“She is indeed. She owns a copy of Tyndale’sObedience of a Christian Man, although I do not pretend to know its content, only the king’s ruling. I have heard this from her own lips.”
“Then she is vulnerable. If Henry discovers the book, he cannot make an exception for her; she must be punished in the same way as all the rest. And then he cannot possibly marry a heretic.”
“I fear it is worse than that.”
“But how?”
“You will hardly believe it, but she spoke to me of it at dinner last night. She is so bold, so brazen, so convinced she is right in this matter, I fear she may carry it off. There is an argument in Tyndale that states the king of England should be head of his country’s church, rather than the Pope. If Henry adopted this view, he would be able to rule in his own favour when it comes to the divorce.”
“The king of England having the highest authority in the English church? But this is heresy, surely? This goes against centuries of teaching and practice, not that time alone is sufficient excuse, but the Pope is God’s appointed spiritualleader. None can stand above him, not even a king. The Boleyns must be losing their minds!”
“They see it as a bold way to succeed in their desires. Anne is to read the book and pass it to others; then she will speak with Henry, no doubt using her wiles to convince him of its merits. She is certain that he will adopt this concept and use it to enable their marriage.”
“Catherine would never accept it.”
“Nor would England, nor the Pope. It would be disastrous.”
Margaret shook her head. “It’s a sign of how desperate they are becoming. They confuse their reformed views with heresy.”
Both women watched Henry as he leaned down to speak to the shorter More.
“I wonder what he is speaking to Father about,” mused Margaret.
“Not this, yet. He is unaware of the Boleyns’ plan, even of the existence of the Tyndale book in the palace.”
“Then how might we proceed with this knowledge?”
“I have been thinking of this since I heard their conversation,” admitted Thomasin. “I can see three paths.”
“Go on.”
“Either we refrain from getting involved, protect ourselves and watch it unfold.”
Margaret screwed up her nose in dismissal.
“Or, we somehow obtain a copy of this book ourselves, read it and assess the level of danger it poses to the queen, although being in possession of it would make us as bad as Anne.”
“Quite true.”
“Or — and I fear this path is the most dangerous, but perhaps the most necessary — we use subtle means to ensure the king becomes aware of its existence before Anne herself approaches him.”
“We get to him before she does.”
“Yes.”
“By obtaining Anne’s book and leaving it in his sight.”
Thomasin looked at her friend in admiration. “You are one step ahead of me there.”
“It is dangerous. But it is a plan as daring as the Boleyns’ plans, if not more so.”
“But if it can be done anonymously…”
“Then it might succeed and still keep us out of it.”
“Margaret,” said Thomasin, “I think you have hit upon the answer.”
“But not the solution,” her friend qualified. “The idea is easily reached, but the implementation of it will prove far more difficult. Presumably Anne keeps the book hidden away in her chambers, so it will necessitate someone being able to access her rooms while they are empty and locate her hiding place.”
