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He was not dead and very soon recovered but this incident did stress the need for the King to live a good many more years until a healthy son could appear to take over from him. At such a time as this, his death would cause great trouble in the country.
No one would have thought that my father could be near to death. He was strong and could still outride all his friends; he was always the champion of the games—though perhaps there was a little contriving to reach that result, and the most agile always managed to fall in just behind him. To win in a paltry game would be foolish if by doing so the wi
There had been the usual murmurings. This was God's revenge for the ma
But that was soon over. Within a day or so he was his exuberant self again.
My mother was given a dignified funeral. My father dared not further offend the Emperor by giving her anything less. It had to be remembered that after all she was the daughter of the late King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
I longed to go, though I knew it would be a harrowing experience; but that was not permitted.
She was to be buried at Peterborough, in the abbey church there, and three weeks after her death her body was conveyed there by two stages. I should have been there. I was the one who mourned her more than any. I wished that I could have shared my grief with the Countess of Salisbury, but I was denied that comfort. The daughter of Mary Tudor and the Duke of Suffolk were the chief mourners in my place. The King's sister had always been a friend to my mother and had deplored the ma
Perhaps it was better that I should not be there, for the bishop who delivered the funeral sermon stated that on her deathbed my mother had admitted that her marriage to the King was no true marriage.
All those who had been close to her were shocked by this, for they knew it was a lie. I was deeply hurt that my father could do this. Was it not enough that she was dead, brought to an early grave through his cruelty?
It was almost like a sign from Heaven. First my father had his accident, which some would say was a warning to him; and on the very day of my mother's funeral A
How did she feel, I wondered, lying there? All her hopes had been on this boy. And it had happened again. It was a sign of Heaven's displeasure, I was sure. A
There were many to report the King's reception of the news that he had lost his longed-for son. He had not been able to hide his fury and disgust. He blamed her, of course. That was because now he wanted to be rid of her, as once before he had wanted to be rid of my mother.
It was emerging as a terrifying pattern. I exulted. The concubine would be put from him… just as my mother had been.
He had told A
Everyone knew we were on the edge of great events and were waiting to see what would happen next.
LADY SHELTON WAS no longer insolent but mildly placating. I treated her coolly but I was not so foolish as to reject my new concessions. Her attitude told me a great deal about the rapidly declining importance of A
Eustace Chapuys came to see me. I was amazed that he had been allowed to do so, and my delight was profound.
He told me that there would almost certainly be a change in my position. He understood my deep sorrow at the death of my mother, but that event had made my position safer. There were rumors about A
“We do not know,” went on Chapuys, “what method the King will choose. A
“Yes,” I answered.
“If the King puts A
The intrigue was helpful to me in a way. It lifted me out of my overwhelming sorrow and imposed itself on the despondency which had enveloped me.
It was action … and whatever happened seemed preferable to sitting alone in my room brooding on the death of my mother.
I was now hearing more because I could have visitors
A
It did not help her. Nothing could help her now. The King was as determined to be rid of her as he had once been to possess her.
I had thought the last two years, when I had been more or less a prisoner, were the two most eventful through which I had lived. But there was more to come.
It was a relief to me to be able to talk to Chapuys and to learn that the Emperor's concern for me had been great and that he had always been eager to seize an opportunity to help me.
Now it seemed there was a chance.
“If you were out of this country, in Spain or Flanders … under the Emperor's care, he would be happier,” said Chapuys. “The King, your father, has shown himself to be capable of any rash act which momentarily serves his purpose. He broke with Rome so that he might marry A
“My father would never let me go.”
“Certainly he would not. It would be a great blow to him if he thought you were with the Emperor, for if he declared his marriage to A
“But he has declared his marriage to my mother was no true one, and it was said by the bishop at her funeral service that she admitted it, which was a lie, I know … but it was all done at my father's command.”
“That was before he knew that A
“They say that he plans to put another in her place.”
He nodded. “We ca
“What do you suggest?”
“This is highly secret. If it were mentioned outside these walls, it could cause trouble…great trouble. It would cost you your life and there would be little I could do to save it. I should immediately be sent back to Spain. You understand the importance of secrecy?”