the public and was to perform his first duties in court. The court warmly accepted the young Prince and he was wonderfully behaved. Both Henry and Isabella were incredibly proud of him – he could not have grown into a finer young man.
During those Christmas celebrations the Lady Catherine Parr was introduced to the court. She had come to partition His Majesty to lift the suspicion of treason from her husband Lord Lattimer. Lord Lattimer had been taken prisoner with Robert Aske and the other rebels in the recent Northern rebellion and many of the court still suspected him to have been a party in the rebellion considering his ties to the North. Henry told Lady Catherine that the suspicions over her husband had been dropped, which Catherine was very happy about.
Shortly after their meeting Catherine began to receive gifts from His Majesty. She was as shocked as anyone, thinking that she had given the King no reason to send her such gifts. Knowing that she had known the King for a great many years Catherine asked Isabella for her opinion on the gifts from Henry. Isabella had smiled knowingly at her and said she should realise what the gifts represented.
"I am sure that His Majesty is quite taken with you." Isabella smiled.
"I have done nothing to deserve these affections or gifts though." Catherine replied.
"More often than not, you do not have to with His Majesty." Isabella stated.
"Does this mean that he wants me to..." Catherine trailed off.
"I could not say Lady Lattimer." Isabella replied. "It is true that your husband is not long for this world and the King has been much happier since his meeting you."
"But I have done nothing to deserve it!" Catherine cried.
"Would you not like to be Queen of England?" Isabella asked her.
"You know what happens to his Queens," Catherine exclaimed. "everyone knows what happens!"
"I do not believe that His Majesty will always be disposed to rid himself of his Queens." Isabella said soothingly. "I believe that if he was presented with the right woman then he would stay with her for as long as God would allow him to."
"And who says that I am the right woman?" Catherine asked.
"Well His Majesty does I believe." Isabella replied.
"Then I certainly hope you are right about that Lady Lockhart." Catherine muttered.
A week after her conversation with Isabella Catherine Parr's husband Lord Lattimer passed away. Catherine was particularly sad about this because just before he had died her husband believed that she was having an affair with the King in his hour of sickness and told her to go to hell when she tried to explain her innocence. The very next day Edward Seymour came to tell her that the King had offered her his hand in marriage. She was to be given the amount of time that she needed to grieve over her late husband and then if she so desired she would be given room in the Palace and then their wedding would be planned shortly afterwards.
Catherine was so broken by the death of her husband and his accusations of her fidelity on his death bed that she did not know how to answer Edward's question from the King. She just sat there in her mourning dress and stared. Seymour did not know what message to take back to the King when Catherine did not reply so he was persistent – he refused to leave until she had given him her answer. Isabella, who had been commissioned by the King to go with the Earl to help Catherine prepare for her move to the Palace and to court, told him to be patient and give her more time – the poor woman had just lost her husband after all.
Losing your husband was hard enough to cope with (especially considering that Lord Lattimer had in fact been the second husband Catherine had lost) but to receive a proposal this soon from the King no less. It was a lot for one person to cope with and Isabella, at least, understood that the woman may need some time to grieve properly.
Catherine did consent to marry Henry. She was terrified on her wedding day as now (because of what had come before) a marriage to the King of England was considered a death sentence but she did not show her fear. She held herself with all the grace and poise of a true Queen of England. Catherine told Henry that she would like to be properly acquainted to the Princess Elizabeth and the Prince Edward – she had known the Princess Mary for a number of years and would like to know all of her step children so that she could be a better and loving mother to them.
Round about the same time as his marriage and after signing a secret treaty with the Emperor of Spain Henry made it known to the court, and indeed the world, that he was going to go to war with France. He dispatched armies, who were led by the Duke of Suffolk, to invade the shores of France – he wished that this war would teach King Francis a lesson for all the wrongs that he had subjected to both Henry and the Emperor over the years.
Once again that ulcer on the King's leg was giving him great pain. Catherine told the physicians that while the King was sick she would move her bed to his chambers so that she could look after him better. She asked Isabella to move to his chamber with her as she may need her assistance. Isabella was happy to be back in the services of a true Queen of England – she had not been in the service of a true Queen since Anne of Cleaves (she could not have been able to stomach being around Katherine Howard while she was Queen) and she had been finding herself without purpose.
She had not been required in the household of the Prince Edward anymore as he was growing up fast. The Lady Elizabeth did not require her services anymore, especially as she had been invited by her father to live at court as her older sister Mary did. Having no children of her own (although the amount of times she had slept with the King it was not for lack of trying) Isabella found her days filled with idleness and she was very glad to be needed by someone – especially a member of Henry's family – once again.
Just before Henry was due to leave for France he left Catherine Parr as regent to the realm, with Isabella to help her if she needed it. Bishop Gardiner was known to be very displeased with this as neither Catherine or Isabella were known to have any knowledge of politics but that was not why Henry had asked them to do it. He had asked them because they were both incredibly kind and loving and would settle any disputes using their love and care rather than taking a political point of view.
Henry also stated the line of succession – he was putting all of his affairs in order in case the unthinkable happened and he did not come from the war in France (even though he said he had no intention to die). Henry stated that the line of succession would start with Edward if he had no children then it would pass to the Lady Mary and then the Lady Elizabeth. He trusted that both Catherine and Isabella would take the greatest care of both his children and his country.