Festina Lente

Chapter Forty-Nine: All Shall Be Well

4th of February 1534 - Hampton Court Palace

Focusing on her work, Anne listened to her ladies gossip and giggle together across the room while she was huddled by the fire working on clothes for the poor; she felt so alone and she wished that Mary could be here with her. 

Her older sister was due any day now and Anne prayed that Mary would have a safe delivery, she had done well with her first two children but it had been several years since Mary had been delivered of her last child. 

Henry Carey had been born eight years earlier and Anne knew that the labour had been a difficult one for her sister, she had wanted nothing more to be at her side but had not been allowed. 

She had been at court at the time serving Katherine and it had been around that time that she had caught Henry's attention; though she had done her best to deter him since she would not be his mistress. 

Anne wondered what that Anne would have thought of her now, she had gone back to Hever Castle to avoid the King and hoped that by leaving court his attention would venture elsewhere. 

Instead it had inflamed his passion for her, her reputation left her ruins despite the fact that she had done everything that she could to deter him until she had no options left. 

Here she was now as his wife and Queen, she had fallen for him knowing that she would get hurt that he would never remain faithful and she would end up as Katherine had. 

The only difference being that Anne had done as she had promised, Henry could never rid himself of her not now that she had given him a son; though she needed to provide a spare to secure her position. 

The sound of Madge approaching made her look up and offer a weak smile to her cousin, who set about adding more logs to the fire so that Anne would not get cold. 

Though it was the backache that bothered her more than anything else, it had begun a little while ago and Anne had done her best to get comfortable knowing it to be the aches and pains of childbearing that she had suffered with before. 

Despite being surrounded by those that she considered her kin, she found herself feeling mostly lonely more so than she had felt when she was courting the King after he had announced his desire to marry her.

The path that she had taken had been a difficult one and she had been unsure who to trust especially when she was hated at court for the King's decision to replace Katherine. 

This had all been before Spanish Infanta had been proven to be a traitor to the country that she had called home since she had arrived in 1501 to marry Prince Arthur; though that had not stopped her from the treason that she had committed to aid Spain. 

"Your Majesty," called a soft voice making Anne look up from her work, she frowned slightly recognising the woman that had spoken as one of the Seymour sisters. 

The three sisters that had entered her household were all middling stature and very pale, though they served her well and she recalled having served Katherine with the eldest of the sisters. 

"Lady Ughtred," Anne stated when she gathered her thoughts and recognised which of the sisters it was that had spoken to her, she signalled for her to approach wondering why she had disturbed her. 

She did not know her female Seymour cousins well but she knew that having their support was necessary and she had consolidated her power by uniting what she could of her family. 

"I was wondering if Your Majesty might like some company, perhaps I could play something for you," Lady Elizabeth Ughtred suggested wishing to keep her Queen company, she desired to make herself important to the Queen so that she might gain further favour.