“Quite so,” she agrees. “Very predictable.”
An hour or so later, it’s the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, who eventually enters my bedchamber, with two royal guards in tow. When he speaks, he doesn’t gloat or try to scare us. He’s indifferent. It’s just another day at the office.
He tells us that I’m confined to my rooms with Lady Rochford and that I will remain here for however long is necessary for my investigation to complete. I’ve been informally charged with treason, adultery, and various other crimes against the crown. If I’m found guilty, I’ll be brought to the Tower of London. If I’m not... well, he doesn’t really mention what will happen if I’m not guilty.
When the archbishop leaves and the guards stay at their posts, Lady Rochford places her hand over mine. It feels like I just received a loving embrace from my black cat, who only ever scratched at me, and it’s a nice distraction from the possible fate that could await me.
When I twist my neck to glance over at her, her eyes are unusually vacant. “What’s it like to be going through this again? After what happened to your sister-in-law, Anne.”
Lady Rochford lets go of my wrist and stands, suddenly moving around the room as she looks for a task. “I loved my sister-in-law,” she says after a while. “And my husband, George. I know that’s not what the court gossips choose to believe, but it’s true. I was happy with my life and happy with my family. But when Anne failed to give the king a son, the tides began to turn. We could feel ourselves slipping from the king’s favor, and Anne set a dangerous precedent by getting the king to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Through doing that, queens became disposable, and then she was disposable, too.”
She picks up a book, opening and shutting it before looking back at me. “And then she was imprisoned. They did it before the investigation was complete. The trial was hardly a trial at all.It was a farce, at best. Our uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, oversaw all of it. I didn’t know at the time, but I was his puppet. And because of him, I lost everything I loved the most.”
“What did he do?” I ask.
Lady Rochford moves to the window, opening it a crack to gaze out. “Our uncle told me that if I spoke against Anne and George during their investigations, I could save them. That if they then confessed it as well, they would be spared. I had no idea that he had already condemned them in his own mind and in the minds of others. He used me to make his plans a reality.”
Placid as she may be, I can hear the shame in her voice. “If he used you, it wasn’t your fault.”
Lady Rochford keeps her eyes trained out the window until she turns back to me. “I was foolish and weak. I should have stood against him and the disgusting lies he contrived about my husband and sister. Instead, I cowered when they questioned me. I panicked. I betrayed two people I held dear. I can’t undo what I did them, but I made a vow after their deaths. Whosoever was true and put their trust in me, I would not fail again. I served Anne of Cleves faithfully, and now I serve you. And I will not let us fail.”
I walk over to her and take her hands, and she shockingly doesn’t pull them away. “I believe you,” I tell her. “We’re going to get out of this.”
“One way or another,” she says quietly.
I take a deep breath and nod. “One way or another.”
We stay shut up in my rooms for over a week. We’re given three meals a day. Water and ale, and little else. I end up thinking of Simon most days. I hope he did as I asked. I hope that he’s staying safe. He should be if things go according to plan. But it’s so easy for my mind to slip into dark crevasses now, being isolated like I am. When I give in to those moments, I imagine Simonbeing tortured into a confession or being starved to death in jail. It’s strange to think it, but I’m at the point where I’m actually want to be interrogated.
On day nine, we hear footsteps approaching, and it’s the letdown of a lifetime when the Duke of Norfolk joins us in the sitting room. He arrives with a team of guards, and I start to think that maybe isolation wasn’t so bad.
“Take Lady Rochford to another room,” he tells them. “I need to speak privately with the queen.”
Her body tenses beside me. I know she doesn’t want to leave, but the three guards who yank her up and across the room don’t seem to overly care about what we want.
“She can walk on her own! You don’t have to pull her like that.” I’m not sure if the guards hear me through the clatter of their heavy footsteps, but Lady Rochford looks at me over her shoulder, and I know that at least she heard me.
“Have a seat, niece,” the duke says. He gestures to a chair a few feet off, and I slowly move to do as he bids. He sits down across from me and stretches out in his chair, taking up all the space he can.
“Have you been well?” he asks.
I place my hands on the two armrests. “I’ve been better.” I tilt my head to look at him, but I can’t quite gauge his mood. “Where is my dog, Theo? A servant took him out for a walk a few days ago and never brought him back.”
The duke smirks. “Bad queens don’t get puppies.” I seriously consider lunging at him, but he speaks again before I get the chance. “I believe the king gave the animal to a woman named Catherine Parr. She’s a lady-in-waiting to his daughter Princess Mary.”
I disappointed him and so he takes away my dog. Henry is a heartless prick.
“And how is the king?” I ask.
“He is heartbroken, of course.”
“Of course,” I reply, maybe a bit too sarcastically.
The duke straightens his posture at my tone, pushing his shoulders back into the chair. “Perhaps you do not adequately understand the depth of His Majesty’s love for you, Catherine. Or theformerdepth, as it now stands. Mistress Marshall’s testimony was damning, to say the least.”
“Unfortunately, Mistress Marshall has had a personal vendetta against me since I fell in love with the king. It is my belief thatsheis in love with the king herself and contrived these lies in the hope of gaining his favor and his heart.”
That’s our story and we’re all sticking to it. At least, that’s part of it.
