Well, I can't say anything just yet, but given the current circumstances, I am likely to do an awful lot of writing in the next few weeks....
The Queen is Dead!: Katherine of Aragon dies in 1518
- Thread starter FalconHonour
- Start date
Well I'm no Shakespeare (who apparently wrote three plays while in Quarantine with the Plague) but I have done lots of writing this evening. The latter half of 1524 and early 1525 are shaping up quite nicely, you'll all be pleased to know.
Section CXXXVIII - October 1523
Greenwich, October 1523
“Now what?” Kathy snapped, stalking into the chambers she shared with George. He looked up at her, “What?”
“Don’t give me that. You know perfectly well what. You may have ignored it thus far, but even you can’t ignore this any longer. Your harlot of a ward has gone into confinement. With the King’s child!”
“So?”
“So? Her reputation’s ruined. We’ll never find a husband for her now. And the rest of us will be tainted by association. I told you you should have forbidden her from entangling herself with the King.”
“And I told you there was nothing we could do once he’d taken an interest. Kathy, will you please stop panicking? This is hardly a disaster. At least my sister’s with child as well.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that Honour is preening about York Place, flaunting a blatantly royal belly.”
“No, but it does keep Marie secure in a way an empty belly would not. We can still turn this to our advantage.”
“How? We’ll be stuck with Mistress Honour and her bastard. She’ll be a spinster, living off our charity. Unless you want to risk another Lady Tailboys incident?”
“Of course not! But the King’s an honourable man. He’ll realise he has to acknowledge Honour’s child, even if he otherwise wants it kept out of his sight.”
“If he was truly honourable, he’d never have sired the brat!”
“Touché. But you don’t think he’d be ready to be grateful to someone who was willing to look after his mistake and teach them to be loyal to Marie and her children in a way that Lady Tailboys never taught His Grace of Richmond to be?”
“What are you suggesting?” Kathy cut George a suspicious look and he shrugged, “How would you like a half-royal bride for Edmund one day? Or a half-royal groom for our oldest daughter, if it came to that?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s perfectly normal, isn’t it? To wed your wards to your heirs? I’d always planned to wed Siobhan or Bridget to Edmund, but now that you treat them like his sisters, I don’t think that’s going to work. We’ll have to find another bride for him.”
“And you want it to be Honour’s child, if it’s a girl?”
“Why not? Doesn’t it solve all the problems at once? We could neutralise Honour by marrying her off to one of our lesser relatives. One of the Sheltons, perhaps. And then we take the child as our ward, raise it on one of our Irish estates. Make sure it’s treated with dignity but also keep it out of the way of my sister and the King and their happy family life with the Princes and Princesses as they come along. The King would be grateful, I’m sure of it. I’m sure we’d get a generous pension towards the child’s upkeep, at the very least. And in twelve, fifteen years time, we tie our family to the King’s even more closely than it already is. We tie our family to the King’s in a way that will last even past my sister’s death or widowhood. What do you say to that, Kathy, darling?”
Kathy looked at her husband for a few moments and arched an admiring eyebrow.
“I don’t know why they always say your father and your uncle are the plotters in the family. They’ve obviously taught you well.”
Very good idea, George! Happy resolution for everyone, or at least as happy as you can get at HVIII's court.
Yes, he's learning, at last! As for Anne and Harry, they'll be home before Marie comes to term, I promise you that.
He's learning!
Poor Marie. The next few months are not going to be easy for her, to say the least... Or for her ladies, come to that!
Incidentally I am two godmothers short for the Christening scene I am writing... Multiple children requires multiple sets of godparents. I've already used Anne, Mary Brandon, and Kathy Stafford throughout the course of this TL, so I'd rather not repeat them if at all possible. Any suggestions for who Henry might trust with the spiritual upbringing of his precious children?
Very good chapter, nice to see that George is trying to look out for his relations thorough plotting, perhaps he's turning into a more sentimental version of his father. As for godparents, maybe Thomas Howard the duke of Norfolk and his wife Elizabeth Stafford would work for Marie's children, after all Thomas is their grand uncle.
How did I forget about Elizabeth Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard? Of course Marie is going to want her mother, at the very least!
Sometimes happen... I think who Henry would think the Duchess of Norfolk an appropriate choice as godmother for a princess
If their relationship is not strained maybe Henry can think to his other sister Margaret, Dowager Queen of Scotland or to his aunt Katherine of York, Dowager Countess of Devon
Another relative is the Countess of Northumberland (Anne's mother-in-law, who is also aunt by marriage of the Stafford sisters and second cousin of King Henry's father)...
Katherine of York. I like Katherine of York. I think I'll use Elizabeth Boleyn and Katherine of York. Thank you very much!
Yes, I know, I really ought to do something about poor old Hal. I just find Maria and her little brother/companions far easier to write about...
How old is he at the time of Bessie's death? Might be he's too young to register what happened...
He can't be more than 4 years old. It's likely that he won't remember his mother. If Henry and Marie are smart, they'll make sure that Hal never knows what happened to her, or what she did to his half-brother.
He was born March 1520 ITTL, so he's just turned 3 and a half. I know he will end up probably as one of Lionel's companions eventually, but I think for the moment, Marie has just sort of pushed him on to Lady Bryan and Lady Salisbury without saying anything official. She simply trusts her distant cousin to get on and deal with it without making too much of a fuss. He probably still has his own nursemaid for familiarity's sake, and of course, they're being very careful not to allow anyone to think that he's anywhere near close to Lionel in importance, despite his double dukedom, but no one has actually said anything official... Henry's feeling too guilty and Marie doesn't want to rock the boat when she and Henry are still so fragile together...
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I found who Katherine of York was already godmother of Mary so is pretty unlikely she will be godmother of another child of Henry