[Henry VIII] Tudor Crown

Since the death of Charles Brandon, Duke of Norfolk, the entire focus of the Marchioness of Dorset has been on the battle for the old father's property.

Because the Duke of Suffolk had declared his second marriage invalid before Henry VIII's sister married, the two sisters of the Marchioness of Dorset automatically lost their old father's property inheritance rights.

In addition, the fourth wife of the Duke of Suffolk, Catherine Willoughby, was forced to give up most of the rights after marrying the Duke of Suffolk, so the only one who can inherit the property of the Duke of Suffolk is Only the Marchioness of Dorset, and her niece, the Countess of Nottingham.

And every time she thought of her old father's last words, the Marchioness of Dorset only hated her for giving up her custody of the Countess of Nottingham.

Although the Countess of Nottingham is legally the ward of the king, as long as the Marchioness of Dorset still supports the Countess of Nottingham, she will not lose any benefits.

After all, apart from the inheritance rights of the Duke of Suffolk, the Countess of Nottingham still holds the huge inheritance left by her parents.It is not even an exaggeration to say that after Princess Mary got married, she was one of the richest and hottest heiresses in the country.

For this reason, the Marchioness of Dorset also deliberately compared her daughter with her niece, only to find that Jane Gray, who was only two years younger than the Countess of Nottingham, was still left behind.

When two pearls are put together, everyone will only focus on the bigger and more beautiful one.

The Marchioness of Dorset didn't know whether William III still remembered her mother's kindness, so for today's important occasion, she asked the servants to clean the inside and outside of Corfe Castle, which could almost be described as nitpicking.

When William III walked into his cousin's new home, he subconsciously calculated his cousin's expenses on repairing the castle.

After all, those brand-new curtains and various utensils that don't look like second-hand goods all imperceptibly tell the owner's huge investment in money.

When William III looked at the interior of Corfe Castle, Richard Cromwell whispered in his ear: "The Marquess of Dorset recently sold a lot of land, because the Netherlands trade was opened, and Shi Due to the trade of the Markar Union, the domestic demand for wool export has increased a lot, so those wool merchants need more land."

"It's no wonder that tenants were driven away." William III lowered his voice, "How much land did they sell?"

"It should be one-third of the original, but most of them are poor lands with little income." Richard Cromwell noticed that the Marquess of Dorset was coming here, so he took a step back and walked with William Sans keep a good distance.

The Marchioness of Dorset didn't know what Richard Cromwell said to William III, but when she thought of the money she had spent, the Marchioness of Dorset relaxed again.

"Your Majesty, your presence has made our family feel supremely honored." The Marchioness of Dorset saluted William III with a little pride, deliberately rushing ahead of her husband to express her gratitude to the king and his wife for their arrival.

No matter before or after the death of the Duke of Suffolk, the Marquess of Dorset was like a shadow behind his wife, for fear that the king's family would be reminded of his connection with the York family.

"Ma'am, I'm really flattered by your enthusiasm and sincerity." William III's address made the Marchioness of Dorset's smile a little forced, but soon, she returned to her hospitable appearance.

"Your praise is really a good medicine to soothe my hard work." The Marchioness of Dorset said with some regrets: "It's a pity that my mother can't see you today, otherwise she must be more relieved than me."

Richard Cromwell, standing in the back, almost knelt before the Marchioness of Dorset.

Even if the Marquis of Dorset wanted to please William III, she didn't have to be so explicit that people thought it was revenge.

Queen Juana, who was following William III, subconsciously glanced at the Marquis of Dorset, and found that the other party was still looking dull, and did not stop his wife's behavior.

Sure enough, neither of these couples were bright characters.

"I'm also very sorry that my aunt can't see me today." William III said indifferently: "But my aunt and cousin Eleanor will definitely feel relieved by the current situation of my wife and little Mary (Countess of Nottingham). "

After all, William III seemed to have thought of something, and added casually: "Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, little Mary is almost 13 years old."

"Yeah! A few days ago, she went to visit her parents' grave and told them that she was doing well." Queen Juana also showed a gratified expression, which made the Marquis of Dorset's face even more ugly. point.

Fortunately, at this time, the three daughters of the Marchioness of Dorset were brought downstairs by the housekeeper, so she had a chance to change the subject.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to introduce you to my three daughters, Jane, Catherine, and Mary." The Marchioness of Dorset moved her fingers among the three girls.

Queen Juana noticed a flicker of embarrassment and impatience on the face of the Marchioness of Dorset when she pointed to her youngest daughter, Mary Grey, who was a dwarf and far less beautiful and decent than her two older sisters.

"Your Majesty, welcome." Compared with the two very reserved younger sisters, Jane Gray's attitude is obviously much more casual. After all, she was sent to the court of Anne of Cleves by her mother when she was three years old, so that She was able to grow up with the royals.

After the death of Henry VIII, Jane Gray was not sent home, but became Mary Stuart's playmate.

"Thank you for your enthusiasm, my dear niece." William III's attitude towards children was obviously much gentler than that towards the Marchioness of Dorset.

He stretched out his hand, let several little girls kiss the ruby ​​rings on it one by one, and then beckoned Richard Cromwell to give gifts to the three little girls.

The Marchioness of Dorset gained a little more confidence because of William III's slightly changed attitude. When she brought the king and his wife into the venue, she took the opportunity to please: "I heard that you invited an artist from Florence to paint for you. The portrait after the coronation, I don’t know if I have the honor to explore the artistic fashion of Italy.”

"Mr. Michelangelo didn't have time to paint my coronation portrait, because he wanted to spend more time on carving than painting." William III glanced at Queen Juana, and continued: "I was there for Alexander and Juana. Anna ordered a birth statue of the Duke of Richmond, and you must have to wait a few more years before seeing the master's notes."

The Marchioness of Dorset, who didn't know much about art collection, wanted to ask if Michelangelo didn't bring old works to England?

As a result, Jane Gray interjected instead: "I've heard the name of this artist. He once served Julius II and the Cardinal Archbishop. I heard that he is a genius who can be as famous as Da Vinci."

"Then do you want to meet him?" William III said with great interest: "After our parade is over, Queen Juana will take Alexander to be a model for Michelangelo, maybe you can take the opportunity to see the results of his work. "

"Really?" Jane Gray has always been particularly interested in art and literature, so the Marchioness of Dorset always felt that her eldest daughter seemed out of place in the family, because everyone from the Duke of Suffolk to Mary Gray didn't like it. people who study.

On the contrary, it was the mother of the Marchioness of Dorset who was good at literature and art occasionally, but after she married the Duke of Suffolk, in order to take care of her husband's inferiority complex, she deliberately put away all the musical instruments and books she used to, until Jane Gray became sensible. See you again.

"But don't mention Da Vinci's name in front of Michelangelo." Queen Juana liked the clever and pious Jane Gray very much, so she deliberately teased: "This master is a person who is getting more and more childish. That's why I hate comparing myself to other people... especially to the famous Leonardo da Vinci."

Jane Gray nodded very gravely.

The Marquis of Dorset on the side didn't know whether she should be thankful that her daughter solved her urgent need, or regret that she was interrupted by her daughter, so she took Queen Juana's words and deliberately made a look of sudden realization: "Speaking of which, I recently I borrowed Da Vinci's early works, I wonder if His Majesty is interested in taking a look?"

The Marchioness of Dorset nervously asked a housekeeper to lift up an oil painting of figures, showing people a woman holding an ermine looking sideways at a certain place on a black base, letting the soft light Hitting her soft skin, it showed a slightly indifferent and reserved elegance.

Queen Juana looked at the painting fascinatedly, and said with some uncertainty: "This is like a work by Leonardo da Vinci, but it doesn't feel that mature."

William III was very sure that this was Da Vinci's early work "The Woman Holding an Ermine", and it became one of the collections of the Zatoriski Museum in Prague in later generations.

What an enviable Habsburg family.

"Where did you get this painting?" William III really wanted to get "The Woman Holding an Ermine", but he didn't want to take the opportunity to owe the Marquis of Dorset a favor.

"This is not my collection, but it was temporarily lent to me by an Italian painter who admired the name of Michelangelo." When the Marchioness of Dorset thought of her expenses on borrowing paintings, she couldn't help saying that cunning The Italian scolded bloody: "He ran from Italy to England just to meet Michelangelo, so he lent me this collection temporarily. I just hope I can introduce him to you."

The Marchioness of Dorset also added: "I also asked someone to authenticate this painting, but some people said it was Da Vinci's work, and some people said it was a fake. I wonder if Her Majesty thinks it is genuine?"

Queen Juana was still looking at the painting, and was brought back to her senses by the Marquis of Dorset's proposal: "From the point of view of brushwork, it is indeed very similar to the "Mona Lisa" I saw in the French court, but in a certain Some places are still nowhere near the Mona Lisa."

"It should be Da Vinci's early work." William III pointed to the edge of the frame and the small scars on the canvas: "It is estimated that Da Vinci painted it for the mistresses of some dignitaries when he was still in Milan. Portraits. It seems that the artist who took refuge in his cousin had a good eye and was able to spot Da Vinci's early works at a glance."

The Marchioness of Dorset was flustered by the call of "cousin", so she hurriedly asked the Italian to come out.