Read Online Le Temps Viendra: A Novel of Anne Boleyn by Sarah A. Morris - Free Book Online

leather riding gloves and several gold rings studded with precious stones. As was customary for all the men, a dagger, this time with an ornately engraved steel hilt, was slung loosely from a sash at his side.
    My father leaned forward, speaking quietly so that only I could hear.
    ‘What of the King? What did he say to you back in the rose garden?’ I nearly laughed! So my father did not yet know of the King’s intentions towards me. Henry meant it then, when he said it was a secret. However, this was my father, and I felt duty bound to reveal the King’s promise to his daughter.
    Turning my horse, so that my back was partly toward the King and his party, I too spoke in hushed tones, my head bowed so that others were not able to see my lips as I spoke.
    ‘The King is seeking an annulment from Katherine,’ I noticed that I was not inclined to call her ‘Queen,’ preferring instead to use her Christian name. ‘He seeks a new wife and has asked me to be his bride.’ With those last few words, I raised my head again to look at my father whose face was breaking into an uncharacteristic, if not slightly Machiavellian, smile.
    ‘Is he indeed? Then this is the making of you Anne—of our family. It is our destiny to provide a lineage of kings.’ His eyes sparkled, as he busied himself calculating all that was to be gained by our good fortune. ‘I presume you said yes,’ he said with some irony, as if there could be no other answer; as if he expected no other reply from his fiery and headstrong youngest daughter.
    Suddenly, I found myself both proud of what Anne had achieved—to be loved to distraction by a great Prince—and at the same time irritated that my father could be so blind to the dangers that I knew lay ahead. I realised in that moment that I had great affection for him, but was also aware that Anne did not entirely trust him.
    ‘The King said that this is as yet a secret. He has asked his advisors to explore the best way to approach the case. Katherine does not yet know.’ I turned my horse back to the main party. The servants who accompanied us were collecting up the stag, making it ready to be taken back to the castle. Sir Thomas then continued,
    ‘Tonight we will indeed make merry and celebrate without words. We will keep our own council until the King makes it known you are to be his new Queen.’ I looked back at him, holding my horse steady.
    ‘Father, think not that this will be an easy path. There will be many twists and turns beyond our current knowing.’ This I said from my knowledge of history. I wanted to temper his ambition and warn him of what lay ahead. Then I added, ‘Katherine will not go quietly. You know how stubborn she is!’ This too had come from my reading, but also strangely from a sense of personal experience that again welled up from within me. I realised that Anne knew this woman well. Not surprising, as I remembered that Anne had been maid of honour to Katherine for several years already. Of course, Henry had made use of this convenient position, affording the couple the opportunity to see each other more often; the young, charismatic mistress-to-be right under the nose of the older queen. In my modern life, I had some experience of being vilified as the ‘other woman,’ but never had I dreamt of what it might be like to have to live in close quarters with ‘the wife.’ This was not a recipe for happy families—but then again this was no ordinary family.
    ‘Anne, it is true, others will be jealous of our good fortune. The Duke of Suffolk for one, and there will be more; the Montagues, the de La Poles, those who are loyal to Katherine, as well as older families who will see us as upstarts, reaching beyond our station. But your Uncle Norfolk will see the benefits of this alliance with the King. With the leading nobleman in the land behind you, all will be well. When you are Queen and have borne the King his son, your position will be unassailable.’ A courtier came