monarch

To the east of the grand staircase on the first floor of Hampton Court Palace, there are several linked flats, and it is here that the Dudley women, along with Jane Gray, moved after King Edward recaptured the City of London.

The walls of these rooms are painted with stucco, a new fashion introduced from the Palace of Fontainebleau built by King François I of France, and the bases of the walls are beige marble.These rooms are far inferior in scale to the great halls of marble and crystal upstairs, and the furnishings are rather simple, but the taste is not vulgar.The ground is covered with teak wood floors of various colors, and these floors mosaic various patterns on the ground, while white porcelain vases are placed on the walls, coffee table and mantelpiece, and each vase contains There are two flowers of various colors.Dinner was already set on the tables in the dining room, and the kitchen prepared consommé, guinea fowl, sherry and fruit for the ladies.Although this place is not comparable to the king's bedroom, it is already considered a paradise compared to the basement of Westminster Abbey where they hid before taking refuge.

Miss Jane Gray and the first minister's wife sat quietly at the dining table. Although it was already dinner time, neither of them seemed interested in touching the dishes in front of them, and the Dudley family who lived with them The little girls, having finished their supper, were sent to bed early by their mother and sister-in-law.

Miss Jane Gray was sitting on a soft chair at the dining table, watching the changing colors of the paint on the wall with eyes that seemed to lose interest in everything. No expensive pearl and diamond necklaces were hung either.Wrapping that beautiful body exuding youthful breath was nothing more than a very ordinary dark-colored dress, but that dress fit exceptionally well, and the silk was tightly attached to her body, as if her whole body was being used Clothes are usually cast in models made of clothes.Her hair was not covered by a bejeweled hood, but fell naturally to the floor, but it was not messy at all.The heavy gold crown once briefly wore a heavy gold crown on the somewhat Tudor-like head, but now the only decoration on it is a white rose pinned to the temple.

In the chair opposite the table sat her mother-in-law, wife of the First Minister.The old woman looked more like a breathing corpse than her daughter-in-law.Decades of suffering from illness and her husband's indifference and ruthlessness have formed a thick tortoise shell on the sad breath around her, which cannot even penetrate the strong sunlight at noon in summer.The wrinkled old body was motionless on the seat like a puppet, and beating in the chest of that body was a heart that had lost all its warmth.Although she is not wearing mourning clothes, anyone who sees her at first glance will regard her as a widow who has been widowed for more than 20 years.

The two sat in the dining room without saying a word, and in fact there was really nothing to say between them.They now lived at Hampton Court Palace as King Edward's nominal guests, but everyone knew that was no more than a decent term for house arrest.And in this world where women exist as men's vassals, everything they suffer now is due to their husband's failure, and the only difference between the two of them is that the young man still has hope for his husband , but the elders have already lost their hearts.

"You should eat more." The first to break the silence was the First Minister's wife, whose spirits had been very depressed since she came to Hampton Court Palace.

"You didn't eat much either." Jane Gray smiled wryly.

"Me? I won't live long." The corner of the chief minister's wife raised her lips slightly, revealing a fleeting smile, like a chick that just left the nest and died under the claws of an eagle, "And your days It's still growing."

Jane Gray picked up the spoon that was on the table, took a spoonful of broth from the china plate, and brought it to her lips.

She lightly touched the liquid in the spoon with her lips, frowned slightly, and then put the spoon and the remaining broth back on the plate.

"Sorry, ma'am, I really can't eat." She lowered her head, her face flushed slightly, as if she was a little embarrassed, she explained to the chief minister's wife.

"I think it's because of your husband, isn't it?" The chief minister's wife lightly clamped the small glass of sherry between two fingers, raised it to her eyes, and looked at the amber liquid in the glass, " It's so funny...I've forgotten what it's like."

"When I first married him, I seemed to have worried about my husband as much as you... At that time, he was fighting with the late king in France. Every morning, I finished talking with the housekeeper, looked at the accounts, and arranged the servants for a day After that, I had someone take a parasol and a wicker chair and put them at the entrance of the manor, facing the road. And I just sat on the wicker chair and looked at the distant horizon, thinking And maybe in the next moment, a French messenger will appear from the end of the horizon, gallop to me on horseback, and take out his letter to me from the envelope on the saddle, or a letter to me. The death notice signed by the king...that was decades ago..."

She sighed softly, "I'm tired, my dear... I'm tired of all his machinations, he's an insatiable beast, greedily devouring power, for John Dudley , everything is never enough. He always wants a bigger title, a more prominent office, a bigger manor and a mansion. Our cash box is already full of gold coins that can be squandered in this life. His crisp voice is better than the sound of nature for him, so he wants more gold...I'm tired of all this, and now his play is coming to an end, and it's time for me to exit. "

"Guilford is not like him..." retorted Jane Gray softly.

The chief minister's wife lightly picked her lips.

"You can see that your life is a tragedy, can't you, dear?"

Jane Gray's eyes became a little erratic, "No one can predict the future." She retorted without confidence.

"Do you know what caused your tragedy?" The chief minister's wife ignored her objection and said to herself, "You are a brave man, but you always show weakness. This is your mother. His masterpiece: Put a baby in a jar and it will grow into a monster with twisted limbs over time... You are the same, you have a brave heart, but you have not received the training you deserve, on the contrary, You suppress your own nature intentionally or unconsciously, and finally even you yourself feel that you are a weak person."

"People like my husband are like sharks in the sea, they can smell weakness, just like sharks can smell blood from a wound from miles away...Your character, combined with your status, attracts you You can only be surrounded by these ambitious people, and in a way, you are inviting others to use you as a pawn."

"What are you talking about?" Jane Gray was stabbed by the chief minister's wife with a sword of language. She looked at her mother-in-law in amazement, her eyes were full of disbelief, and she seemed to have no idea why the other party said it Say something like, "Are you saying this is all my fault?"

"I'm not accusing you, little girl." The frosty stern shell wrapped around the chief minister's wife melted a little, "but I must tell you, for a person in your position, you It doesn't make much sense to discuss whose fault it is in this situation. The heirs to the throne live in a world that follows a different set of rules, an outright law of the jungle...everyone is A wild beast wandering in the forest, spying on each other, and when the opponent shows a flaw, it will use its sharp claws and fangs to tear the throat of the loser. Instead of justice for him, his relatives will rush Come up to try to get a piece of the pie, because they will become stronger if they don’t swallow a mouthful of the flesh and blood of their relatives.”

"If God willing, you and Guildford can weather this storm, please don't forget this... You can hate plots and tricks, but that won't stop people from plotting you into their plots, which is It is determined by your birth, and you have no choice."

The chief minister's wife put the sherry glass to her lips, raised her neck, and drank the liquid in the glass.

The chime of the clock on the mantelpiece, resonant in the stillness of the stillness, gave the two ladies a look at each other, realizing that they had done their duty of courtesy and had sat long enough in the dining-room.

When they all lifted their skirts at the same time and were about to stand up, the door of the restaurant was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Robert Dudley's feet stomped on the soft Aubusson carpet on the floor, and without making a sound, he slipped into the room like a ghost.Holding a fragrant wooden box in his hand, he was shaking like a person with a high fever.

"Mother, and you, ma'am." His voice sounded as if he was about to suffocate.

Jane Gray and her mother-in-law exchanged glances, and they both saw ominous clouds in each other's eyes.

"Do you have any news about Guildford?" Jane Gray stood up abruptly, her face that was bloodless just now was as red and hot as molten iron—tension and anxiety made her whole body His blood boiled up.

"I'm sorry..." Robert heard his teeth chattering, "I brought you bad news... Please gather up all your courage, you will need it."

Jane Gray groaned, and she felt stars in front of her eyes.She stretched out a convulsive hand to support the tabletop, trying to keep herself standing, but finally fell weakly into the chair.

Big beads of sweat flowed into her collar along the curve of the graceful cheeks. Jane Gray looked at the box placed by Robert at the end of the dining table in horror. She grabbed her beautiful and smooth hair with great force. So much so that a few strands of blond hair were pulled from his head, exposing the bloody scalp underneath.

The poor woman slumped on the back of the chair, like a dying person, and the hoarse breathing came from her lungs.

"What's in there?" she heard herself say in a distorted voice.

Robert bowed his head in silence.

"Open it up," muttered Jane Gray, tossing and turning, "Open it up."

"Son, don't look at it." The first minister's wife stood up, walked around the table, and walked towards Jane Gray. Her already old face was sunken like a leaking balloon. He pressed his lips tightly.

The chief minister's wife walked up to her daughter-in-law and held her hand.

"You know what's in there." Her voice was as cold as the white breath of Skadi, the goddess of winter, "don't look at it, it's not Guildford...he's in heaven now. Then What's in the box is just a mass of rotting flesh, all it can bring you is boundless pain... that's enough, come with me, let's go back and rest..."

Jane Gray shivered, shaking her head violently.

"No, no!" She pushed away the hand of the chief minister's wife and screamed hysterically, "I want to see him, I must see him...I don't believe it..."

She jumped up from the chair, leaned forward as if running a race, and rushed to the front of the box.

The girl's fingertips pressed hard on the mechanism of the box, and the lid of the box popped open.

Two death-gray heads were symmetrically placed in the box, their eyes were wide open, but where the eyes used to be had become two black hollows.These four black holes stared straight at Jane Gray, as if they wanted to swallow her up.On the top of the two heads hung the few remaining hairs that had not fallen out, like two hairy eggs.Lord Guilford's face, once flushed with a healthy, bright red, was now pale and green, and where the once graceful neck joined his body was now a bloody mess.

The bloody smell mixed with musty smell overflowed from the box, and soon filled the whole room. The delicious broth and juicy fruit were also stained with the smell of death. Even if it has not been used much, it will never Someone wants to have a taste.

Jane Gray stroked the stinky head with a gentle movement like a girl stroking her lover. With a creepy smile on her face, she hugged that head in her arms.

She pressed her hot lips to Guilford Dudley's cold lips, as if expecting to breathe the breath of life into this bodyless head.

"Guildford! My dear husband!" she cried, and for the first time in days a long-lost smile appeared on her face.

Robert twitched all over. He looked in horror at the beauty who was holding a head and giggling, as if to judge whether she was also crazy like Princess Mary.He wanted to say a few words of comfort, but he couldn't think of suitable words in his head that had been muddled by this series of events.

He looked again at his mother, the old woman who had been bent under the weight of fate, and yet at this terrible moment she seemed surprisingly calm.

The chief minister's wife supported the table with her hands, walked tremblingly to the box, and looked down at her husband's head.

As if seeing a sleeping snake lying in the box, the old woman took a step back and covered her mouth with her hands.

"It's destiny, it's destiny!" She stared at her husband's gray beard stained with black blood, moaned in a low voice, and made a sign of the cross on her chest.

She turned her head and looked at Guilford's head held in Jane Gray's hands. Tears poured out uncontrollably from those dry and red old eyes, moistening those dry eyelids—she hadn't seen it for a long time. I cried like this.

She walked up to her daughter-in-law step by step, and said in a soft voice that surprised even herself: "Be strong! My child."

She put out both hands, and stroked Lord Guilford's brow lightly.

"My son, my beautiful son!" The chief minister's wife burst into tears.

Jane Gray wailed, her legs bent weakly, and she fell to her knees on the ground. Fortunately, the thick carpet on the ground prevented her from falling.

"You lost your husband, I know, and you loved him dearly...but he was also my son, and I lost not only my son, but my husband. I loved him as much as you loved Like Guilford, he is a sinner and he deserves to die, but I should also pray for him."

"Stand up, my child! You have the blood of Henry VII. He also lost everything and was alone in exile on the European continent, but he finally won a kingdom for himself... Maybe for me everything is It's over, but for you, the future is long. Cover up the pain in your heart, the blood of the royal family flows in your veins, don't waste it... You are not yet 20 years old, you will have a happy life, It's the best memory of Guildford..."

Jane Gray was trembling all over, she gritted her teeth, held Guilford's head in her arms with one hand, and propped the other hand on the ground, and forced herself to stand up.

She put Lord Guildford's head on the dining table, found a silk napkin from the table, and hugged the head. The white napkin was soon stained with black. It was the poor young man. The black blood that the person has coagulated.

King Edward stood in the shadows outside the door, and through the crack of the door, he saw Jane Gray holding the head and groping towards the door, her sleeves, face, and hands were all stained with her husband's. of blood.

The king sighed softly and disappeared into the darkness again.