“His sister, the Duchess of Suffolk. You had not heard?”
Thomasin thought of the duchess, who had previously been kind to her, and a friend to Catherine. She recalled her dancing and gentle presence.
“I am sorry to hear that.”
“It is almost two months since she passed. It means Suffolk will not be here. His companionship always soothes the king.”
Thomasin did not know what to say, so she sipped her wine, tasting notes of blackberries and peppercorns, which made her nose tingle.
“This is a Portuguese red,” Sir Thomas said, noting her response, “brought up from the cellars. Greenwich is especially well stocked. There is a good white Rhenish too, if you prefer.”
“No, this is very good,” she replied, replacing her glass.
“I have observed that you enjoy your food and drink, Thomasin,” he went on. “Not everyone does, and not every woman, certainly, but you have a lusty appetite and appreciate the finer flavours for their own sake, not just for the price of them. Do you get much chance to savour them in Suffolk?”
“We do very well in Suffolk, thank you.”
“You’re not regretting coming back?”
“Yes, I am,” Thomasin admitted, “but I am here.”
“Anne will appreciate it.”
“Will she? All her actions point to her intense dislike of me.”
“She is much changed. Her new position has forced her to grow up, although she is still adept at making enemies. Her uncle Norfolk is waiting in France until the child has been born, as he can’t abide her tongue.”
“She’s not that much changed, then.”
“You saw her before the coronation. Since then, her fears have only increased about the birth. She will try and put a brave face upon it, as you will see, but her quarrels with Henry have not helped.”
“Her quarrels with Henry?”
“Oh, yes. He has dallied with another woman, a mere trifle, I think, to amuse himself, but Anne takes it very seriously. She reprimanded him, though he is not just her husband but also her king. He put her in her place, telling her she should close her eyes as her betters had, and that he had raised her up and could cast her down again. They did not speak for a week after that.”
Thomasin was shocked and saddened to hear this. “I think if I was in that advanced state of pregnancy, I should also have been upset.”
“But you are not a queen, Thomasin. Queens cannot behave thus. Wives maybe, mistresses perhaps, but not queens, and not in full sight of the court!”
Thomasin picked at her meal.
“And there have been more arrests,” Sir Thomas went on. “People in the streets, saying that the devil made her queen and that Norris is her lover, and that she will burn at Smithfield — all this and worse. The wife of the king’s old goldsmith lost her mind and kept crying out that Anne was a whore who must burn. It’s always the same story, inspired by that maid Barton.”
“What will happen to her?”
“Barton? She’ll burn eventually. Henry’s dragging his heels.”
Thomasin thought of the woman preaching in the street with such fervour.
Sir Thomas refilled his wine glass, then also Thomasin’s without asking her. “Anne has a sharp tongue, I’ll grant that, and she has replaced a popular queen. But Catherine could no longer bear children, and she was a Spaniard — don’t forget that. I don’t understand why Anne inspires such hatred. It is more than just her person they dislike. People see her as a sign of decay, of the king being corrupted. She is linked in their minds to his break with Rome. You know the Pope has threatened to excommunicate him if he does not return to Catherine?”
“I did not know. That is something to be taken seriously.”
“He will not. He is head of the Church in England and the Pope be damned. The Bishop of Rome!”
“It is much change for people to adjust to.”
“Do they wish to adjust to a kingdom without a male heir, and a return to civil war?”
