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Chapter Eleven: Queen Katherine's Trial.
20th of December 1530 - London, England
Walking through the halls of the palace that she called home, Katherine held her head high taking note of how empty the corridors seemed to be; her ladies followed her loyally to where she had been summoned. The message from Henry had arrived early that morning and Katherine hadn't been sure what to make of such a message from her husband calling her to the throne room where he was expecting her.
After their talk, Katherine couldn't help but wonder if it had finally made Henry realise that there was nothing that he could do that would get rid of her; the Pope had sided in her favour and she would not leave him. The doors to the throne room where thrown open upon her arrival and Katherine didn't pause for a moment; a frown setting upon her face at the sight of so many people inside.
"Her Majesty the Queen," a herald announced making everyone turn around to look towards Katherine, who didn't hesitate in walking through the crowds taking note that this was not the welcome that she had expected. Once the court would have bowed down to her without so much of a hesitation; instead now they stared directly at her as she approached her husband seated upon his throne.
There was no throne for her to take her rightful place at her side, instead there was the single throne that Henry was seated upon; her ladies bowed down to him when they reached the steps to the throne. Katherine stood before Henry, she made no move to bow nor did she move to take her rightful place at his side considering he'd had her throne removed.
"Will you not be seated madam?" Henry asked staring down at Katherine, he sat back in his throne knowing that what happened next was of her own doing; he had tried to offer her a way out but she had refused. Staring up at Henry, Katherine did not budge knowing what he expected of her and she would not give it to him; she was not his subject and would not allow him to treat her without the respect that she deserved.
"My place is at your side and there is no seat for me there," Katherine told him, already having seen the chair that had been set out for her at the side of the room far from her rightful place at Henry's side on a throne as his Queen. A nod of Henry's head was all she received in reply before he waved his hand to Thomas Cromwell so that they may begin with what came next; the sooner that they were done the better and then the real work could begin.
"Do you deny that you encouraged your nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor, to act on your behalf and attack Rome to ensure that you could keep the throne?" Cromwell started, the room deathly silent as he spoke and moved closer to stand before the throne. The last couple of days had been mayhem and Thomas had been locked in his chambers with several others preparing for this; the night before he had been rather worried about confronting Katherine. The woman was rather popular and had even led an army into battle against the Scots while the King was away in France; she had been pregnant at the time but the baby boy was later lost.
"Do you deny that you sent letters discussing private knowledge with your nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor?" Cromwell continued his questioning, he stared down at Katherine who stared back defiantly; there was no sign of any emotion on the woman's face that gave anything away. The room was silent and Thomas waited to see if Katherine would realise that this was serious; if she even realised that the jig was up and that now was the time for her to back down.
"Of course, I deny it. How dare you accuse me of such things. I am His Majesty's most humble servant," Katherine spat stepping towards Cromwell, her eyes shifting away from the lawyer and towards Henry. This was certainly not what she had been expecting upon being called here, she wanted her husband to address her and speak with her plainly on why he was doing this.
"Did you not also promise the same to the Emperor?" Cromwell mused looking to Katherine, there would be no way to talk her way out of this. Producing his first piece of evidence, Cromwell made his way towards one of Katherine's most loyal ladies; he ignored the look that the Queen gave him knowing that nothing that she could say would take away from the evidence that they had. He stopped before the lady that looked nervously towards her mistress not sure what was about to be asked of her; he held out the letter that he had selected and held it out to her.
"If you could. Can you confirm that this is written in Her Majesty's hand?" Cromwell asked of her, he allowed her to take the letter that was written in Spanish and look down upon it. A gasp fell from her mouth and she nodded her head before confirming aloud that the letter was in fact written in Katherine's hand; her eyes glancing towards her mistress who didn't look pleased by the development.
"Can you read it?" Cromwell inquired, when she stated that she could he signalled for her to read it aloud so others could hear what Katherine had written; he clasped his hands behind his back as he stepped away from the lady while she spoke. The colour all but drained from Katherine's face as her letter to her nephew was read aloud, she had no idea how they had gotten hold of the letter and her stomach dropped knowing just how it ended.
It ended with her promising as she always did to be a true and loving servant to her nephew, the King of her home country and the place that she had not seen in so many years since she had left to come to England and marry it's future King. Marching over to her lady, Katherine snatched the letter from her with shaking hands; she stared down at the writing that she knew to be her own. Everyone watched her and Katherine knew that she had to act quickly, if they had such a letter then it would be used against her and her fight to keep her place as Queen would be lost.
"It is a clever forgery but it can not fool me gentlemen," Katherine stated with a shake of her head, she folded the letter and attempted to hide it in her gown only to be stopped by Cromwell. Who took the letter from her so that she could not have it destroyed if she was able to convince those around them that she was completely innocent; the other letters were going to be kept out of reach.
"A forgery madam? But we have so many others, all confessing your loyalty to the Emperor as well as telling him the King's dealings with others," Cromwell mused signalling for a man to step forward with several other letters that had already been presented to the court to show her.
"You encouraged your nephew to intervene on your behalf with the Pope ensuring that he could not judge the case presented by His Majesty with clear eyes," Cromwell said pushing forward, his dark eyes looking to Katherine daring her to deny what he said. It was all in the letters and while she might not have asked for such things to be done, it was her pleas of help and loyalty to the Emperor that had him act.
"Your nephew sacked Rome to prevent you being cast aside and took His Holiness hostage. The Pope finding in your favour and refusing to ease His Majesty's mind on the matter of your marriage to his brother," Cromwell continued walking passed Katherine and to the gathering, there were many lords, courtiers and other members of court in attendance.
Each would leave here with no doubt of Katherine's guilt and spread it, already plans where in action to spread her betrayal and lies around the country clearing the way for the King to marry again and remove himself from the traitor. Slowly making her way over to the letters, Katherine stared down at them her face paling as her eyes scanned each for its contents and with each letter; she realised that there was nothing that she could say that would convince anyone otherwise.
There were no words that could pass her lips that she could say that would erase the evidence of which they had; she turned to look at the crowds realising that she was going to lose. They were clearly in her hand and Henry looked pleased with himself, she couldn't understand how he had come into possession of such letters; they had reached the Emperor, the Imperial Ambassadors would not have betrayed her.
Eustace Chapuys and Mendoza were loyal to her and had offered their support repeatedly stating that they would only recognise her as the Queen of England. They had promised her that the Emperor would do what he could to see to it that her position was not threatened further and pressure Henry into casting aside his whore to remain with Katherine. Now the letters that she had wrote were here being used against her, she could not imagine how Henry had gotten them nor did she think that the Emperor would be foolish enough to allow them to fall into English hands.
"If you have betrayed His Majesty in such a way then how can we believe that you are also telling the truth about your marriage to Prince Arthur?" Cromwell stated aloud, his words snapping Katherine from her trance and she turned towards him. Anger flooding her that they dared question her on such things, she should have known that not only would they tarnish to her good name but they would also now try to take what she had worked so hard for from her.
"I call upon Baroness Willoughby de Eresb, Your Majesty," Cromwell announced bowing to the King before the doors to the left of the throne opened allowing the woman to enter escorted by guards. A nervous look filled María de Salinas's face and she glanced towards the woman that she had served for so long; she had been visiting her daughter when the guards had come for her.
"Lady Willoughby, you are Her Majesty's most loyal servant? You have served her since before she came here to wed Prince Arthur and you were with her in Ludlow Castle," Cromwell said watching Maria, he had been most surprised when the next piece of evidence had shown up.
He waited for the woman to speak, her eyes cast on the ground and the room remained silent not sure where he was going to go with this; they disapproved with the news that the Queen had been consorting with a foreign power to keep her throne. Once Maria had confirmed that she had indeed been Katherine's loyal lady since she had left her home in Castile and had come to England; Cromwell pushed on with his questioning, he never once looked to Katherine who was glaring at him.
"Did Her Majesty know that you were spying on her for her mother, Queen Isabel?" Cromwell asked moving across the floor to retrieve the next piece of evidence one that would be the final nail in the coffin for Katherine. He paused when Maria did not answer him right away and turned back to the woman that looked rather uncomfortable with the situation at hand; she stared down at the floor unable to meet anyone's eyes in fear of what would come next. Picking up the letter, Cromwell walked back to Maria and held out the letter to her; he waited for her to look at it and knew that finally they could set to rights the wrongs that had been done.
"You wrote this letter to the late Queen Isabel did you not? Confirming that the marriage between Prince Arthur and his new bride had been consummated?" Cromwell confirmed showing the letter to her, he watched her face as she realised just what he was holding. The letter was dated only a few days after her marriage in 1501 to Arthur, confirming that Katherine had consummated her marriage. Maria opened and closed her mouth, nothing she could say would take away from the fact that she had clearly lied; she'd sworn under oath that the marriage between Katherine and Arthur had not been consummated when she'd been asked.
"This is another letter sent by you to Queen Isabel. Stating that Her Majesty was pregnant just after Prince Arthur passed, that it had been taken care of and that any evidence of the consummation had been destroyed," Cromwell explained holding up another letter. It was also written in Maria's hand and she looked almost ashamed, she couldn't bring herself to look at Katherine; the colour draining from her face realising that all her hard work had been for nothing. Maria didn't say a word, nothing she could say would fix this mess of her own making; everything they had done had been for nothing and Katherine could not lie anymore.
"So not only did you lie so that you could become Queen. You swore to God himself that you were a virgin but you also ended the life of your child, what could have been the future King of this country to further your own cause," Cromwell pushed turning back to Katherine. Her eyes staring at Maria unable to speak, it was over and there was nothing that she could say now that could save her; she had never thought that she would face betrayal like this from Maria. The woman had been her closest friend and confidant since she had known her, it had never crossed her mind that she was a spy for her beloved mother.
Henry stared down at Katherine, there was no way that she could deny him now and he would be free of her before the new year begun; he would have his freedom and she would beg him for mercy instead of being thrown to the people.
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