The Baker's Daughter Volume 1 by Bonny G Smith

Author:Bonny G Smith [Smith, Bonny G]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781986872430
Published: 2018-04-30T04:00:00+00:00

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The king, according to custom, attended none of Jane’s obsequies. He had hidden himself away and none had seen or spoken with him for three weeks after the funeral. Mary had fallen into a fever. Time seemed to have stopped.

And then word reached her that the king had departed Windsor for Whitehall, leaving orders that the Christmas revels were to be much curtailed out of respect for Jane. When her fever finally lifted and she was able to rise from her bed, Mary bade Jane a final farewell and went to Richmond. And then came the summons to attend the court for the celebration of the New Year at Greenwich. The merry-making was subdued, but not completely stifled. And now her father had made the astounding assertion that he intended to marry again. How could he possibly be contemplating such a thing so soon after Jane’s death? Her own feelings were so raw that the pain was almost physical. It was incredible. Chapuys had told her nothing of any marriage negotiations; it was unlike her father to bypass ambassadorial protocol. Could it be that he was simply taunting her again? For she was convinced that her father’s attempts at negotiating a marriage for her were just an amusing pastime, nothing more than a political ploy to stir up trouble between the European powers.

“Well?” said Henry. “Have you nothing to say?” Mary roused from her reverie to survey the trove that had built up around them while she had been lost in thought. A golden trencher, purse upon purse of coins, all presented in velvet or brocade bags, some sewn with glittering jewels, paintings, all manner of cups and vessels in gold and silver, books, even carpets.

Mary gazed about her at the mounds of offerings and replied, “It looks to be a goodly year for gifts, Your Grace. Perhaps you will find that which you seek.”

Henry eyed her speculatively. “We shall see,” he said, and then turned back to the still long line of subjects waiting for their moment with the king.

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