Daughter of Time

June 1549

Kenninghall

On the day my brothers' government brings in its new prayer book, I declare my dedication to the true faith by ordering Mass be celebrated with as much incense and peeling of bells as ever before in the chapel at Kenninghall.

By the council's ruling, this defiance would make me a criminal yet I am not deterred. This sacrilegious law has been passed by others, not my brother. I do not defy his rules, I defy theirs. Only when Edward assumes his majority, only when I hear it from his lips that the faith he was born in, that his sweet mother died in, is to be expunged, will I ever believe is his will.

As my priest, Father Berkley instructs us to pray for the King. I offer up a silent prayer for the Emperor also. Knowing I have his protection for my stand against heresy, affords me a degree of comfort.

"Good day to you Lady Mary," bows a well-dressed and stocky, Lord Rich. The years of feeding himself well from his stolen priory lands have expanded his girth considerably. Clearly, he is as greedy for food as he is for power and position. He would do well to take heed of the churches teaching on the sin of gluttony. He nods to the thinner, older-looking man to his right, " This, is Sir William Petre, Your Grace. The first secretary of the kings' council. We have been sent to you, to instruct Your Grace and your household to comply with the new regulations sanctioned by His Majesty's Council, and to make Your Grace aware of the perils of your continued defiance of the king's laws."

I have prepared for this. I knew that my continuous hearing of the Mass would be bound to leak back to Edwards's court eventually. "I have defied no law, sirs. The laws lately passed by my brothers' government are precisely that. Those of his government. My brother is not the author of these changes. When His Majesty is of an age to rule without the influences of those men who would dictate England's policies, I will hear your argument then. As to the matter of this Book of Common Prayer, I have never read any Lutheran texts in my life, and that is how it will remain."

It is Petre who turns to me first. Offering me a faint smile, he says. "In your recent letter to the Kings' Council, Your Grace, you refused their summons for the appearance at court of two of your household staff, Dr Hopton and Sir Robert Rochester."

"I did Sir, and for those reasons specified in my letter. Dr Hopton because of his fragile health, and Sir Robert because he has charge of my household. It's well-running rests upon his travails here, not at court."

The two men put their heads close to each other, whispering in such low voices that I cannot hear.

"Lady Mary, when your staff are required by the king to attend court they must do so without fail. Otherwise, the suspicion of treason will inevitably hang over them, in this instance, it seems, kindled by you," Sir Richard insists pompously

"My Lords, my staff are worthy people, ready to serve their King after their God, to the whole extent of their power. I would have none other about my person. They are as my own kin, and I will stand by them and defend them, so long as there is breath left in my body."

"I commend your loyalty to your servants, Lady Mary," Sir Richard persists. "But your behaviour cannot and will not be ignored. We are commanded by the King's Council to relay the instructions to Sir Robert and Dr Hopton that you excused them from and to see that the King's law is fully obeyed."

I would protest, but I know it is futile. If I refuse them permission who is to say that they will not arrest my staff. I would not see any of them suffer for my sake. I reluctantly allow them to issue the orders for Sir Robert and Dr Hopton to come to the great hall. It grates on me in particular that I must host Rich, the man who inventoried my mother's possessions after her death, and I do not miss his beedy observance of the Flemish tapestry lining my walls, or the Venetian glass flower vases on the tables in my rooms.

"Sir Robert, Dr Hopton, The Lady Mary has been given advice to be conformable and obedient to the laws of the King. Mass is no longer to be celebrated in her household, yet Her Grace has continued to have it performed. Deliberately defying the laws of the King. Moreover, when the council issues summons for you both to attend court to receive further instructions, Lady Mary takes it upon herself to excuse you from such orders, which are granted with the King's supreme authority,"

"I heed your words with gravity, my lord. But I am merely the Lady Mary's servant. It is in no way suitable that a servant should act in any way other than obedience to his mistresses' orders." Sir Robert says simply.

Sir William's face darkens into a frown. "I had hoped for a more sensible answer from a man of your years, Sir Robert. You may owe your position to the Lady Mary and feel loyalty to her. Yet when your mistress is in the wrong, as a loyal servant, I would have thought that you had a responsibility, if not a duty to instruct her."

"What of you Dr Hopton?" Sir Richard challenges my chaplain without waiting for Sir Robert to reply.

"I am the Lady Mary's servant, my lord. I obey her orders in her own house."

I force myself to hide the smile of satisfaction I am certain is creeping into my face. The looks the men give each other tells me they are defeated. The mass will remain. Yet I can tell the threat of this instruction shall linger over us all. However, a month later, the Lord grants me a lifeline.

The council write a flattering letter to me, asking for a letter of recommendation for Sir William Paget to introduce himself to the Emperor, whom he is soon to meet in his role of ambassador to renew affinities with the Emperor and make a formal proposition of marriage between myself and Dom Luis of Portugal, the Emperors' brother-in-law.
I agree to write the letter, I am after all a Princess of England and will always do whatever is in my power to serve my country, but I take care to point out that should the councillors command my servants to ban my worship as they have threatened to do, I will add an account to the letter of how I am treated in matters of religion. A religion I share with the Emperor, whose devotion to Rome is spoken of throughout Europe. 

I need not wait for a response; I know that there will be no challenge to my caveat. England is in considerable need of the Emperor's alliance. Negotiations for peace with France ended over two years ago with the death of King Francis. His successor, King Henri is showing no signs of wishing to ally himself with a country, that over the last two years has made an unequivocal embrace of the Lutheran faith. An alliance with the Emperor will protect Edwards's realm should France resort to war, as they have done all too keen to do so in the past. For the moment at least, I have the winning hand.