Shaking the Throne

by Caroline Angus Baker

  ‘Nicòla?’

  The voice broke Nicòla’s stillness, but only just. She tilted her head, her eyes barely seeing past the soft edge of her black cap. The voice she knew well, for there stood Ralph over her shoulder.

  ‘We did not have you installed in the King’s privy chamber for you to return home once more, Ralph…’ Nicòla turned on her chair to see Ralph not alone. ‘Mr. Sadler, you bring a guest,’ she added as she stood to bow to the lady at Ralph’s side, her blonde hair still covered by the soft red hood of her coat.

  ‘Mr. Frescobaldi,’ Lady Jane Seymour said as Nicòla stood straight once more. ‘I hope I am welcome at Austin Friars.’

  Nicòla glanced up to the third level of the manor, to the window of Cromwell’s bedroom, where she saw him not. Her eyes shot back to Ralph, who swallowed hard. ‘What brings you to Austin Friars, Mistress Seymour?’

  ‘Mr. Sadler agreed to accompany me when I wished to visit you.’

  ‘Me? Not Secretary Cromwella?’

  ‘Uncle Ralph!’ little Jane cried when she saw the new arrivals. She charged over to Ralph, and he scooped her up in his arms. Since the departure of Ralph’s wife Ellen and their children to the newly built Sutton House four miles away, Jane missed her family. The poor girl would certainly have no siblings now and Gregory remained in Stepney.

  ‘Perchance you could spend time with your… niece?’ Lady Jane said to Ralph, who without a word, took Jane from her mother’s sight and into the house.

  Nicòla gestured to the slightly damp bench seat. ‘I am happy to aid you, Mistress Seymour, or would you rather sit in the house?’

  Lady Jane sat down, and smoothed her hands over the silver gown under her coat. She gestured for Nicòla to sit beside her. ‘I love how you pronounce my name,’ Jane began.

  ‘I must ask you to excuse my accent, for not all words come from me quite right.’

  ‘No, I quite enjoy it. I have never been a curious woman, never the prettiest girl, the exotic beauty, or the well-connected lady’s maid.’

  ‘You have served two queens, Mistress Seymour.’

  Jane turned a little on the seat to Nicòla. ‘Let us speak plainly, Mr. Frescobaldi. There are rumours throughout court about your master.’

  ‘I hear all, even if I am serving my master at Austin Friars. Secretary Cromwella has always been a man of rumour and scandal. No man born low can ever hope to raise high without attracting enemies.’

  ‘You are not noble, Mr. Frescobaldi.’

  ‘No, but born wealthy enough to have advantages in Florence and Rome.’

  ‘You sister sits as Duchess of Florence, married to a Medici?’

  ‘Indeed.’

  ‘Your reclusive sister, whose bastard child lives hither as Cromwell’s adopted daughter?’

  ‘Young Jane is my niece, yes. My sister, Duchess Nicòletta has always been reclusive.’

  ‘Because she hides under the garments of a man?’

  ‘You must excuse me, Lady Jane…’

  Jane raised her hand to stop Nicòla. ‘It is known the French ambassador supports Queen Anne. There are whispers that something happened between you and the French ambassador, and you are lacking the… the part that Ambassador de Castelnau is known to enjoy.’

  ‘You speak with great candour!’ Nicòla admonished. ‘No woman would ever dare say such things.’

  ‘I am no ordinary woman,’ Jane replied as she took her hood from her long blonde hair. ‘My brother Edward likes to speak for me, for our family. My father was part of a scandal in years past, and Edward is now the head of the family. I am just property.’

  ‘What do you want, Lady Jane?’

  ‘I like you, Mr. Frescobaldi. I always have. You have a subtly to you that no man at court possesses. I have noticed this about you. I too am one to stand in the shadows, for I am considered the plain sister of my family, of a family not noble enough to be of any great importance. My sister Elizabeth is always seen as the beautiful one and has already borne two children to her dear departed husband. My youngest sister Dorothy is pretty and haughty, my brothers are well-liked and intelligent. But I, I have always stood in the shadows. And I see others that do the same, like you, with your watching eyes, with your shining rose-gold hair that captures attention even though you do not seek it. Then I heard this preposterous rumour about you and the French ambassador…’

  ‘I seek nothing from the French ambassador, Lady Jane,’ Nicòla interrupted without thinking.

  ‘I know, and none believe the rumours. You are the Waif; the creature Cromwell keeps. Some say you are his lover, a gentleman. But while your mind speaks of being a man, your presence portrays a woman.’

  ‘You mean to threaten me, Lady Jane? My master is not in the King’s favour today, but I am no victim ready to be plucked.’

  ‘Forgive me, Mr. Frescobaldi, for I come not to threaten. I came to say, that I wish there was a woman in the court who knew my mind, a woman who could help me, rather than be steered by an army of men in all my dealings.’

  ‘If you came to hear me say I am a woman, Lady Jane, I fear you shall be disappointed.’

  ‘I wish not to hear such things,’ Jane said with a delicate wave of her hand. ‘You appear to have the heart of a woman, Mr. Frescobaldi. You have raised yourself high, and your sister even higher in your homeland, as a duchess.’

  ‘My sister may soon lose that title as the Pope shall annul the marriage.’

  ‘I heard so,’ Jane replied. ‘I am of the old faith. As an Italian, where does your faith lie, with the Catholic hearts of your homeland, or with your master and the Reformation?’

  ‘My heart shall always lie with God.’

  ‘I come in search of an ally, Mr. Frescobaldi. I want to stop men from ruling me.’

  ‘That is a desire all women seek, but it is not God’s will.’

  ‘Quite, yet we can seek guidance from women, can we not? I ask you not to say you are a woman, but I feel you can be the ally I need.’

  Nicòla knew not how to reply, for she would not admit her sex to any person, no matter how desperate they were for female companions. ‘I know my sister’s mind, Lady Jane, and perchance that means I can be an ally.’

  ‘I want to be a queen, Mr. Frescobaldi. I want to rise all the way to the King’s side, rise the way your sister did in Florence. Henry writes me letters of love and I believe he likes me a great deal. Anne does not comfort him any longer. There, I have made all plain. My brothers and my father have been looking for support on my behalf, as I ask them to do. Sir Nicholas Carew and the Duke of Suffolk are on my side, as are the Poles and Exeters, the last Plantagenets on Earth. I support the Lady Mary as heir to the King, the daughter of the great Queen Katherine.’

  ‘You speak treason, Lady Jane, to oust an anointed queen, the only queen crowned in the Bury St Edmond’s crown,’ Nicòla said with a panic. No one ever spoke so plainly, especially no woman. Jane was the leader of the plan to oust Anne, not her brothers.

  ‘The Pope would like a Catholic queen in England. It would make the Holy Roman Emperor happy, as no French queen would sit in England.’

  ‘Why see yourself down such a dangerous path, Lady Jane?’

  ‘Because I love Henry. Have you never loved, Mr. Frescobaldi? You have no women at court.’

  ‘I dedicate my time to serving my master, and His Majesty.’

  ‘Your master has no women either, despite all his titles, his power, his parties and charm.’

  ‘You spy on us, Lady Jane?’

  ‘It is well known Cromwell is the master of secrets. But words travel about the court.’

  ‘I deal in politics and law, Lady Jane, not idle talk.’

  ‘Make I speak with plainness? My brother, Edward, wants to see me on the throne of England. He wants me to be at the King’s side, though will sell me as a mistress if that is all I can be. If I am to be a pawn in such a manner, I want some control. If I cannot be a queen, I wish to be a wife elsewhere, not a mistress. While many
women are content as mistresses, I cannot be one.’

  ‘A quality I admire, Lady Jane. Your brother does not get to decide who is Queen of England. It is treason just to say such things. Idle talk it may be, but treason as well.’

  ‘The only person who gets to decide on a queen is Secretary Cromwell.’

  ‘His Majesty decides on who is his queen. God joins a marriage and that is the end of any matter.’

  ‘Poor Queen Katherine.’ Jane paused and crossed herself. ‘I hear rumours, Mr. Frescobaldi, that you pay money to Lady Mary, which would anger the King. You pay the girl’s costs and send her items belonging to her mother. I wish not to report such rumours as you may find yourself in trouble.’

  ‘You seek to threaten me now? After uttering such treason, hither in my master’s garden?’

  ‘Henry would not believe you. I have watched you since you first came to court, Mr. Frescobaldi. I remember the first time I noticed you. You came to Queen Katherine’s chambers in the night, prayed with her, spoke to her in her language. I know not what was said, but it was clear that Katherine trusted you, liked you. I come hither today to speak to you for one reason. It is Secretary Cromwell who holds the power in this kingdom.’

  ‘And he creates that power on three things, Lady Jane. First, Secretary Cromwella’s ability to enrich His Majesty. Second, because Cromwella can aid His Majesty in controlling his realm through religious means. And third, because he was the man able to create a marriage with Queen Anne. The laws made by my master cannot be unmade.’

  ‘Unless Secretary Cromwell unmade them,’ Jane replied. ‘It is well known you have a hold over Cromwell. Where Cromwell goes, you go too. No one, not even Mr. Sadler does so, and Sadler is considered a son of Cromwell. Cromwell adores his Waif, his creature. I am being pushed to be the King’s next love, and if this is to be, I wish to have control. I want the control you have – you stand in Cromwell’s shadow, yet you have so much influence. I want to know how you do that. We can be much alike, Mr. Frescobaldi.’

  ‘Do you read Machiavelli, Lady Jane?’

  ‘I confess I cannot read.’

  ‘If you hope to be beside a king, you may wish to change your habits. Machiavelli says, non possiamo attribute alla fortuna o alla virtù ciò che si ottiene senza. We cannot attribute to fortune or virtue that which is achieved without either. If you see me as an evil presence in court or a fool at the Queenmaker’s side who can give you a quick way to the throne, you are much confused. I have seen enough evil things done in the name of power and seek to do none to England or His Majesty.’

  ‘I ask for no such thing, Mr. Frescobaldi,’ Jane said as she stood and pulled her hood over her blonde hair once more. ‘On the contrary, I seek to do as little harm as possible.’

  ‘To be queen, you must destroy Anne Boleyn. She is an anointed queen. Her father is the Lord Privy Seal, her brother one of the King’s most trusted attendants. Anne’s uncle is the Duke of Norfolk, one the King’s longest-serving friends. Her Majesty is educated, charming, intelligent, beguiling, beautiful and strongly for the Reformation. With respect, Lady Jane, you are none of those things.’

  ‘I am peaceful, I am quiet, obedient and respectful of faith. The opposite of Queen Anne. Have you not thought I am precisely what His Majesty seeks? His Majesty’s eye chose me. I wanted to speak with you, as there is a great change coming at court; the King has asked for more than courtly love from me, but only marriage shall tempt me. I thought, with Secretary Cromwell on my side, it would make things smoother, safer and kinder. I want everyone’s safety.’

  ‘Except for Queen Anne’s.’

  ‘I shall take my leave, Mr. Frescobaldi. Remember, I have much on my side, many of Cromwell’s enemies. He could make them allies by coming to my camp.’

  ‘No one at court shall ever respect Secretary Cromwella, and he knows of that, Lady Jane.’

  ‘Ideas change, politics change.’ With those words, Jane Seymour turned and walked away from Nicòla back towards the house where Ralph stood, minding his own thoughts. It seemed foolish that another queen could sit on the throne.

  ~~~

  The whole bed shook in a violent shot and Cromwell opened his eyes. At the foot of the bed stood Nicòla, her arms folded. Indeed, she had said little during the time of his melancholy, but her face spoke of disquiet.

  ‘Get up.’

  Cromwell blinked a few times as he sat up in the bed. Nicòla never spoke in such a tone, but she felt a fire in her belly.

  ‘Nicò?’

  ‘You call me your wife, not your secretary, so I shall speak to you as a wife. Get out of bed. You are being as lazy as a fool, weak as a woman. Get up.’ Again, she kicked the end of the bed to shake him from his slumber.

  ‘Can a man not rest?’

  ‘A simple man, yes, but you are no such thing. You are the King’s Chief Minister, the Vicegerent of England! The realm could fall at any moment and yet you lie in bed. I have had children ripped from my womb, God rest their souls, and spent less time in bed.’

  Cromwell rubbed his face and said nothing. His palms slipped from his cheeks, and Nicòla softened her stance a little. ‘Have you never wished to throw it all away, Nicò? Have you never thought to give up, take what you have, and settle for what you have left once the dust of battle has settled?’

  ‘Yes, I have thought that. I thought that after giving birth to our daughter. I thought perchance I could tarry in Florence with my husband, or Rome with the Pope, God rest his immortal soul, and I could be a duchess and a Medici wife. But instead, I smuggled my babe aboard a ship and came back to England in search of you. And it is time I said this – you could not be the Queenmaker without me. You would not have England in the palm of your hand without me at your side.’

  ‘Why this sudden anger, Nicò?’

  ‘Today, while you laid in bed, surrounded by your soft cotton and feathered pillows, soft velvets and silk, tapestries keeping in the warmth of the fire, Lady Jane Seymour visited me. She is making a play for the throne, aided by her brothers, all while you sleep the day away! She is being used as a tool and is standing at the front of the coming tide of change, while I sit in the garden because my master cannot rise above his weak humours!’

  ‘Jane Seymour came here?’ Cromwell blinked a few times, shocked by the change. ‘Henry is happy with Anne. That is why he was so angry at me, for daring to say he needed Rome’s approval of his marriage.’

  ‘I have had messengers coming and going from the palace all day,’ Nicòla fought into the pocket of her coat and tossed them on the embroidered bedcovers. ‘Ralph brought Lady Jane. Already she has written to the Lady Mary, expressing her support for the girl, saying she should be Henry’s legitimate heir. Other messengers say they have seen Lady Jane in the King’s privy chamber, letting him touch all manner of parts, while saying she is chaste and innocent in public circles. Jane Seymour is no innocent fool as we suspected. She is not smart like our Anne, not beautiful like our Anne, but she has all the things Anne lacks, and Jane knows that, and is ready to play the role of meek mistress while Anne is the disquiet wife.’

  ‘Anne is my queen,’ Cromwell said as he pulled the bedcovers away and swung his feet to the floor. Nicòla rounded the bed to stand before him, her face still in a frown. ‘Henry could love Anne one day and then Jane the next. I would never dare turn away from Anne, Nicò.’

  ‘Anne has turned from you; my messengers tell me so. Chapuys has written no less than seven times in the last two days! There is news that Stephen Gardiner is to return from France, hoping England can ally with the French, not Rome. Some suggest the Exeters are planning to smuggle Lady Mary out of England to Spain where she can be married and return with a Spanish army to claim her father’s throne! Others report Henry has spoken of legitimising Fitzroy and making him an heir, which I would never refuse. But I am just a humble secretary to the Chief Minister of Staying in Bed!’

  Cromwell leapt to his feet and swiped the messages from the bed. �
�What of Anne?’

  ‘Queen Anne is angry with you. She has spoken to Henry for days about her hate for you. Cranmer is no help, staying at Lambeth Palace and saying nothing. No one is there at court, fighting in our corner, Tom. Anne wants you ousted for your plot to align England with Rome. Everyone has a plan and we are doing nothing while London burns! Do not let this country become what Rome became to me.’

  Cromwell paused, to think of Nicòla, much younger, dressed in rags, hiding from soldiers in Rome as the city fought itself. He thought of himself as a boy, running from home in the night, getting aboard a ship to France, starving and desperate. They had come so far, only to be undone by one alliance plan.

  Cromwell towered over Nicòla and smoothed his night clothes. ‘We need to make peace with Anne.’

  ‘Even if it is not real peace.’

  ‘You want to destroy Anne, Queen of England?’

  ‘We cannot rush into another divorce. The laws you created for the royal marriage are so tight we shall never untangle such webs. Look at the pain of the first divorce. It could take years and Anne will have your head before then. We have enough work to do running this country and dissolving the lesser monasteries. Besides, you wrote up patents, so Anne is the Marquess of Pembroke; she could be the old wife of the King and still live at court!’

  ‘Nunnery?’

  ‘Anne Boleyn? In a nunnery?’ Nicòla choked with laughter. ‘Understand this; I love Queen Anne. I think she deserves Henry’s love. I wanted Katherine on the throne, the true queen. I came to this country expressly to save Katherine. But Katherine is dead, and I stood at your side as you chose Anne as your queen. I care nothing for the truth, that the people of England hate Anne.’

  ‘Anne could be put aside if someone accused her of treason.’

  ‘Treason? Anne?’

  ‘There are many ways to accuse someone of treason, for there are many ways to commit treason against the King. I wrote the laws,’ Cromwell replied. ‘Lack of a male heir is not enough. Wishing the King’s death seems unlikely from Anne…’