I, Jane: In the Court of Henry VIII by Diane Haeger

Author:Diane Haeger [Haeger, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical, C429, Extratorrents, Kat
ISBN: 9781101599686
Publisher: NAL
Published: 2012-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

June 1527

Windsor Castle

The Sack of Rome in the summer of 1527 changed much for Henry VIII, the impatient king. With the pope imprisoned by angry, unpaid soldiers on the side of the emperor, the Holy Father’s hands were tied in the ongoing matter of an annulment. No matter what diplomatic skills Cardinal Wolsey utilized at the moment, the issue was at a frustrating political standstill.

Anne Boleyn was not amused.

“Tell me that not!” the king raged. “By God Almighty, tell me she did not leave again!”

His guttural cry was loud enough that Jane and the queen’s other ladies in the Royal Chapel could hear it. The crash of furniture and shattering glass from the king’s private study next door followed, and the painted walls seemed to bow with the sound of his anger.

“She would not leave me! ’Twas promised between us!”

As they knelt at Lauds, Jane slid a cautious sideways glance to the queen, whose head remained lowered in prayer, but Jane could see the shudder that had taken over her shoulders, as if she were physically holding back her own grief at the pleading in her husband’s voice for another woman.

Jane had known that Anne might leave court for Hever Castle again from what she had personally overheard these last days as the hope of an annulment slipped further from her fingers. But to see the repercussions of that meted out to the queen, who had shown Jane such kindness, felt physically painful to her.

Suddenly, the queen shot to her feet and charged with purpose across the open gallery. Jane and the queen’s other ladies followed dutifully behind, barely matching her stride as they approached the open door of the king’s study.

“Go away, woman!” Henry’s growl was like that of a wounded dog as Katherine entered the chamber. Jane and the others paused at the threshold.

“Pray, my lord, let us go to Beaulieu to see Mary. ’Twould be good for us as a family to be away from all of this conflict for a while.”

“Go if you wish, and then you may remain there,” he said rudely.

“I shall not leave you for our daughter, nor for anyone else in all the world, Hal,” Katherine returned so swiftly, and with such compassion, that Henry groaned with frustration.

“’Twould make it so much simpler if you would.”

Jane saw the remark strike the queen—the weapon of words sharper than any dagger’s thrust.

“Leave us!” he cried, realizing then that they had an audience just outside of the door.

“’Tis my wish that they remain,” Katherine declared, but there was a slight tremor to her usually strong voice. “I do not trust myself when the conversation between us is about her.”

“Her name is Anne,” he shot back.

“I know perfectly well what her name is. Anne of the Curious Extra Finger,” she countered stingingly.

“You dare to mock her so boldly before me, madam?”

“Is there anything to do but mock when the situation is so entirely absurd?”

They glared at each other then as rival combatants, not as two people who had known great love together and shared a life since they were very young.

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