Festina Lente

Chapter Sixty: Deepest Wishes

11th of October 1534 - Hampton Court Palace

Staring out of the window, Anne sighed admiring the snow that had started to fall and she could not help but pray that things would continue to remain this peaceful; they had come to Hampton Court for the holidays and she would enter her confinement here. 

The chambers that she had given birth to Alexander in were being prepared for the birth of her newest child, she would enter the chambers just after Christmas Day and spend the next few weeks there. 

Anne prayed daily that God would be kind to her, that her child would survive and she would not suffer Katherine's fate; she did not think she could stomach losing another child. 

Her children were her everything, they were what sustained her now and everything that she did was for them; she cared not who her husband brought to his bed as long as she had them. 

"Your Majesty?" greeted a meek voice making Anne turn away from the window, she eyed the young woman before her and offered her a kind smile before stepping closer. 

Lady Margaret Douglas was spending her last weeks at court in preparation for her move to Calais, she had been granted the title of Duchess of Calais only days earlier and there was much to be done before she travelled to Calais. 

"Your Grace, I trust your preparations are going well," Anne greeted, she remembered how she had felt when she had left England behind for the first time. 

First, she had served in the household of Margaret of Austria then she had moved to France where she had served to Queens, it had been those times that had shaped her into the woman that she was now. 

"I have, Your Majesty. My mother writes to me often sending her well wishes and instructs me of the importance of my marriage," Margaret replied softly, she could not recall the last time that she had seen her mother in person; she was far too busy helping her brother rule Scotland to care for her daughter. 

Even now with the announcement that she was to marry and leave England forever, Margaret had hoped that her mother might be there on her wedding day but she would likely be alone. 

It was her late aunt Mary's husband, the Duke of Suffolk, that would give her away to Antoine of Bourbon, she would be married within the month and she would leave for Calais by November's end.

"I hear your brother is to marry Madeleine of France," Anne recalled softly, her heart going out for the eldest daughter of the French King knowing that despite the many French brides that had been offered that King James had insisted upon the fourteen-year-old. 

It would be a couple more years before the wedding but an agreement had been reached and Anne prepared that the harsh weather would not hurt Madeleine's weak constitution. 

"That is right, Ma'am. I am most pleased with the news and look forward to meeting my future sister," Margaret spoke politely, it was likely that Madeleine would be at her wedding and she would treat her well. 

She had only her brother now and she would welcome any woman that he married, though she knew that it could have easily been another that James had selected to marry. 

Anne eyed Margaret, she was a quiet girl and hoped that she would be able to handle what was being asked of her; it was through her that the reforged Auld Alliance between England-France-Scotland would be united. 

From there they would take Italy, they would start a war against the Emperor and his Habsburg relatives; they would need all the help that they could get against such might. 

"I pray your marriage will bring you much happiness and that you shall be very blessed with children," Anne said, with a small smile and she could not imagine that anyone would not be eager for Margaret to deliver an heir especially given what her marriage to Antoine of Bourbon would mean.