Festina Lente

Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Woman's Place

5th of August 1534 - Wulfhall

Staring down at the beautiful necklace that had been sent to her by the King, Jane Seymour could hardly believe the last couple of months especially since the Queen had revealed that she was with child again. 

It almost seemed like a dream that the King of England was courting her attention, he sent her poems and beautiful gifts such as the necklace that she now held in her hands; though everything had been returned and she had refused his attention.

When the King had first sent her a purse full of coins with a letter; she was clever enough not to open the letter and returned it unopened. 

With the aid of Sir Nicholas Carew, Jane had become everything that the King might desire in a woman and one that could compete with his wife; she employed the tricks that Anne had used herself to hold the King's attention.

She was considered to be soft spoken, docile, and subservient by the King, he whispered to her that she was a cool and calming presence in his life compared to the Queen who was like a flame threatening to consume him. 

It pleased her to do her mistress's work, to bring about great sadness to Anne as she had inflicted on Good Queen Katherine would be her pleasure.

Setting down the necklace, Jane reached for the letter that the King had sent to her, he wrote to her often and he pleaded with her to return to her position at court instead of remaining at her family estate. 

A part of her longed to give in and write back to him, his words ignited something inside of her and Jane loved the feelings that he woke inside of her.

Never in her life had she thought that someone could bring about these feelings from her, she longed for his letters and the way that he spoke to her; it was like she was the only one in the room when he looked to her. 

A small part of her was bitter that while her younger sisters were married off, she remained unmarried and no matches were being discussed for her; not even now that they were related to a 'Queen'.

Scoffing at the thought, Jane stood from her seat beside the fire place and moved towards her jewellery box; the letter that the King had sent her securely in her hand.

If her brothers or sisters discovered that she was receiving letters from the King then they would turn on her; they believed that their loyalty to the Boleyns would pay off, that they would throw scraps from their table for them. 

They had turned their backs upon the true Queen, they ignored her while she remained trapped in a nunnery declared mad by those who had once sworn their love of her.

Opening the box, Jane placed the newest letter from the King inside with a smile knowing that once she had the power then she would do what Katherine could not; she would make the King see his mistake. 

Princess Mary would be restored to the top of the succession, Anne's bastard could come in after if the King so pleased; the Princess's marriage to the bastard could be annulled and her child raised befitting a royal bastard.

Closing the lid on the box, Jane made sure to lock it and pocket the key; she did not wish for such evidence to fall into the wrong hands, lest she find herself in trouble. 

There was no one that she could trust here, nor at court except those that had been sent to her by Katherine; she prayed every day that God would show her the way to restore what had been taken by the Boleyns.

Moving across the room and towards the windows of the chambers that she shared with her sisters, Jane allowed the silence of her childhood home to swallow her.