“What does it mean?”

“I do not know. Later perhaps I shall.”

I was feeling calmer every second. He wanted to talk. What could he possibly talk about? He was going to try to persuade me by telling me all he could do for me and mine. Some of my fear had left me. Seeing him face to face had given me courage.

The thought came to me: This is no light matter with him. He really does care for me.

And so I went down to the garden.

He was waiting for me and came swiftly toward me, his arms out-stretched. I evaded them by bowing.

“Anne,” he said, “my sweetheart, all will be well ere long and you and I will be together. Come, sit beside me. Sit close to me. Ah, this is what I long for…to be close to you…to hold you against me… like this. Anne, you are a witch.”

“Your Grace, I am just a simple girl.”

“You were never simple. You were born with that witchery. You have put a spell on me.”

I was momentarily alarmed by this talk of witchcraft. I wondered if I were to be accused of that and burned at the stake. But, of course, he meant witchery of another sort.

“You hold yourself aloof,” he said. “Oh, do not think I do not respect your virtue.” His little mouth was prudish suddenly. “It is a virtue I most respect in ladies. But I see a way for us, and that is what I will speak of and you will then see how deep is my love for you and that I will have none other. I will sweep away your scruples. You and I shall love as, from the moment we met, we were meant to.”

“My lord, there is no way in which I will become your mistress.”

“Nor shall you be. But…you could be my Queen.”

“That is not possible.”

“That word does not exist for kings, Anne. There is a way and I believe I have found it. Listen to me. When I first saw you in the garden, I knew that this was no light emotion which you had aroused in me. When I returned to Westminster, I said to Wolsey…yes, these were my very words, I remember them well…I said: ‘Thomas, I have been discoursing with a young lady who has the wit of an angel and is worthy of a crown.’ Now I look back, I see that my words were prophetic. Wolsey said, ‘It is sufficient if Your Grace finds her worthy of your love,’ and I answered that I feared she would never condescend in that way. Wolsey replied that great princes, if they choose to play the lover, had in their power that which would mollify a heart of steel. You will say that your virtue is unassailable, so you must remain virtuous. But I cannot give you up. Now listen. For some time past, my conscience has been troubling me. You know that I married my brother's widow. I was young. I was chivalrous. Katharine was alone in this country. Her father and mine were haggling over her dowry. She was sad and lonely and I have a tender heart … as you will discover. I married her, letting pity get the better of wisdom, and in doing so I have offended against the laws of God.”

I listened in amazement.

“For some time,” he went on, “I have been a most unhappy man. My conscience has never let me rest. Now I feel it cannot be silenced, for when my daughter Mary's union with the son of the King of France was in progress, one of the ambassadors raised the point of Mary's legitimacy.”

“That is… impossible!” I cried.

“Nay, my love, and I fear it may well be true. There is a verse in Leviticus which clearly says that a man may not marry his brother's wife and such a union would be without the blessing of God and fruitless.”

“Does the Queen know of your fears?”

“Not as yet. But she will. She must. I cannot go on living a life of sin in the eyes of God.”

“But what would be the outcome?”

“The marriage will be declared no marriage.”

“And the Emperor Charles?”

“He will have to look the truth in the face.”

“But the Queen's relationship with him …”

“My dearest Anne, you do not understand these matters.”

“But surely he would not care to see his aunt accused of living in a sinful union?”

“If it be proved…as it must be…he will have to accept it.”

“After all these years…”

“That matters not.” He was a little impatient. He had clearly thought I should greet this news with joy. I could not really believe the dazzling proposition he was putting before me. I could not accept for one moment that he would be allowed to discard his wife in spite of the verses in Leviticus. Whatever they were, I did not believe that the great Emperor would allow his aunt to be shipped back to Spain or perhaps put into retirement in England just like a mistress who has ceased to be desirable and is now to be pensioned off. That was not the way of great monarchs. I felt that Henry was being carried away by this idea which had occurred to him, and I suspected that he was using it as a means of dazzling me with the prospect of a crown—a notion which I felt too wild to bear any semblance to reality—so that I should receive him without delay into my bed. And afterward? Well, it would be seen to be just a wild dream, and the ministers of Spain and England would explain to him how impossible it was.

I was skeptical. The conscience, I knew, existed. But it had taken seventeen years to arouse itself, and I felt it could easily be subdued in a few weeks once his goal had been reached.

He went on: “I understand so much now. She could not get a son. Again and again there were disappointments. A king must have sons. It is part of his duty to his people. He has to think not only of his own reign but of the one to come. The dynasty must go on. And what have I? One daughter.”

“The Princess Mary is healthy and very clever.”

“A girl, Anne. I want a son.”

“There is no Salic Law in England.”

He hit his knee with his fist. “This country wants a king. I have to give England a male heir. And how can I do that while God frowns on my union with the one who, in His eyes, is not my wife? Anne, once I am free… and by God and all His saints, I soon shall be…you and I will come together. Now this revelation has come to me. The French ambassador has shown me the way. I have marveled that I… full of health and vigor as I am…can get no sons…from her. With others…You know that at one time I thought myself in love with Elizabeth Blount. She was a handsome girl… she danced and sang well…I thought excellently, but remember I had not seen you… nor heard you then. From now on there could be no other. I was young… and affectionate, as is my nature. I had begun to feel a reluctance to share Katharine's bed. You must understand these matters, Anne. And I had a son by Elizabeth Blount. It is only from Katharine that I cannot get boys, because God has turned His face away from our union. For a long time He has been telling me that it must end… and only now have I seen it.”

I thought how naïve he was, but perhaps that was why he could deceive himself.

“What does Your Grace propose to do?”

“I have spoken to Wolsey.”

I caught my breath.

“He will help in this?” I asked.

“Sweetheart, he is my servant. He will do as I wish. He sees the need for heirs. He is a clever fellow and will devise a plan. We shall be together ere long, Anne. You will be my Queen. I'll swear there will never have been a more beautiful one… and one more worthy to wear a crown. You do not speak.”

“I am overwhelmed.”

He laughed, well pleased. “As well you might be. But it shall come to pass. I am determined on that. Ere long you and I shall be together, and we'll have boys, Anne…you and I. And what boys they will be! We'll have a brood of princes. What say you?”

“I think there would be difficulties.”

“This is my will.”

“But the Queen is the Emperor's aunt.”

“The Emperor is too busy governing his vast empire to think much of that. Moreover, Wolsey is getting to work on it.”

“Does he know your plans for me?”

There was a brief hesitation. “I have not told him yet. He knows, of course, of my feelings for you.”

“But he thinks I should be your mistress while some foreign princess shall be your Queen. What was it…? ‘Princes have the power to mollify steel…’”

“Wolsey has his devious ideas. He is…at the moment… all for stronger ties with France. When I talked of remarriage, he did mention the Princess Renée of France. I did not think it necessary to be more explicit as yet.”

“It would not occur to him that one as unworthy as I could aspire so high. Yet he himself has climbed far. Was he not a butcher's son?”

“I care not for these matters, sweetheart … whether a man be a cook's son or a duke's son…it matters not to me. I am a king and a king's son, and it is only those of lesser ranks who concern themselves with such things. If I love a person… that is enough for me. Thomas Wolsey is my good friend and has been for years. I love the man. He is the best of servants to me…as he was to my father before me.”

“Yet I believe he sought election for the Papacy. That would have taken him from Your Grace's service… and set him on equal terms with you.”

“He would have worked for me in Rome. Although I should be sad to lose him, it would have pleased me to have someone there working for England. But enough of this. Here I tell you of our great matter and you prate of Wolsey.”

“I think he may well play a big part in it.”

He slapped his thigh. “This he will, but Anne, what of your part and mine? I would it were done with. I would we were now joined together in holy union, as one day we shall surely be. What do you say?”

I did not know what to say. My first thought was that it would never happen. There would be too many to work against it. Henry was all-powerful in England, and if the Queen had been anyone but the aunt of the Emperor Charles, it could have been a possibility. The Emperor might be busy with his Empire but he would never allow a member of his house to be degraded. And that was what the King proposed for Katharine.