A/N: Hi, this one's Greenfield's. Thanks for the compliments on our last few chapters, they were greatly appreciated. This is Anne of Cleves/Cromwell to Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons, one of my favourite bands. Please review. By the way, Cromwell wasn't actually alive at this point, but it is fanfiction, so...she thought she'd just write it anyway!

As the winter winds litter London with lonely hearts
Oh the warmth in your eyes swept me into your arms
Was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night?
For every kiss your beauty trumped my doubt

"Mister Cromwell? I did not expect to see you here"

Her accent was thick, and she spoke carefully, as if afraid of taking one step out of turn. She looked even lovelier than before. Being separated from Henry had given her the independence she had always craved, and given her a new spring to her step and a light in her eyes. She wore furs to shield her from the cold, and a red gown trimmed with gold. Her brown eyes were soft and warm as always, and he could just see her dull gold hair shining beneath her coif. How had Henry had the gall to call her a Flanders mare? She was a lovely creature, Cromwell thought, quite lovely. He had always thought so.

"No" he shuffled his feet awkwardly, "I thought...I thought I might see how you are settling in?"

"Oh, very well, thank you, Mister Cromwell" she smiled at him, momentarily stunning him with her bright molten eyes, "It was good of you to come so far from court on my behalf"

"I – I have missed seeing you about court. We were good friends"

"Yes. Yes, we were" she looked up at him like a little girl, suddenly looking terribly lost and frightfully alone, "I am glad you came here"

Cromwell did not know how to reply. Anne could think of nothing more to say either. She looked at him with worry in her eyes.

"Would it be wrong if we...would it be wrong of you to stay? For dinner, I mean?"

"No" he answered a little too quickly, "No, not at all"

He stayed for much more than dinner.

And my head told my heart
"Let love grow"
But my heart told my head
"This time no
This time no"

At first, he was fearful of investing too much of himself in her. His wife, his Elizabeth, had been dead many years, and it had broken him. What if he lost Anne the way he had lost Elizabeth? He could not go through that again, and he had lost his daughters too. He had lost the other Anne, too. Oh, he hadn't loved her, not like he had loved Elizabeth, but there had been some attraction there, something in her eyes that had made him want to fall to his knees before her.

He didn't want to love Anne of Cleves. If the King ever found out, both of them would be dead. But everytime his head cautioned him against loving her, his heart replied with the notion that it was too late, that he already did love her. He knew it was true.

We'll be washed and buried one day my girl
And the time we were given will be left for the world
The flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague
So let the memories be good for those who stay

And my head told my heart
"Let love grow"
But my heart told my head
"This time no"
Yes, my heart told my head
"This time no
This time no"

"We should not be doing this, should we?" Anne asked him. He had made his excuses at court again – not only did he want to be with Anne, but he simply couldn't abide the new Queen – that foolish chit of a girl was so much less of a Queen than Anne was. He and Anne were laying in bed together, and he was playing with her soft golden hair. She looked even prettier with it loose; he wished she could wear it like that more often.

"No, we shouldn't" Cromwell agreed, "But I don't care. What's the point in living if you don't enjoy life?"

"I think you are right" Anne agreed, cocking her head to listen to the birdsong outside, "I wish we could tell everyone about us"

"So do I. I would like to marry you, one day"

Her face lit up, "Would you?"

"Yes, of course" he smiled, kissed her lips, "I shouldn't want to live in sin with you forever"

Anne giggled, "Yes" her face fell, "But the King would not allow it"

"No. He would not. It has to stay a secret"

"I do not mind" Anne said thoughtfully, "As long as we are together for some years yet"

"We will be" Cromwell promised, smiling, "Of course we will be"

Oh the shame that sent me off from the God that I once loved
Was the same that sent me into your arms
Oh and pestilence is won when you are lost and I am gone
And no hope, no hope will overcome

And if your strife strikes at your sleep
Remember spring swaps snow for leaves
You'll be happy and wholesome again
When the city clears and sun ascends

He had not believed in God for some time after Elizabeth's death. He had indeed turned to religion again in recent years, but resentfully, as a sulky child apologises to a wronged parent. Being with Anne had made him truly believe again. God takes away, but then he gives, and he gives something that, although it cannot replace what has been taken, sometimes makes it seem as though all is well, as though the world is once again at peace.

Anne was the sun in his life now, obscuring the dark clouds that threatened his livelihood. She always would be the sun in his life, he decided, for as long as he lived, because he loved her.

And no matter how much his head warned him against heartbreak, he refused to listen.

And my head told my heart
"Let love grow"
But my heart told my head
"This time no"

And my head told my heart
"Let love grow"
But my heart told my head
"This time no
This time no"