"Ripped By mstoll" "Damn." "When are we going to eat?" "Cromwell!" "I'm famished!" "Which is your favourite, hmm?" "It's quite pretty, isn't it?" "It's just come from the embroiderer, hmm?" "Isn't it sweet?" "For her little head." "Cromwell." "I'm told that when you thought the King was dead, your first action was to send for the bastard Mary." "You did not think of me?" "Or my daughter?" "Or the child I was carrying then?" "I cannot hold the throne for an infant in the cradle." "I cannot hold the throne for an unborn baby." "I promoted you." "I am responsible for your rise." "And at the first opportunity, you've betrayed me." "Madam, nothing here is personal." "You think you've grown great." "You think you no longer need me, but you've forgotten the most important thing," "Cromwell." "Those who've been made can be unmade." "I entirely agree." "We want the concubine ousted." "We know you want it, too." "We?" "My friends in this matter are very near the throne, those in the line of old King Edward," "Lord Exeter, the Courtenay family," "Lord Montague, his brother Geoffrey Pole," "Lady Margaret Pole." "These are the principal persons on whose behalf I speak, but as you will be aware, the most part of England would rejoice to see the King free of her." "I don't think the most part of England knows or cares." "What do you require of me?" "We require that you join us." "We contend to have Seymour's girl crowned." "She's known to favour true religion, and we believe she will bring Henry back to Rome." "And this is our difficulty, Cromwell." "We know you're a Lutheran." "Me?" "No, sir." "I'm..." "I'm a banker." "What will happen to Anne Boleyn?" "Don't know." "Convent?" "Look at this little doggy." "Oh, why are you so sad, Mark?" "You have no business being sad." "You're here to entertain us." "For heaven's sake, stand on your feet." "I do you a favour by noticing you at all." "Well, what do you expect?" "Do you think I should talk to you as if you were a gentleman?" "But I can't do that, Mark, you see, because you are an inferior person." "No, madam," "I don't expect a word." "A look suffices me." "Well?" "Aren't you going to praise my eyes now?" "Why do you encourage that boy?" "All manner of puppy dogs are encouraged here." "Some are coming in and out of season." "Are you referring to me, Norris?" "I could happily give this puppy dog a kick in his ribs that he won't forget." "No kicking in my chamber, if you please." "He has himself agitated because he thinks I come here to cast my fancy at Lady Mary." "We all know he hopes to marry her himself." "But really, I come here for the sake of another." " And do you know who that is?" " No, tell me." "I can't guess." "Is it Lady Rochford here?" "Surely not one so old." "No, it is yourself, madam." "Perhaps you should kick him, gentle Norris, for the honour of the Queen of England." "Ah, here's the man for me." "Will Brereton's one who shoots his arrows straight." "What's to do here?" "Everyone's been fighting, and all because of that boy Mark." "I think you should be dropped from a great height, just like your dog Purkoy." "Do that again and I will hit you back." "You're no queen." "You're just a knight's daughter." "And your time has come." "Harry, do me a good turn." "Take away my brother's wife and drown her." " Anne." "What?" "Didn't you swear you'd walk barefoot to China for me?" "I think it was barefoot to Walsingham I offered." "Perhaps you can repent your sins there." "Because if anything happened to the King, you'd look to have me." "Oh, yes, you see now, Mary, why he hasn't married you yet." "It's because he's in love with me." "Or so he claims." "And yet he won't prove it by putting Lady Rochford in a sack and dropping her in the river!" "Will you spill all your secrets, Anne, or only some?" "Oh..." "Get him back." "It was idle talk." "Get him back." "Get him back and he'll swear on the Bible." "He knows me to be a good wife." "Get him back!" "Harry!" "Henry had heard about the fight with Norris." "We could all see it from the courtyard." "She had her hands..." "You know the King's great tapestry where the Queen clasps her hands together?" "He didn't look persuaded." "Did you not go to her, to comfort her?" "She being your mistress?" "No, I came looking for you." "Before they were married," "Anne used to practise with Henry in the French fashion." "You know what I mean." "Lady Rochford, I have no idea what you mean." "Oh, you think you can shame me out of saying what I must say?" "I'm no virgin girl." "She induced him to put his seed otherwise than he should have." "Now, Henry calls it a filthy proceeding." "But God love him, he doesn't know where the filth begins." "My husband George is always with Anne." "He's her brother." "It's natural." "There's nothing natural in George." "And nothing is forbidden." "I've seen them kiss." "Brothers may kiss their sis..." "His tongue in her mouth." "Hers in his." "You want me to record that?" "If you're worried you won't remember it." "Why would she do such a thing?" "You know why." "The better to rule." "Suppose she gets a boy and it has Weston's long face?" "Or looks like Will Brereton?" "They can't call it a bastard if it looks like a Boleyn." "Be advised by me." "Speak to no one." "Be advised by me." "Speak to Mark Smeaton." "We can leave that here, Mark." "I thought there was to be a great company." "I thought I was going to entertain you." "Make no doubt of it." "You see, Mark, my master the King and my mistress the Queen" "are at odds." "Everyone knows." "And my dearest wish is to reconcile them." "Well, the word at court is you're keeping company with the Queen's enemies." "How else am I to find out their practices?" "Ah." "If only I could believe that." "Well, I don't blame you, Mark." "There's such ill-feeling at the court, no one trusts anyone." "But I've come to you because, well, because you're close to the Queen, and I'd really love to know why she's so unhappy," "and if there's anything I can do to remedy it." "It's no wonder she's unhappy." "She's in love." "With whom?" "With me." "You're amazed." "I'm not as amazed as you might think." "I've seen how she looks at you." "And it's no surprise that any woman would be drawn to you." "You're a very handsome young man." "We thought you were a sodomite." "Richard." "I'm as good a man as any of them." "Of course you are." "And the Queen would give you a good report." "She's tried you, found you to her liking." " I can't discuss it." "No." "No, you mustn't." "But we can assume." "She's not an inexperienced woman." "I think she would not be interested in anything less than a masterly performance." "Well, I will say this." "We men born poor are in no ways inferior in that way." "How true." "Though the noble gentlemen like to keep that secret from the ladies." "They wouldn't want the competition, would they?" "If you mean she has other lovers, I wouldn't know." "Haven't asked her." " But they're jealous of me..." " Are they?" "Weston and Norris, those lords." "Mmm." "They call me boy, but they're jealous." "Mmm." "Well, perhaps she tried them and they were a disappointment." "And you take the prize." "How often?" "You have given us two names, Mark." "Now name the others." "And answer Master Richard." "How often?" "Mmm-hmm, perhaps you're wise not to speak." "Best to have it all written down." "The council will hardly believe it otherwise." "They'll be amazed at your success." "Jealous." ""Smeaton, what is your secret?" they'll demand." "And you'll answer, "Ah, I can't impart."" "But you will impart, Mark." "You'll do it freely, or you do it enforced." "Seat yourself, pretty boy." "I take it back." "I..." "I can't give you any names." "I don't know how I came to say what I did." "No, nor do I. No one hurt you or coerced you." "You spoke freely." "These two gentlemen are my witnesses." "I take it back." "I don't think so." "Tell us about your adultery with the Queen and what you know about her dealings with the other gentlemen, and if your confession is true and full, perhaps the King will show you mercy." "Would you like to spend ten minutes alone with Master Richard here?" "Five would do it." "We'll write down what you say, Mark, but we won't necessarily write down what we do." " Oh, God." " Do you follow me?" "Mother Mary, help me." "I can't tell you what I don't know." " Can't you?" "No." "Well, then you'll have to be my guest for the night, Mark." "Please." "Well, there aren't many men alive who can say they took me by surprise." "Years of being despised by lords has made a boaster of him." "Sometimes I think I should have taken him in here." "I don't want him hurt." "If we have to torture sad creatures like that, what next?" "Stamping on dormice?" "Tell Wriothesley to come tomorrow." "What is this?" "It's where the phantom lives." "In you go." "Let me out!" "Please let me out!" "Let me out!" "Henry Norris," "Francis Weston and William Brereton..." "And Francis Bryan." " Richard Long, Walter Walshe..." "You had to do with the Queen." " How many times?" "A thousand." "Three or four." "Richard." "Go to the King at Greenwich." "He'll be expecting you." "Trust your message to no one." "Put the word in his ear yourself." "Ed." "Tell Henry Norris to return from the field." "Ride with me, Harry." "Where to, my lord?" "Let's talk, you and I." "Cromwell." "I hear the singer sang to your tune." "What did you do to him?" "There's a pretty ballad for you." "The King fingers his lute while his lutenist fingers his wife." "You have the warrant, my lord?" "Perhaps this will teach Henry to listen to me." "Uncle." "Lord Chancellor." "Master Treasurer." "And Cromwell." "The man I created." "He created you, in turn, madam." "And be sure he repents of it." "Oh, but I was sorry first." "And I am sorry more." "Ready to go?" "I don't know how to be ready." "Just come with us." "I'm to blame." "I suspected her, and did nothing." "I..." "I never had a better opinion in a woman than I had in her." "I can't believe she's guilty." "Except, I know your highness would never go so far if she weren't." "She deceived all of us." "When I look back, it all falls into place." "So many friends lost, alienated." "Worse..." "When I think of Wolsey." "The way she practised against him." "She said she loved me, but she meant the opposite." "I've written a play." "A tragedy." "My own story." "You should keep it, sir, till we have more leisure to do it justice." "But I want you to see her true nature." "I believe she has committed adultery with a hundred men." "But her brother..." " Is it likely?" "Well, I doubt she could resist." "Why Spare?" "Why not drink the cup to its filthy dregs?" "Count Wolsey, we are fetching you to hell where our master Beelzebub is expecting you to suffer!" "Beelzebub will have you joint his venison." "He's heard of your skill as a butcher!" "I know why I'm here." "My wife." "What has she said?" "Whatever it is, you can't hold me on the word of one woman." "Well, there have been other women who've been recipients of your gallantry, George." "You've always regarded women as disposable." "What..." "You're going to put me on trial for gallantry?" "I didn't know it was a crime to spend time with a willing lover." "It is when that lover is your sister." "My family has served the King of England for generations." "I have been at the side of Henry since I was a boy." "I love him like a brother." "I would never forget my honour." "Never." "Do you want me to write it on the wall for you, Norris?" "She can't give him a son." "He wants another wife." "She won't go quietly." "Is that simple enough for your simple tastes?" "She has to be pushed." "I have to push her." "Well, you'll get no confession from me, or Brereton either." "You'll not torture gentlemen." "The King wouldn't permit it." "Well..." "They don't have to be formal arrangements." "I could put my thumbs in your eyes, and then you would sing Green Grows the Holly if I asked you to." "Huh?" "Let's go back." "I remember in the late cardinal's time one of your household killed a man in a bowls match." "Well, the game can get very heated." "The cardinal thought it was time for a reckoning, but your family impeded the investigation, and I ask myself, "Has anything changed since then?"" "John ap Eyton had a quarrel with one your household only recently." " So, that's why I'm here." "Not entirely, but let's leave aside your adultery with the Queen and let's concentrate on Eyton." "Blows were exchanged, a man was killed." "Eyton was tried and acquitted, but you, as you have no respect for the law..." " I have every respect..." "Don't interrupt me!" "...you have the man abducted and hanged." "You think because it's only one man, it doesn't matter." "You think no one will remember, but I remember." "You think you can do anything" "because Norfolk favours you..." "The King favours me." "Does he?" "Does he?" "Well, you should complain about your lodgings then, shouldn't you?" "Francis Bryan has been explaining it to me." "Bryan." " Bryan is an enemy of mine." "And I begin to see it." "How a man may hardly know his sister." "She grows up in France." "They meet as adults." "She's like him, yet not." "She's familiar." "And yet she piques his interest." "One day his brotherly embrace lasts a little longer than usual." "The business proceeds from there." "Perhaps neither of you felt you were doing anything wrong, until some frontier was crossed." "I refuse to answer this." "Did it begin before her marriage to the King or afterwards?" "Brother George, that must have been a surprise, rivalry from that quarter." "Though the morality of you gentlemen astonishes me." " I have no opinion on George." "No opinion of incest?" "You take it so quietly, I'm forced to think it must be true." "If I said it was, you'd only accuse me of trying to divert attention away from myself." "You know me too long, Harry." "Oh, I've studied you." "Studied Wolsey before you." "That was politic of you." "Such a great servant of the state." "And such a great traitor at the end." "I remember a certain entertainment at court." "Do you remember?" "A play in which the late cardinal was set upon by demons and dragged down into hell." "That's why?" "It..." "It was a play." "It was a joke." "You can't..." " You can't seriously..." "Life pays you out." "Don't you find?" "But Mark Smeaton..." "What has he done to you?" "Oh, I just don't like the way he looks at me." "I need guilty men, Harry, so I found men who are guilty," "though not necessarily as charged." "Good morning." "I'm not long married." "I don't know if you know that." "I have a son." " Henry..." "You have debts to the tune of a thousand pounds." "Why the devil bring that up?" "No one expects a young gallant like yourself to be thrifty." "These debts are more than you can reasonably pay." "So your own extravagance gives people to think," ""What expectations did young Weston have?"" "We know the Queen gave you money, and a thousand pounds is nothing to you if you hope to marry her after you'd contrived the King's death." "I see how it'll weigh when it's given in evidence." "I've undone myself." "I don't blame you, Cromwell." "It's just..." "I thought I had another 20 years." "Well, we know not the hour, do we, Francis?" "There's no reason to live, I've lost everything anyway." "I've lost my voice." "Are you finished?" "Has he denounced the others?" "Do you want us to make him?" "What, do you think I'm too soft on young men?" "Do you want us to draw up charges?" "Yeah, the more the merrier." "Forgive me, I have to piss." " Traitor." " Traitor!" "Traitor." "Traitors!" "My wife is with her" "and her aunt, Lady Shelton." "Hmm." "How is she?" "Sometimes crying, sometimes laughing." "There's something she said." "I only mention it because you told me to report everything I heard." "Go on." "When I told her she would stay in the same room she had before her coronation, she said," ""It's too good for me." ""Jesus have mercy on me."" "She's not worthy, it's because she's guilty." "What is it she's done?" "Is it something we haven't even imagined yet?" "Would you like your furs brought in?" "The ermine." "And I don't want these women." "I want my own women." " Lady Kingston is..." "Your spy." "Your hostess." "Am I a guest then?" "Am I free to go?" "I didn't think you'd object to your own aunt." "She has a grudge against me." "All I hear is tutting." "Do you expect applause?" "You won't speak to me that way after I'm released." "I don't know why the King's holding me here." "I suppose it's some sort of test, isn't it?" "I want to see my brother." "That's a foolish demand in the circumstances." " My father." "Oh, don't expect help there." "Thomas Boleyn looks after himself first and last." "I should know, he's my brother." "Help the King." "Unless he's merciful, there's nothing you can do for yourself." "But you can do something for your daughter." "For Elizabeth." "The more penitent you show yourself through this whole process..." "The process." "And what is this process to be?" "The confessions of the gentlemen are now being compiled." "What?" "You heard him." "They'll not lie for you." "The gentlemen are to be tried together." "You and your brother, being ennobled, are to be judged by your peers." "You have no witnesses." "When you were at liberty, madam, your ladies were intimidated by you, forced to lie for you." " Now they are emboldened." "I'm sure they are." "The way Seymour is emboldened." "Tell her for me, God sees her tricks." "No. just tell me." "You don't believe these stories against me, do you?" "I know in your heart you don't." "Do you, Cromwell?" "I only have a little neck." "So it will be the work of a moment." "You said when the King was dead, you would choose one of these men to be your husband." "But you can't say which yet." "Did you say that?" "You must answer aloud." "No." "Read me your charges." "Put them to me, one by one." "The places, the dates." "I'll confound you." "Did you not affirm that you could never love the King in your heart?" "No." "Did you not at various times and places, by kissing, touchings and other infamous incitations, induce Francis Weston to be your concubine?" "No." "Did you not make gifts of money to Francis Weston?" "Yes." "Silence." "Silence!" "On this page are words the Queen is said to have spoken to you, and which in turn you passed on." "Do not read them aloud." "Just tell the court, do you recognise them?" ""The King cannot copulate with a woman." ""He has neither skill nor vigour."" "I didn't say that." "These are not my words." "I don't own them!" "You do now." "Having been found unanimously guilty..." "I'll do slaughter!" "...thou shalt be burned here within the Tower, or else to have thy head smitten off" "as the King's pleasure..." "What are you talking about?" "These fellows say I've got it wrong." "They say I have to say burn only." "The phrasing is the King's and don't tell me what we can or can't do, we never tried a queen before." " Finish what you say." "Sit down." "Head smitten off, as the King's pleasure shall be further known of this matter." "Thank you, Your Majesty." "Your Majesty." "Majesty." "Majesty." "Why does she keep looking up at the Tower?" "Because she thinks there's still hope." "So she will not be able to tell me from the other officials." "To save her alarm." "Good Christian people," "I am come hither to die." "For according to the law, and by the law, I am judged to die." "Yeah, I can't hear her." "You think she'd speak up for her last words." "Hmm." "I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that whereof I am accused and condemned to die." "But I pray God save the King, and sent him long to reign over you for a gentler nor more merciful prince was there never." "And to me was he ever good, a gentle and a sovereign lord." "And if any person will meddle of my cause," "I require them to judge best." "And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all," "and I heartily desire you all to pray for me." "O Lord have mercy on my soul." "To God I commend my soul." "How will you do it?" "She kneels." "There is no block." "O Christ, have mercy." "Jesu receive my soul." "If she is steady, it will be over in a moment." "Between heartbeats, she knows nothing." "If she is steady." "Well, I can answer for her." "Put your arm down." "Put your arm down." "Apportez I'epée." "We do not want men to handle her." "It's a little late for that." "Right." "I'm off to tell the Seymours it's done." "Ripped By mstoll"