The Pearl of Great Price Part II

Chapter 36: Family

In all his years as king, Henry has never seen such a steady boom of consecutive years' growth of economic gains. He knows Mary has a lot to do with this boom. In her earlier years, she had been trained with the skills needed to run and govern a country. It's obvious she has put that into practice in their territories of Wales and Suffolk. So when Henry thinks about leaving the country in the capable hands of his oldest daughter, he is at peace. No longer does he stress himself out over not having a son. His legacy is secure in the hands of Mary and Charles.

Another way Henry has seen the stability and love from his daughter and son-in-law is through evening meals. Dinner time is unique at their house because the children eat with them. Charles told him, "Eating together is important to us as a family. It shows the children the importance of eating together and adds to their socialization skills."

Henry had not thought of that because, growing up with his family, the children ate at a different time than the adults. In fact, Mary did the same thing. It's good to see that she's setting her own household rules with her husband. And Henry has to admit that dinner is better with everyone together. It adds a certain entertainment all its own.

A good example would be this evening's meal. The dinner started the same as the others. The adults were seated, and the children were brought in to sit with them. Mary and Charles are trying to teach them table manners, especially the twins and Liz, since they're older. The servants served the meal of roasted chicken, freshly baked rolls, mashed-up potatoes, baked asparagus, parmesan brussel sprouts, and brown butter parsnips.

Everything was going fine with the children using their manners. Then Gillian, seated by her mother, started to cry. Mary turned to the little girl and asked, "What's wrong, Sweet Baby. Don't you like the food?"

Gillian shook her head and kept crying. Her mother forked a piece of cut-up chicken and raised it to Gillian's mouth. She reminded the child, "You like chicken. It's yummy." When she brought the fork closer to her daughter's mouth, Gillian closed it tight and shook her head. Owen and William started laughing at her, snickering behind their hands. Owen muttered, "Silly baby."

Both Gillian and Charles heard that. While Gillian said, "I not," Charles reprimanded him, "Do not say that about your sister. It isn't nice."

Mary continued trying to get her daughter to eat, but Gillian wouldn't. When she was about to give up, the little girl finally whined out her complaint, "It touching! It touching!" She pointed to the foods on her plate. That's when her mother understood. Gillian hates having her foods touching each other. She likes them separated, and she especially doesn't care for any liquid on her plate— the kind of liquid that comes from green beans or turnips. That's when she'll whine, "Yucky! Yucky!"

So, Mary got to work separating all of the foods. "Is that better? Will you eat now," she asked?

Gillian picked up her fork and said, "Yes. Tank coo." Then she began eating her food quietly. Mary took her napkin and dried the little one's tears. The only one who didn't cry or laugh was Liz. She sat enjoying her food and asked politely for seconds.

After dinner, the children went upstairs to bathe and get ready for bed. The adults congregated in the sitting room for after-dinner conversation and entertainment. Charles took out the chess game for himself and Henry to play. He's determined to beat his friend this time because Henry won the last time they played.

Mary read while Paisley sewed. She's in the middle of sewing her wedding veil, which is a work of art. It's a long chapel veil style with lace trim around the edges, and multi-color floral embroidery is sewn onto it. It was a contented evening. As the time ticked on, Henry lost to Charles and demanded a rematch the next night.