Kathryn the Clever by Leigh Jenkins

Author:Leigh Jenkins [Jenkins, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

August 1541

It turned out my wife did not need comforting. When I entered her room she was sitting up in bed, her eyes locked on the slumbering baby in the cradle next to her bed.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment; I had not anticipated her ignoring my presence completely. No one ever ignored me when I entered a room.

After a moment, I took a few steps forward and cleared my throat, not sure what else to do.

“I don’t need anything, thank you,” Kathryn said primly, not turning around.

“I should think not,” I responded, trying to keep the slight frustration out of my voice.

“Your Majesty!” she exclaimed, turning to look at me. She struggled for a moment, as if she thought it would be best to get out of bed to curtsey, but I held up my hand.

“I would have thought you were told it was me. Do not worry. And pray, stay where you are.”

Kathryn smiled at this, and leaned back against the stark white pillows once more.

“You have come to see him?” she asked, a smile threatening to break her face.

“I — yes,” I said, moving over to the cradle. Among the bright white sheets lay my son, the same kissable pout on his face as his brother. Pursing my lips, I turned towards Kathryn. She was still staring at the baby in awe.

“He is perfect,” she said, nodding at me.

“That he is.” I was unsure if I should even broach the subject of Arthur — I had expected Kathryn to be distraught at his leaving. But perhaps she did not know. Had Gwendolyn left it up to me to tell her?

“I suppose — you might have a few questions,” I began, moving towards her bed. She pulled away a bit, allowing me to sit next to her on the sheets that showed no signs of the struggle they had witnessed the night before.

“No,” she said primly, still staring at the baby. “It was explained to me.”

“Ah — who explained it?” I asked.

“The midwife. How T—how Master Culpepper might be the best for the baby. He’s spoken of his mother before. I am sure she will be a good guardian.”

“He has spoken of his mother to you?” Out of everything that had happened so far, this was perhaps the fact that surprised me the most.

I looked to Kathryn, whose face twisted up in smile, her eyes narrowed as she obviously enjoyed my discomfort for a moment.

“He is my cousin, you know,” she said primly. “As is his mother — somehow.” She waved away her own family tree, obviously not concerned with niceties, her attention on the baby once more.

“Well, I can share with you one piece of information Gwendolyn was not privy to.”

Kathryn’s eyes cut back to me for only a second, her face taking on a scowl. It seemed her mood changes were here to stay.

“Who is Gwendolyn?”

“Your midwife?” I said, allowing a bit of reproach to enter my voice. Kathryn’s eyes moved down and she nodded her head.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.