"Ah, Master Holbein." " My Lord." "Hosszupuskasub." "Com" "I have another commission for you." "Hosszupuskasub." "Com" "The Duke of Cleves has given you permission to paint his daughter Anne - you should leave at once." "Your Honor has so many pressing things - and yet you have time to talk about a painting?" "This is no ordinary painting, Mr. Holbein." "A great many things hang upon it." "To that effect, however you find the lady, whatever her actual appearance," "I pray you, use your art and give her at least a pleasing countenance." "Even if she is as ugly as sin?" "I am fairly certain she is not so." "But still, you wish me, if necessary, to lie?" "Surely all art is a lie," "Mr. Holbein." "My Lords, since the signing of the Treaty of Toledo between the French King and the Emperor there have been vital and unavoidable signs of their mutual preparations for war against this realm." "We know how much they have been urged on by the Vicar of Rome." "And now we hear competent reports of fleets gathering at Antwerp and Boulogne, and of an army in the Netherlands." "Furthermore, the French and Imperial Ambassadors have been recalled by their masters." "My Lords, we have not been idle under such provocations." "Defense forces have been mustered and beacons set up along the coast for warning." "Work has also begun building ancillary forts facing the English Channel." "In the north we've strengthened our borders against the Scots." "And His Majesty's fleet of warships has been provisioned." "And foreign vessels have been forbidden to leave these shores without royal permission." "My Lords, how can anyone doubt that the Pope, that pestilent idol, that enemy of truth and usurpator of all princes, is now conspiring to corrupt England's religion and strip her of her wealth?" "My Lords, at such a time it is good for me to be amongst my people." "I will visit all the places where the barricades and defenses of the realm are being built, for the encouragement of my troops and to the terror of my enemies." "My Lords." " Your Majesty." "It seems we are threatened from everywhere, Sir Francis." "Scotland." "Spain, the Low Countries." "We are like a morsel among these choppers!" "Here's something else, Tom." "According to Cromwell's agents, just two weeks ago Cardinal Pole left Rome on a secret mission." "Shall we be after him again?" "As soon as we have more news of his whereabouts, we shall." "Sharpen your knives." "Your Grace." " My Lord." "May we talk - in private?" " Some time, My Lord." "Not now." "Mr. Holbein has sent this portrait of Anne of Cleves, Your Majesty." "She is pleasing." "Has our Ambassador been able to see her properly?" " Yes, Your Majesty." "Sir John has written to me in great praise of the Princess' person." "He writes," ""She is incomparable and excels the Duchess of Milan as the golden sun excels the silver moon. "" "Hmm." "Your Majesty - if I may?" " Mm-hmm." "Marriage to the Duchess of Milan is no longer an option." "Nor, since the French and the Emperor are in league against us, are any of the French women." "Your Majesty is beset by enemies." "Marriage to Anne of Cleves would bring with it the military and financial support of the Protestant League." "Whooooa!" "What?" "What is it?" "Enemy ships - flying the Black Eagle!" "Let me look!" "It's Imperial ships!" "For Lord's sake, light the beacon!" "Hurry!" "Light it!" "For God's sake!" "Duke William, His Majesty is much taken by the portrait of your sister Anne." "He encourages you to send ambassadors to England to conclude negotiations, including the question of a suitable dowry, and so on." "Once again" "His Majesty is premature." "But surely, Your Highness..." "I think the King should come to me publicly and on bended knee to beg for my sister's hand and for the protection of the League." "In any case," "Anne is already promised, formally, to the Duke of Lorraine's son - and I do not see how I can break that promise and keep my honor." "Your Highness, if true, this is most unexpected and unwelcome news." "That is because you expected from the start to have your way with Cleves and my sister - but my country is not a brothel and my sister is not a whore." "Well..." "If your master truly desires to have an alliance, then he must demonstrate his respect for my country... and put a better price on my sister's virginity." "Message for the King!" " Sir." "Here, boy." "A message for His Majesty." "Majesty." ""From Sir Thomas Cheyney, Warden, the Cinque Ports." ""Your Majesty, Lords of Council, this morning we counted" ""68 Imperial ships in the Channel." ""I sent out two ships, and," ""afterwards my boatmen were taken aboard the Imperial flagship" ""and shown every courtesy by the Admiral." ""He said his fleet was bound for Spain - and not England -," ""and that he meant no harm whatever" ""to us or our coast." ""If they doubted his word they had only to see how poorly armed" ""his ships were, equipped more like merchantmen, their holds bursting with provisions for the Emperor's voyage to Constantinople. "" "The Imperial Ambassador, Your Majesty." "I thought you'd been recalled." "There was some talk, Your Majesty." "But I had no desire to leave here - nor did I think there was any cause." " No cause?" "But your master and the French King had formed an alliance against me." "There appeared to be preparations for an invasion, encouraged by the Vicar of Rome." "Your Majesty, I've been in this job a long time." "I know when to believe what I am told and when not to - which is most of the time." " Hmm..." "Although the Emperor publicly embraced the French King and even gave him the Order of the Golden Fleece from around his own neck, he still continued to hate him." "More than any other enemy, my master fears the Turks, and yet the French are in league with them!" "How is such behavior from another" "Christian monarch to be forgiven?" "Then they are no longer in alliance?" " No." "The accord is already broken down." "Which means that the Duchess of Milan is once more available for your Majesty's bed." "It's too late, Mr. Chapuys." "Mr. Chapuys, tell me, am I to be relieved that once more I've been used as a pawn in a game between your master and the French King?" "Hmm?" "I tell you this, here and now." "I've had enough, Mr. Chapuys!" "I've had enough." "You may leave." "I am surprised to see you back so soon, Excellencies." "We have good news, Your Highness." "How so?" "His Majesty is so desirous to marry your sister Anne that he is willing to forfeit the requirements of a dowry." "He wants nothing?" "Only his new bride, in as short a time as possible." "His Majesty will also pay" "Your Highness a considerable stipend for introducing him to the League." "However, we recall that your sister is already promised to the son of the Duke of Lorraine." "Ah, yes." "That was indeed a great obstacle." "However, on closer consideration, we have discovered that the contract was never ratified, and so is not binding in law or any other way." "So your sister is free to marry the King?" "I will send my Ambassadors to England to conclude the negotiations." "Thank you, gentlemen." "What's this?" "Cromwell's agents finally intercepted a letter from Cardinal Pole." "It was on its way to Rome." "I have managed to decode it." " May I see?" ""To Cardinal Von Waldburg." ""Supposed to travel to Paris to meet King Francis." ""Have already written, telling him I found the Emperor" ""very sympathetic to my mission." ""But fear it is not so." ""The Emperor fears the Turk more than King Henry," ""so believe he will not act against him." ""So postponed journey." ""Will go instead" ""to papal city of Carpentras." "Await further instruction from His Holiness. "" "Have you ever been to Carpentras?" "No." "But I'm dying to go." "The Duke of Suffolk, My Lord." " Your Grace." "To what do I owe this honor?" "I'm here to congratulate you." "I understand the King has made you Earl of Hertford." "Mm-hmm." " And I believe it is time to patch up our past quarrels and differences." "There are better quarrels to be had." "I am happy to agree with Your Grace." "Drink?" "Please." "Please." "I am commanded to meet the Princess at Calais." "A great many things hang upon this marriage, do they not?" "The King's happiness, for one." "And My Lord Cromwell's reputation." "What a pity if all should go awry - for some reason." "I would have pity for the King." "But on the other hand?" "Salut." "Salut." "So he is marrying a Lutheran heretic?" "So it seems." " And I shall marry no one!" "My Lady, I" " No." "I prefer it." "Do you suppose I would like to be married off to the Duke's brother, or some heretic cousin of his?" "I would prefer to live in a nunnery!" "I do not know what to think of the King." "He burns one Lutheran, and then marries another!" "Well, if God so wills it, she might drown at sea!" "Gentlemen, we bid you welcome to Calais on this most auspicious occasion." "Danke." "May I present to you His Grace, the Duke of Suffolk." "Your Grace." "An honor." "Hallo." "And here is she:" "Her Highness, Princess Anne, after a long time - my God!" "Your Highness." "Good day, Your Grace." "I'm afraid the bad weather will prevent our sailing for a few days." "I understand." "Perhaps Your Grace could, uh, help me to explain how the English are eating?" "Of course." "Und maybe show me something the King likes to do?" "His Majesty likes to play cards - and gamble." "Do you play?" "Oh, no." "I think only the men play the cards in my country, ja?" "E" "Und is it not bad to gamble?" "Not if you can afford to lose." "We'll play piquet." "It's not hard to learn." " That is good." "There are four suits of cards - comme ca." "E" "Spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts." "Hearts?" "You play with hearts?" "Sometimes." "And here we have Aces," "Kings, Queens and Knaves." " Ah!" "Then all the court is here." "Ja?" "E" "Does the King always win?" "His Majesty does not like losing." "What have they told you about the King?" "Why?" "What is it I should know?" "You're Francis Bryan?" " You can take us to the Cardinal?" " Si." "Yes." "Come quickly." "He is with us." "Where is the bastard?" "Sorry, Signor." " Mon Dieu, quelle horreur!" "E" "Prego." "Go with God, my sons." "We'll never catch him." "A waste of time." "Perhaps not." "O dulcis..." "O pie, O Jesu" "Fili Mariae;" "miserere mei..." "Amen." "You didn't see her face?" " No, Your Majesty." "But she plays cards as pleasantly and with as good a grace as ever in my life I saw any noble woman." "She's come to Rochester." "I'm due to meet her in three days time." "I tell you, I'm more impatient than ever to see her." "What of Sir Francis Bryan?" "He and Sir Thomas Seymour are arrived in Carpentras, where Cardinal Pole is supposed to be hiding." "It appears he has grown fearful of assassination." "He has every right to be so." "I swear, that man should be flayed alive and I should wear his skin as a shirt!" "He will rue the day he allowed the pope to use him to threaten me." "I tell you, I cannot abide this waiting!" "It's been a long time." "I need to nourish love!" "I can understand." " Can you?" "Hmm?" "I want to possess this woman... and I haven't even seen her!" "She's a complete stranger to me." "What if I can't..." "What if you can't... what?" "Groom!" "Majesty." "Fetch the Master of the Horse." "I leave for Rochester immediately." "Go!" "¶M¶E" "Make way!" "Dismount!" "Tell the Lady a gentleman has come to see her - bearing a New Year's Gift." "Go." "Madam." "Mm-hmm?" "Um..." "I'm here to welcome you to my realm " "I trust you are comfortable here - before your... journey to London." "Thank you, Your Majesty." "I will see you anon." "I like her not!" "Do you understand me?" "I like her not!" "Call a meeting of the Council." "It seems that princes in marriage suffer more than poor men, since they have to take what is brought to them, while poor men are at liberty to choose." "I have been deceived about Anne of Cleves." "She is nothing like what was reported to me." "Nothing!" "She looks like a horse!" "A Flanders mare!" "Your Majesty will remember that it was Sir John who described her as being like" "I never saw her properly - which was not my fault." "I carried out my commission as best I could." "And I told you I was no good with women." "My Lord Cromwell." "Do you deny that you spoke to me of her beauty, of the desirability of my marriage to her?" "No, Your Majesty." "And if I have misled Your Majesty and his Council by commendations based on false reports, then I am truly sorry for it." "If I had known what I know now, she would never have been brought here!" "What remedy, Mr. Cromwell?" "Hmm?" "Your Majesty, I have to say that there is none." "That's hardly the case." "You've been following the Cleves agenda from the beginning." "Go on." "Today the Emperor is the guest of the King of France." "They have renewed their alliance." "If we now reject our German allies, then England will remain alone and friendless, and at the mercy of the King and Emperor." "Your Majesty, if you break this marriage contract now, you risk the possibility that even of Duke William himself might retaliate against us." "I'm" " I'm sorry that Your Majesty has no better content." "I am not well handled, Mr. Cromwell." "Your Majesty." "My Lady." "I'm here to welcome you to what is yours." "Your Majesty is very gracious - and I am very happy." "My daughters:" "the Princess Mary." "For you." "I think they're pretty." "Thank you, Princess." "I think you are pretty, too." "I shall love them both." "I like her not." "But it seems that Your Majesty must marry her." "Who says I must?" "Cromwell?" "I have my lawyers working on it." "The betrothal can be prevented on two grounds:" "either the German envoys fail to bring a commission from the Duke authorizing them to conclude the legalities of the marriage;" "or they can't provide written evidence that her previous betrothal was formally revoked." "Either way, I can get out of it." "I wish with all my heart that Your Majesty is successful." "It seems to me that" "My Lord Cromwell is too keen to stress the lack of any remedy." "The marriage was his idea." "There were other candidates." "The Duchess of Milan is supposed to be the most desirable woman in the world!" "Instead of which..." "Perhaps, in this matter," "My Lord Cromwell has overreached himself?" "Perhaps." "Oh, God!" "If there is no remedy," "I must put my neck into this yoke!" "My Lord!" "I'm sorry, Lord Cromwell." "I didn't see you." "I..." "I was talking to God." "But surely, Sir, you have to go to church for that?" "Do you understand nothing of our reforms?" "God is not just in church." "He is everywhere." "We do not need priests to speak for us." "We can speak to Him ourselves, and He will listen." "There's no need for bells and books and candles." "All you need is your soul." "Now go away - and think." "Wait." "Today is the Feast of the Epiphany." "And my wedding day." "So - there was no legal remedy?" "None that it was possible to discover, Your Majesty." "I am not well handled." "I think when Your Majesty gets to know the lady better" "I don't want to know the lady better, Mr. Cromwell!" "The notion of it revolts me." "My Lord, if it were not to satisfy the world, and my realm," "I would not do what I must do this day for no earthly thing!" "¶M¶E" "Shall we to bed?" "Your Majesty." "Your Majesty." "How does Your Majesty like the Queen?" "Surely, My Lord, I didn't like her very much before - and I like her much worse now!" "She is nothing fair and she has evil smells about her!" "And I know she's no maid because of the looseness of her breasts and other tokens, so I had neither the will nor the courage to prove the rest." "I have no appetite for unpleasant airs." "I left her as good a maid as I found her!" "And now, My Lord, leave me." "I'm very busy." "Your Majesty." "Sweetheart." " I couldn't sleep." "Who is there?" " No one." "Go back to bed." "Shall I come to you later?" "If you could still be my sweet Charles." "I am as good as I may be." "And you must take me as I am." "I love you, Catherine." "I have drained the pus from Your Majesty's wound." "Your Majesty should feel no more pain, thanks be to God." "Forgive me, but is Your Majesty troubled by other things?" "I have been unable to consummate my marriage with the Lady Anne." "I find her body in such a sort, disordered and indisposed, that it doesn't excite me or provoke any lust in me." "Have you heard any rumors of it?" "None at all, Your Majesty." "It is not anything to do with my virility." "Indeed these last nights I have had duas pollutiones nocturnas in somno." "Two nocturnal emissions." "You see, I know myself perfectly able to perform the act with others - just not with her." "With her, I have no appetite to do what a man should do to his wife." "My Lord Cromwell?" " Your Majesty." "May we speak alone?" " Alone?" "Oh, ja." "Of course." "My Lord?" "Madam, I have come on a delicate matter." "Forgive me." "I... must warn you against antagonizing the King." "I must remind you of the expediency of doing your utmost to make yourself agreeable to him." "Sir, I am not sure how I have given His Majesty offence." "It is in your interest, and in mine, to make your marriage to the King a success." "If, for example, you were to find yourself quick with child..." "I'm sorry to talk of such intimate matters but you are the Queen of England." "You have nothing private anymore." "How am I to become quick with child when the King leaves me a maid?" "I am not the Virgin Mary!" "And since you say me" "I am nothing private then I say you it is not all pleasing." "I will do anything the King wants." "But sometimes..." "It stinks!" "It smells, ja." "You understand?" "Now, I am sorry, My Lord." "I will go on doing all that I can to make myself agreeable to His Majesty, who is always gracious and kind to me." "Your Majesty." "Madam, how do you find the King?" "Why, he is most kind and solicitous, Lady Bryan." "When he comes to bed he kisses me, ja, E takes my hand, and bids me, "Good night, sweetheart. "" "Then in the morning he kisses me again and says, "Farewell, darling. "" "My Lady, we all hope you will be with child soon." "I know very well I am not." "But how do you know you are not?" "I know it well." "I am not." "I think Your Majesty is a maid still." "He must put his member inside you and stir it, or else we shall not have a Duke of York, which all this realm desires." " I am contented, Lady Bryan!" "I receive as much of the King's attentions as I wish." "I know no more!" "Lady Bryan?" "Yes, Your Majesty?" "If I cannot please the King... will he kill me?" "Hosszupuskasub." "Com"