The Kiss of the Concubine: A story of Anne Boleyn by Judith Arnopp Read Free Book Online Page B

able to see her in a new light.”
    “If it were me , I’d not be able to forgive him. As soon as her condition began to show he turned as cold as stone and was sniffing around other women, making no effort to hide the fact. And when he came to Hever, he paid her no mind at all!”
    George wipes froth from his top lip and examines his sleeve for dampness. “I can imagine. If you were Mary, you’d call Henry to heel and make him do as he is told, king or not.”
    He is laughing at me. I make a face at my brother for being so rude and turn my attention to my own ale. George shifts to a more comfortable position, tilts his head back in his chair.
    “What do you make of the king’s decision to make Fitzroi his heir?”
    “What do I make of it? You’d do better to ask what the queen makes of it.”
    Henry Fitzroi is the king’s illegitimate son. At just six years old, the boy has been showered with titles and honours. Now, given the royal titles of Duke of Richmond and Somerset, and the offices of High Lord Admiral and Warden-General of the Marches, it looks very much as if Henry’s intention is for his bastard son to rule in the place of his legitimate daughter, Mary.
    I hardly know what I think , but both the queen and my sister Mary are inwardly furious that he is making such a show of the child they delight to call ‘Bessie Blount’s Bastard.’
    Of course, no matter what traditions they may keep in Spain, the Princess Mary cannot rule in England. When she is married , it will be to a foreign prince who will take precedence over her. The English would never tolerate a foreigner ruling over them. All the same, it must hurt Queen Catherine to see her own legitimate daughter passed over in favour of a bastard, especially when she has lost so many beloved sons. But I can see Henry’s point.
    The lack of a legitimate son, or even a younger brother, to inherit his throne, could mean the end of his dynasty. What else can he do? The Tudor dynasty was begun such a little time ago, putting an end to years of civil war. Henry will move Heaven and Earth to keep the Plantagenet heirs away from the throne and to do that he needs a lusty male heir . Yet his hopes of begetting one in wedlock are fading fast.
    Although nobody voices it, we all know there is little hope that Catherine will now produce another child. The queen is growing elderly, her body thickening and stiffening, her youth draining into the cup of time . Although Henry is discreet, and the queen turns a blind eye to his many mistresses, that doesn’t mean she isn’t silently suffering. I don’t know how she stands it, but like many things, marriage is a mystery to me.
    George is looking pensively into the flames, his eyes brooding, his mouth downturned. He looks as if he hasn’t had sufficient sleep.
    “And how are things with you and Jane?”
    My words startle him from his reverie, and I do not fail to notice the dislike that instantly curls his upper lip at the mention of his wife. He fidgets, shrugs his shoulders. “I cannot like her, Anne.”
    He had not ‘liked’ her when they were betrothed , but I had hoped marriage might bring a softening. I sigh and reach out to put my cup on the table.
    “What is it about the Boleyns? I wish one of us were happily wed. Mary is no more content than you are, and she treats poor Will Carey like a lapdog. And as for me, well, I sometimes wonder if I will ever marry.”
    George is fumbling with the poker again , and still on his knees shuffles toward me, gropes for my hand. “Of course you will, Anne. You will make the gladdest bride of all.”
    “Will I?”
    “Of course you will, Father will see to it. Is it so hard to remain a maid for a little longer?”
    My face is burning but there is no one else to whom I can speak so freely. “Of course it is, George. Everyone around me is indulging in some liaison, legitimate or otherwise. I crave affection and … sometimes I feel like some ugly old maid whom nobody