The Queen is Dead!: Katherine of Aragon dies in 1518
- Thread starter FalconHonour
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Will there be some tea to wash those cookies down with?
I am British. Of course there will be. PG Tips or herbal?
Right, a pot of Earl Grey Rooibos it is then... It's the closest I can rustle up from my kitchen...
Right, having had some sleep: one pot of Earl Grey Rooibos for you, @FickleCrossroad and one pot of PG Tips for you, @Ogrebear 😉
@Kerney has made chocolate cookies, and oatmeal and raisin, or I have some jam-centred 'Angel Eyes' as the Germans call them. The British probably call them stained glass window biscuits. Or soft Bounty cookies, if you'd rather.
Take your pick.
@Kerney has made chocolate cookies, and oatmeal and raisin, or I have some jam-centred 'Angel Eyes' as the Germans call them. The British probably call them stained glass window biscuits. Or soft Bounty cookies, if you'd rather.
Take your pick.
Help yourself! *Hands round plate of virtual biscuits*
I fear you may need the sugar to help you cope with the bitterness of the next chapter...
Section CXXXI - April 1523
The Tower of London, April 1523
Bessie jolted awake as the Constable of the Tower, Sir Thomas Lovell, slammed open the door of her cell.
“With me, Lady Tailboys,” he barked.
“Wha-What?” She struggled into a sitting position.
“Your days are over, madam. I hope you’ve made your peace with God, for you’ve not long before you meet Him.”
Bessie threw her head back laughing as his words began to sink in.
“Good sir, you must be mistaken. Sir Thomas Linacre himself declared me mad. The law forbids the King from doing any more than imprisoning me.”
“Wrong, Lady Tailboys. His Majesty has changed the law. You die within the hour. Prepare yourself.”
He marched her down to the small chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, allowed her a brief time to spend in prayer, then ordered her to dress in dove-grey silk as a sign of her penitence and took her down into the courtyard, where he handed her brusquely to the guards, “Take her, gentlemen.”
“Your confessor is on the scaffold,” the captain of the guard explained to Bessie, before placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, “It’s not going to be pretty, getting up there, milady, but we’ll do it. I can promise you that.”
Bessie nodded, suddenly sick with fear. She’d always known, somewhere deep inside, that one day she’d have to pay for her crimes against the Tudors, but this had come upon her so unexpectedly that she wasn’t prepared at all.
She took a step forward out of the Tower’s protective shadow and was instantly assailed by a barrage of scornful, vilifying curses.
“Whore!”
“Traitor!”
“Child-Killer!”
“May you rot in Hell, you she-wolf!”
One of the young boys in the crowd ran ahead a few paces, then spat at her disdainfully. Bessie twisted her head away, but it was too late to stop his spittle splattering her grey, lace-trimmed coif.
The walk seemed interminable to Bessie, but even once she reached the steps of the scaffold and began to mount them, her torment wasn’t over.
She looked up at the scaffold, expecting to see a block awaiting her. After all, as a Baroness, she had the right to a beheading, not a hanging. To her horror, no block awaited her. instead, a huge cooking pot hung suspended above an enormous, unlit bonfire.
It took a moment, but then the implications of what she was seeing sank in. Her jaw dropped as she screamed, “No! No! I’m a Lady of the realm, I can’t die like this!”
“You’re a convicted traitor. By the new law of the land, your punishment is entirely at the King’s discretion. Up you go.”
The guard behind her forced her up the stairs and she had no choice but to obey. The Misere Mei spilled over her lips as she wept in terror. Kneeling at her confessor’s feet, she sobbed, “I admit to it all. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I endangered the country, drove a wedge between Their Most Gracious Majesties and blackened my soul with the murder of a sinless babe. All for the sake of my own ambition. I admit it. Forgive me.”
The elderly man laid a hand on her head, “May God have mercy on your soul, my daughter.”
Rising to her feet, Bessie turned to the crowd, wondering whether she should say anything or not, but she never got a chance. The captain of her guard placed a hand on her shoulder, “His Majesty has forbidden you from making a speech, Lady Tailboys.”
“But...is it not my right?”
“I’m sorry. He claims that, being mad, you won’t be able to make a coherent speech.”
Bessie bowed her head and went to climb the final steps up to the cooking pot. She could tell the man felt sorry for her and didn’t want to make things worse for him.
As she reached the top of the scaffold, however, she saw the King standing on the battlements of the Tower.
“Henry!” she screamed, “Henry please! For the love you bore me; for the love you bear our boy, don’t let me die like this! Please!”
He turned his head, as though he could hear her, despite the distance between them and the clamour of the crowd. Their gazes locked for an instant. Hope swelled in Bessie’s heart. If he’d heard her and acknowledged her the way he had, surely he couldn’t refuse her? Not his own Lady Blount? Surely?!
Then it sank in how icy his eyes were. Her flickering hope died in her breast.
He held her gaze for a second longer, as if he was taking great pleasure in watching her face crumple in disappointment. Then he pointedly turned his back.
“No! My Lord, please!”
Bessie stumbled, but before she fell, the guards flanking her caught her and lifted her into the pot. She felt her breath catch in her throat and she had to stifle a scream as she heard the crowd gasp. The wood beneath her had obviously been lit.
It wasn't long before she could suppress the scream no longer. The heat was rapidly becoming unbearable. Fortunately for Bessie, her already damaged mind soon gave up altogether. She slipped into the blissful peace of unconsciousness.
Well, it was never going to be an easy chapter, one way or the other, was it?
Dove Grey isn't that far off from a tea bag color...
Tea for all! The Tudors are avenged!!!
Tea for all! The Tudors are avenged!!!
Thanks! Glad you liked it - I hadn't looked at the section for weeks, and it chilled even me on another reading, so that was something.
Oh we'll get there. Henry is going to be shocked to the core by what he's just seen for a couple of chapters yet, but we'll get there...
Good! Maybe that'll make him think twice before he orders another execution like that.
Thanks! Glad you liked it - I hadn't looked at the section for weeks, and it chilled even me on another reading, so that was something.
Oh we'll get there. Henry is going to be shocked to the core by what he's just seen for a couple of chapters yet, but we'll get there...
Well, yes, but I pity Honour. She is the one he always turns to purge himself of guilt/horror/any other negative emotion he can't deal with. It's why he forced himself on her when he was angry with Anne, and by extension, Marie, and she's about to be called on again, I can tell you...
As much as I believe that Bessie deserved to die for what she's done, that particular method of execution seems a little heavy handed, perhaps a slow hanging would've been for fitting, given the fact that she killed a baby through suffocation. Hopefully her sister and husband weren't also involved, the less people she takes down with her, the better. Superb chapters!