monarch

If a person left the court a month ago, he or she would be surprised to see him or her in the queen's room when they return.The decoration of the queen's room has been completely changed. The French tapestries produced by Sewell, the elegant curtains and the oriental vases made her room several times more gorgeous in an instant.

This is what Ms. Mary saw when she came back from a stay in Hesden for a few weeks. She looked at the paintings of Botticelli and Raphael at the entrance of the house. When did a Lutheran begin to appreciate them? These seem to them to be a symbol of sin and depravity?And when she finally saw the queen, she was a little dumbfounded.

The queen was wearing gorgeous robes. Although she was wearing gorgeous clothes before, she didn't pay much attention to the clothes. Now she scoured for the most expensive fabrics and jewelry. Her clothes were smoked by the maids with various spices, apparently to cover up That "evil smell," as the king called it.She also began to try bolder dresses with her maids. Although they were still not as French as Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, they at least completely abandoned the restrained dress that was criticized by almost everyone. Reeves was wearing, especially that hood that looked like a battleship.

The queen was sitting on the sofa. She looked much more luxurious than before, at least on the surface, she looked more like a queen, but the sadness on her face couldn't be concealed.In the past few weeks, she tried her best to attract the king's attention, but it was all in vain. The king's intimate contact with her was still only a few greetings and a kiss sooner or later.Unlike her ignorance before, although her situation has not changed much now, she is walking on thin ice, for fear that the king will finally hate her one day.She couldn't sleep well every night, and her dreams were all about the three queens before: Catherine of Aragon, who was lying alone on the hospital bed, thin and out of shape; Anne, who begged him to spare her family in front of the king's room. Pauline; Jane Seymour, who looked at the dead body of her child in horror on the delivery bed... This fear made her cringe every time she saw the king, which in turn exacerbated the king's dislike for her.

Ms. Mary saw such a scene when she walked into the room. She suppressed her surprise and walked in front of the queen: "Your Majesty, it's a pleasure to see you again." There was a hint of concern in her tone, "How are you recently? "

The queen forced a smile on her face: "Thank you, dear Mary, I'm fine." There was an unconcealable tiredness in her voice.

Lady Mary knew this scene all too well, had seen it, this look, in her mother's last days at court.The only thing she was a little shocked about was that things had progressed so quickly.She looked around, and sure enough, she didn't find the person she was looking for.

"Where's Miss Catherine Howard? Isn't she here?" asked Lady Mary, with her usual straightforwardness, but she probably already knew the answer to that question.

The queen's face collapsed visibly, "Miss Catherine is on leave." Her voice was a little stiff.

Ms. Mary sighed in pity, and waved her hand to signal the maids in the room to step back.When there were only the two of them left in the room, she finally spoke: "Has it reached this point?"

Queen Anne couldn't hold back her tears at last: "Yes, it's come to this point." She smiled wryly, "I've tried everything I can, and there's nothing I can do." Big teardrops dripping down and onto her expensive dress.

Lady Mary looked at her quietly, and she wanted to say something to comfort the Queen, but she couldn't say anything, and there was no point in saying anything now.

"What will the king do with me?" asked Anne, who had been thinking about this question in her mind for a long time. "Will I be sent back to Cliffs or die in England?"

"I don't know," replied Lady Mary honestly, "but I have a word of advice for you. "

"Never disobey the king, and when he offers you a condition for breaking the engagement, accept it at once."

"Because a king never bids a second time."

Anne looked at the serious Ms. Mary opposite, she wanted to say thank you, but she couldn't control her tears.

……

Ms. Mary left the queen's room, she felt a little uncomfortable, maybe she didn't like the queen before, but after getting along with the queen for a few months, although she didn't reach the point of becoming friends with the queen, she also had to admit that Anne did is a nice guy.Apparently Lutherans aren't all horned monsters, she smiled self-deprecatingly.

There was a familiar girly smile from the garden outside, and Madam Mary got goosebumps all over her body. She looked out of the window in the corridor with some disgust: Under the bright moonlight, Miss Catherine Howard ran into the garden with a smile. The hedge, followed by a somewhat fat middle-aged man, the two of them were chasing and playing in the garden like two young men and women.

Ms. Mary felt sick for a while. Her father really had no bottom line. She couldn't imagine that one day she would call a little girl who was ten years younger than her stepmother.She turned away in disgust, and at the same time swore in her heart that if Catherine Howard became queen one day, she would never set foot in the court again.

Ms. Mary walked through the deep corridors, and when she turned a corner, a strange voice suddenly came.

"Ms. Mary?"

Ms. Mary stopped in surprise. It was a man's voice with an obvious German accent. "Who are you?" She looked around, but she didn't see him.

A man came out from the shadow of the corner. He was in his thirties and looked very handsome. "Please forgive my presumptuousness. I was supposed to officially ask to see you tomorrow, but I really can't wait."

Ms. Mary became a little impatient: "We don't know each other, who are you, sir?"

"I am Duke Rupert of Bavaria, the queen's cousin, and I think she must have mentioned me to you." His English was fluent, but his German accent was very pronounced.

Ms. Mary was at a loss for a moment, but she quickly remembered that it was the... suitor that the Queen planned to introduce to her.She felt a little depressed, and now she was not in the mood to deal with the duke. "Indeed, sir," replied Madam Mary stiffly.

The Duke noticed Lady Mary's displeasure, and he looked a little embarrassed: "I'm very sorry, madam. However, I've been looking forward to our meeting for a long time, so I couldn't wait to see you as soon as I arrived at the court in England. My servant People say that you are going to meet the queen, so I will wait for you here on my own." He scratched his head shyly, and a blush appeared on his face.

Ms. Mary tried her best not to laugh. How could this 30-year-old look like a young man in love. "We've never met, Your Excellency. I don't know why you can't wait to see me?" She still looked very serious, but her tone softened a lot unknowingly.

"You are so humble. Your name is known in all the courts of Europe. I deeply admire your attitude towards unfortunate fate." The Duke said excitedly, "You are the purest and most noble princess of our time .I hope to form a valuable friendship with you."

Ms. Mary didn't know how to answer for a moment. "I'm not a princess." She was stunned for a while before replying.

"I didn't come for that either."

"You're a Lutheran, I'm a Catholic, and we..."

"I don't care. Your attitude towards your belief is admirable. I don't want to comment." The Duke replied immediately.

"I hope I haven't caused you too much inconvenience today." Duke Rupert bowed, "but can you tell me, can I have in my heart the hope of becoming your friend?" He looked Princess Mary, there is some expectation in her eyes.

Princess Mary wanted to refuse immediately and end this damn trouble, but she couldn't say anything.Finally she gave up: "Well, sir, I allow you to have hope, but don't have too much hope." She bent her knees slightly, turned her head and left. Today, these things happened one after another, and she was very tired. Desperately in need of rest.

……

Catherine Howard tripped over a stone on the ground, and with a slight cry of surprise, she was about to fall to the ground.King Henry following behind jumped forward quickly, as if he was 20 years younger, so Miss Catherine fell steadily into the arms of the king, her face flushed.

"Thank you...thank you, Your Majesty." Miss Catherine looked blushing to the point of bleeding.Looking at her shy expression, the king felt that he had returned to the days when he was 20 years old in an instant.He was the boyish King of England then, handsome and full of life, princesses all over Europe wanted to marry him, and all the ladies looked at him when he walked into a room.He misses that feeling, and it has been almost ten years since he had this feeling. The last time was when he was with Anne Boleyn... The king shook his head, as if trying to drive away the unpleasant memories in his mind.He concentrated on Catherine in his arms, she was so light, this little girl, she was younger than his own daughter.The fact that such a young and beautiful girl should fall in love with him satisfied Henry very much.He is not old yet, he is still handsome, he is the most handsome prince in Europe.His waistline, weight and leg wounds all disappeared in an instant, thanks to this panacea named Catherine Howard.

"Your Majesty?" Catherine asked tentatively after seeing that the king hadn't answered for a long time.

"Huh? Be careful when you walk, my little girl." Henry VIII helped Catherine up, "It's a good thing if you fall down."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty..." Catherine seemed to be on the point of tears by the king's joking lesson.

The king quickly hugged her again: "I don't mean to blame you." He took out something from his pocket, "Look, I have a present for you." Then he handed the thing to Catherine's before.

It was a beautiful rose brooch, the petals of the rose were made of rubies, the petals were fine emeralds, and the center of the flower was a crystal clear diamond. "For you, my rose." The king whispered in her ear.Such a pure and flawless girl deserves only the best.

Catherine Howard was a little stunned.She took the brooch back and put it in the palm of her hand, feeling the weight of the diamonds and gemstones on her hands.She stared straight at the rose, showing a hint of greed, but under the moonlight, the king could only see her incredible expression, which made the king very happy, a pure and innocent little girl in this situation That's the way it should be, isn't it?

Miss Catherine seemed to finally come to her senses, "No, Your Majesty, I can't take it." She seemed a little frightened, "This thing is too expensive, you should give it to the queen, I can't..." Her voice carried A little cry.

"It belongs to you, take it, no one dares to say anything." The king enjoyed the process of appeasing the little girl, and he took the brooch from Catherine and pinned it on the girl's chest. "It's beautiful," said the king with satisfaction.Under the moonlight, the roses reflected soft light, making Catherine's young face even more beautiful.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Catherine lowered her head, as if she was too shy to face the king.

Henry touched her head lightly, "Do you like it?" he asked.

"Thank you Your Majesty, I like it very much." Catherine whispered, still not daring to look up at the king.

"If you like it, I will give you a gift every day, okay?" The king asked the royal jeweler to work overtime when he planned to go back.

Catherine beamed, her head bowed, making sure the king wouldn't notice. "Your Majesty, you don't have to spend so much. I can't..." In fact, she really wanted to, but the Duke told her to act like this, and she had to obey.

"Then it's settled." The king didn't intend to give Catherine a chance to refuse.

"Your Majesty, it's late, you should go back to the queen." This was also the line designed by the Duke of Norfolk, although she didn't understand why she said that, shouldn't the queen be separated from the king as much as possible.

Sure enough, a dark cloud appeared on the king's face: "It's too late, there is no need to disturb the queen." His voice sounded a little stiff.

Catherine Howard was a little panicked: "Your Majesty, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean anything else..." Her tears fell like broken beads.

The king suddenly felt hit by something, and remorse filled his heart.what am i doingHe thought, what's the matter with this little girl?He hugged Catherine: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blame you." He gently wiped the tears from Catherine's face, it was all the queen's fault, he thought, he would get angry when he thought of this woman.It seems that those useless lawyers should be urged to get rid of that German woman as soon as possible. "I want to be with you tonight," said the king softly. "Would you like to?"

Catherine shyly avoided the king's sight again, and after a while, she finally nodded slightly.

The king burst into ecstasy, he picked up Catherine and walked towards the entrance of the palace.People who met them on the road bowed deeply, not daring to look directly at them.