“Well, I can sew faster,” she agreed, “but those stitches would be an untidy mess. I prefer to go slow and steady, to achieve a more reliable result. The queen is happy with my work.”
“Happy enough to wait that long? She may wish to wear it.”
“Is there a rush for the dress?” asked Lady Mary. “Because if so, you are most welcome to take over the sewing, if you can do the job both faster and better.”
Lady Howard decided not to engage further, but turned away with a smirk to rejoin the queen.
“Did you see that?” Lady Mary muttered. “No answer, but she’s as smug as a cat that got the cream.”
“It is a pity that Gertrude needed replacing,” Thomasin said.
“I agree, but poor Gertie had a longing for her children. They are so young and court is no place for them.”
“Does the duchess not have children?” asked Ellen.
“Oh, she does,” said Lady Mary, “five of them, born before things turned sour. Eldest one must be nine or ten, I think, left with a governess in Norfolk.” She paused and listened. “Ssh.” She pointed her needles towards the open door. The women turned their attention to the conversation within.
“This scheme worries me,” Mary Tudor was saying. “There is potential for it to backfire and draw Anne even closer to my brother. If they sense that there is a plan, laid here, within these walls, they might string the woman along, play her to their advantage.”
“The success of it must lie in Henry’s vanity,” said Charles Brandon. “Anne must sense his interest in the new woman. It will pique her jealousy and cause them to row. We must throw this woman in the king’s path whenever possible, but you are right: Henry must not suspect her in the slightest.”
“The Boleyn woman must be kept out of his way,” said Queen Catherine, thoughtfully. “Perhaps, like I did at Greenwich, I could summon her to my chambers to wait upon me.”
“That would be a duty you would not seek, sister,” Mary Tudor said sympathetically, “and it may suggest a pattern to her. If every time she is summoned, this new woman appears with Henry, she may make the connection, and trace this back to us.”
“Unless,” said Lady Howard, entering their discussion, “she is not summoned by the queen but someone else of high rank.”
“You think to suggest myself?” Mary Tudor’s voice had an edge to it.
“Only if you wished it, my Lady.”
“It is a task I do not wish for, but then none of us would wish for this situation. If it helps you, dear Catherine, I will devise some occasions to summon her.”
“You might present it as a your wish to get to know her better,” added Brandon.
“It would stick in my teeth, but I would do it.”
“So, you don’t think that any of your ladies would be suitable?” asked Lady Howard. “At least you could guarantee their trustworthiness.”
“No,” said Catherine quickly, to their relief. “As the bishop said before, it would be too close to home. Besides, I would never ask it of them.”
“They are not suitable, either,” added Mary Tudor. “Both are nice girls and I do not doubt for a moment that they would do anything you asked of them, but you are right not to. They do not have that hard edge, that worldliness. The woman we seek must have some slyness and cunning about her, and the ability to manipulate and captivate a man.”
“Thank goodness for that!” Ellen mouthed in the antechamber, with a wry smile.
“No, we must keep our search going,” Mary Tudor continued. “It may be that we are best served by an entirely new face. Play on the novelty. Perhaps we might invite someone suitable to court for the purpose.”
“But the question remains as to who,” sighed Catherine. “In the meantime, we must keep up our prayers and hope that the good Lord will bring the king back to his senses without the need for such action.”
The silence that followed showed that the others did hold out much hope of this.
Tired of their talk, Catherine called for a servant and a boy came running to pick up the lute. Sweet, soothing chords reached Thomasin and Ellen through the door as they sewed.
“What do you think of this plan?” whispered Lady Mary, as her needles clicked and whirred.
Thomasin had been plying the dress hem with pins. “It all depends if it works, I suppose. But if it breaks the spell that Anne has over him, it may not necessarily propel the king back into the arms of the queen. He may well end up obsessing over this new affair. We might just be swapping one adversary for another.”
“And what if she has aspirations of her own, this woman?” Ellen added. “What if she decides she likes the king’s attention and plays us false, and takes the prize for herself?”
