Festina Lente

Chapter Three: Welcome to Court

25th of April 1530 - The Palace of Placentia

"The Duchess of Nemours," the Herald announced to the court, the King and Queen were seated upon their dais while they were introduced to several new ambassadors and the surprise arrival of the Duchess of Nemours. 

It had been of great interest when the letter announcing that his dear cousin had decided to come to England; his decision to send her as his ambassador was an intriguing one. 

The Duke of Suffolk had been sent to make sure that she arrived safely from Portsmouth and that her trip to where the court was as smooth as possibly; the weather in England would be far different than what she was used to. 

The council had been rather surprised with the letter that had arrived requesting that she should be allowed to visit their court; it had been filled with flattery and there was no denying that they all knew why she was being sent to their court. 

The Pope would trust no one better to keep an eye on things than his cousin, he would likely want someone to report honestly to him what was going on in England with the King's Great Matter. 

She would certainly be reporting to him what she witnessed here at court, most importantly the King's conduct towards his wife, Queen Katherine, and the Lady Anne Boleyn. 

Stepping into the chamber, Clarice held her head high as she walked towards the dais as she did her best to hide how nervous she looked; she could not ignore the looks that were offered to her by the English court. 

Her green eyes instead focused on the King and Queen of England, she first focused on the Queen who stared at her with disinterest; she had heard many things about Katherine of Aragon. 

The stories of what she had done in her years of being Queen were most impressive especially leading an army against the Scottish when she had been pregnant and the King was away at war. 

Clarice could not imagine what that must have been like, she was certain that she would not have been able to do something like that; she was sure that many of woman would not have been able to lead an army like that. 

"Your Majesties," Clarice greeted, she dropped into a curtsy and lowering her eyes as she did so; she held her position for a moment until King Henry signalled for her to raise up.

King Henry stared at Clarice as she did so, she was certainly not what he had been expecting; he guessed that he thought she might look a bit more like King Francis or what he had heard the Pope Clement to look like. 

However, Clarice was nothing but a vision of loveliness in the blue dress that she was wearing; it suited her well even if the fashion of the gown that she was wearing did not fit in with the English Court. 

It was more in line with the french fashions that he had heard about from the Lady Anne, she preferred them when she was not wearing the gowns that she had worn when she had served in Katherine's household. 

"Welcome to England, Your Grace," King Henry stated, his eyes flickering away from Clarice and over to his beloved was standing with her family watching the event unfold. 

He barely paid any mind to Katherine who seemed to tense for a moment, her eyes staring down at Clarice; she had no love for the French who had long been at war with her country. 

However, Clarice also happened to be the cousin to the Pope and Katherine knew that the woman had been brought up by him after she lost her parents. 

Only time would tell if Clarice had come here as an ally to her or otherwise, she needed all the help that she could get especially with Henry so openly favouring his whore.