“Your father will explain everything. He will be here soon…and your brother and sister, too.”
“They are well?”
“Indeed, yes. Your brother said he would be here almost as soon as you arrived. He is most eager to see you.”
“And I him. And my sister?”
“She is at Court.”
“Mary at Court!”
“Yes.” She lowered her eyes. “Her husband has a post there in the King's household.”
“Oh, I see. And she is well and happy?”
“She is well and seems happy.”
“I am glad. I look forward to seeing them.”
“We must have some talks while you are here. You must tell me about the Court of France. It must have been very interesting.”
I nodded.
She went on: “If there is anything…”
“Thank you. You have been so kind to me.”
She flushed a little and, smiling a little uncertainly, left me.
I thought: Mary at Court! Then she must have recovered from her disgrace. My stepmother knew something and, if I had read her aright, she believed it was not her place to tell me. Well, I must be patient and wait until it was revealed. But I had made up my mind that I would not be forced into a marriage which I did not like.
To my great joy, George arrived next day. I saw him from my window as he rode into the courtyard and my heart leaped with pleasure. My dearest brother, how handsome he was! Tall and distinguished-looking…yet still the same George, whose special favorite I had been in the days of our childhood. I ran down to meet him.
He leaped from his horse and I was in his arms.
I touched his face. I laughed. I was so happy. Whatever happened afterward, this was a moment to savor.
“Let me look at you,” he said, holding me at arms’ length. “Is this elegant lady my little sister?”
“Is this handsome gentleman my brother George?”
Then we laughed and were hugging each other.
“It has been a long time,” I said.
“I have thought of you constantly.”
“And I of you. There is so much to talk of. Let us go in, shall we?”
Our stepmother came running out to meet George. He kissed her affectionately and I could see that he had the same opinion of her as I had.
“I am so glad you are here,” she said. “Anne has been most impatiently awaiting your arrival. Will you have some food now … some refreshment?”
“Later please,” said George. “I want to talk with my sister first.”
Arm in arm we went up the staircase and into the gallery with its ornamental stucco ceiling, past the embrasures—favorite spots in which to conceal ourselves in our games—to that room where we used to gather with our friends—usually the Wyatts—and sit and talk and listen to Thomas's poems and play the lute.
“There are many things I want to know,” I said. “What are you doing now, George? And Mary… what of Mary? I hear she is at Court.”
“Oh yes. Will Carey has a post there. Esquire to the Body.”
“But after what happened in France…”
“You are thinking of Mary. Oh, Mary is reinstated. She is quite a personage at Court … if Mary could ever be that. No, in spite of everything, she is still the same. She never asks for anything.”
“What do you mean, George?”
“I thought you might have heard. There must have been gossip. Mary has found favor in a high place.”
“You can't mean…”
He nodded. “The highest place of all. The King finds our sister enchanting. He has selected her as his little playmate.”
“Oh… no!”
He nodded. “Sweet little Mary, the friend of Kings! I wonder whether she finds the King of England different from the King of France. One could never get Mary to tell. Not that she would know. Mary is intent on one thing and as long as she gets that she is content.”
“And what of Will?”
“Oh, the King likes him well enough. He is such a complaisant husband.”
“George, I find it… shameful.”
“No, sweet sister. Such goings-on are only shameful among the undistinguished. To be the mistress of a peasant is disgrace indeed, but to be the mistress of a King…well, that is a great honor.”
“Don't be cynical, George. This is our sister, and after what happened to her at the Court of France one would have thought she would have been wise enough to see that it did not happen again.”
“The Court of England is not the Court of France. Here there is a high moral tone. Amours are not flaunted here. François's affairs were too numerous for the people not to be aware of them. Our King is different. He would be a saint…if his nature would let him. François is more realistic. He knows he can never be a saint, even if he wanted to be… which he doesn't. He loves the world too well. So does Henry, but between you and me, Anne, he knows how to deceive himself. He feels very saintly since he wrote his book against Martin Luther, Assertio Septem Sacramentorum. It has earned him the title of Defender of the Faith. Mind you— again entre nous— Wolsey had a hand in it and Thomas More is responsible for a goodly part of it; but it is put forth as the King's work, and it shows him to be an upholder of the Church. You see, he wants to show the world that he is a good man. Half of him is…but we are all complex characters…you and I… and even His Grace the King. So … he tells himself that he is faithful to his Queen…in thought, he is…it is only these little forays on the side. And our Mary is at the center of one.”
“How long has it been going on?”
“Almost since she went to Court. He noticed her at once. Mary is like that, you know. Her appeal is immediate. It is not beauty…it is promise. I think that is the answer. That in some cases is the essence of the attraction between the sexes. I am ready. That is what Mary says: I am as eager as you. I want nothing but our union. It is only the satisfaction I can give you and you can give me, that I crave. There you have it, Anne— the secret of Mary's appeal to all men. Who could resist it? Certainly not the King.”
“She has learned nothing from what happened in France!”
“This is different from France. There, when the King threw her aside, she took lovers…anyone… openly. Men boasted that they shared the King's mistress. But there were so many of them that it became the talk of the Court. That was considered crude by the French. Not good manners… not polite behavior. That is the real sin over there. Mary is in her natural environment here. I don't see why she should not last quite a long time with the King.” He laughed at me. “Don't fret,” he went on. “You need never worry about Mary. She will always come up smiling. It is her nature.”
“So our sister is the King's mistress. What does our father say?”
“He says, ‘Well done, Mary.’ He is getting along well at Court. The King favors him. He has made a success of his embassies and more than that he has begotten a daughter who pleases the King.”
“I would he had earned his success in some other way.”
“The path to success is a thorny one, and the way is steep. There are many pitfalls. It is a fool who does not take advantage of a helping hand when it is offered.”
“Oh, George, it is good to be with you and listen to your talk. I have often thought of it all. Do you remember the gardens with the Wyatts?”
“I remember.”
“Why have they brought me home? Do you know?”
“They have a bridegroom for you.”
“Who?”
“Well…you probably didn't hear that a few years ago our great-grandfather, the Earl of Ormond, died. He left, in addition to his title, vast estates in Ireland. The inheritance was expected to come to the families of his two daughters—one of them our grandmother. Our father has long been expecting this. However, the Earl's second cousin, Sir Piers Butler, is claiming the estate.”