I hold my breath as I wait for someone to say something else, but both women are waiting on me. “Now what?” is all I can think to ask, my voice and body shaking. Lady Rochford moves closer.
“You will be stripped of your title as queen. If you agree to only ever speak highly of the king and say nothing of your marriage, you will be granted a hunting lodge in Lincolnshire where you may reside with a threadbare allowance. You will retain no household staff, apart from whoever wishes to go with you freely. In short, you will live, but you will live your life away from court and in disgrace.”
“In disgrace?” I whisper.
“In disgrace,” Lady Rochester echoes.
We say nothing else, until she and Bessie and I scream and hug in utter joy.
“I’m going to live in disgrace!” Happy tears stream down my cheeks, and I feel like I’m in a hopeful state of denial. How can this be true?
“There is something else,” Lady Rochford says. “You are not permitted to remarry. Ever. Should you attempt to do so, you will be forcibly sent to a nunnery.”
There you are, Henry. I love how he just had to sprinkle his assholish tendencies into my sentence, just in the off chance I forgot. He craves control, and he found a way to keep it, even while letting me live.
“That’s okay,” I reply, still in disbelief. “Marriage is the last thing on my mind right now.”
Bessie hugs me again and I squeeze her tight with all the relief pulsating through me. When we step back, tears are in her eyes.
“I honestly thought it was over for me,” I say. “I can’t believe we all made it out of this alive. Did they station all those guards out in the courtyard to scare me?”
I look between them as neither Bessie nor Lady Rochford answers. Instead, they go quiet and catch each other’s gaze.
“What is it?” I ask.
They remain silent, and the longer they do, the more afraid I become. A million different scenarios pass through my mind until one word—a name—sounds out like a siren.
“Where is Simon?” I ask.
Bessie wipes at a tear falling from the corner of her eye as Lady Rochford takes a fortifying breath and speaks.
“Simon confessed that he tried to seduce you on multiple occasions. He swore that you continually refused him each time, always professing your love and loyalty to the king.”
No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
“It is treason to admit to lewd thoughts about the queen,” Lady Rochford continues, “let alone to admit that you actively tried to seduce her.”
I step backward and shake my head. Everything is spinning. There has to be a way out of this.
“Where is he? What can we do?” It feels like my heart is twisting in a sick, snapping motion. My airways are closing. This can’t be real, and I need to find him.
Lady Rochford moves closer to me, trying to calm a spooked horse. “Simon knew that the king needed to have someone’s blood. He didn’t want it to be yours.”
I hear drums in the distance, or maybe it’s just the sound of pounding in my head. “Where is he?” I demand again. “Tell me where he is!”
Lady Rochford stays quiet, and I turn to Bessie. Her face is tense and indecisive. I stand in front of her and take her hands in a desperate grip. “Bessie, please. What if it was Richard?”
Her gaze falters. She doesn’t look at Lady Rochford. She keeps looking at me, and I tug her hands forward, trying to pull the answer out of her.
“He was placed under arrest and is being taken to the Tower. The king is at chapel, and they’ll journey past him as they take Simon out.”
Chapel. Simon is near the chapel.
I take off in a run before either of them can stop me.
“Catherine, don’t!” Lady Rochford’s voice tries to reach me, but I’m already gone. Flying past the startled guards at my door and down the sparsely populated corridor.
I can figure this out. I can stop them. I just need to run faster. I need to get to the chapel. Simon’s life depends on it.
