Jean Plaidy - [Queens of England 04] by The Lady in the Tower

Author:The Lady in the Tower
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780375434860
Publisher: Broadway
Published: 1986-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

TIME WAS PASSING. Wolsey was making progress in France but he was no nearer to bringing about the freedom of the Pope.

Henry wrote impatiently. I saw the letter. It accused the Cardinal of not giving his full attention to the matter uppermost in the King’s mind.

Wolsey replied that he was straining every effort. François was sympathetic and Wolsey believed that he would welcome a union with the Princess Renée.

My father came to see me. He now regarded me in a very different light. He looked at me with some wonder and called me “dear daughter.”

I was skeptical of his sudden affection for me. Of course I was carrying on the tradition of the Boleyn family, which had forced a few roots into society through the women of the house. I was about to follow the tradition—but in a much more spectacular fashion than any of my predecessors.

I wanted to laugh at him.

“My dear daughter,” he said, “you look in good health.”

“You too, my lord,” I replied coolly.

“This is a most exciting project we have on our hands. The King has told me of his feelings for you.”

“So I have found favor in your sight, my lord?”

“My dear child. I always knew that you, of all my brood, were the one with special talents.”

“Mary had some excellent talents,” I reminded him.

“Ah, your sister Mary… she was always a fool. Well, she reaped her folly. There she is… living humbly with Carey. He will never make a name for himself.”

“Except as the husband of the King’s one-time mistress.”

He laughed, rather sycophantically, which amused me.

“It is you we have to think of.”

“I can think for myself.”

“I am sure you can. But the King is most put out. He thinks Wolsey is dilatory about this Secret Matter.”

“He has a big task before him.”

“I don’t trust Wolsey. At this moment he is trying to make an agreement with the King of France for the Princess Renée. If he knew the King’s true mind, I cannot imagine what he would do.”

“Surely he would do as the King commanded him.”

“He is a wily creature. I would not trust him. And the King has a special feeling for him. He has been talking to me. He is very uneasy about his relationship with Mary.”

“That is over.”

“But the King has qualms. He is wondering whether his intimacy with Mary might be an obstacle to his marriage with you… due to the fact that you are her sister.”

“You mean… the closeness of the relationship?”

“It is natural that His Grace should want everything to be indisputable. He wants to get a dispensation on account of Mary. He has talked of it with George and me. Wolsey has plans for setting up a papal government in Avignon over which he, Wolsey, would have full powers. This is to last just during the Pope’s captivity. He could then give sanction to the divorce, but before he could do this he would have to have the agreement of the Pope. He did not think it would be an insuperable task to smuggle a man into the Castle of St.

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