monarch

Queen Anne sat quietly in the room, and her few remaining maids were all sitting in the corners of the room doing needlework, not daring to make a sound.Although it was already June, the open windows still brought in a cool breeze from the river, which made the house not so stuffy, and the sun was shining outside. It seemed that the king and Miss Catherine were teasing the peacocks in the garden. The laughter could be heard clearly in the room, but the queen didn't notice it.

She was finished, and Annie sat on the sofa, no longer having any illusions in her heart.When the news of Mr Cromwell's downfall came a fortnight ago, she was almost struck by a thunderbolt.That night, she stood in terror at the window of her room, watching the firelight in the city of London.Angry townspeople, hearing the news of Mr Cromwell's downfall, stormed his London mansion, ransacked the stately mansion, and set it ablaze so clearly that it could be seen ten miles away.In the days after that, she was shrouded in fear at first, but it was quickly replaced by relief.The stone finally fell, and she didn't have to worry about gain or loss any more.Now, two weeks later, she is able to face the coming storm with a sense of peace.

The Countess of Rutland came into the room: "Your Majesty, Duke Rupert has left. He asked me to convey his greetings to you, and he wishes you all the best." Anne sighed, what a poor person, he seemed to be really fell in love with Lady Mary.He went to Heusden twice later, and Ms. Mary didn't seem to reject him, which perhaps gave him hope.

But now it was all over, and the marriage Cromwell hoped to facilitate became one of the evidences of his betrayal of the king and collusion with foreign countries.This marriage will never be possible, and she remembers Rupert's distraught appearance, and she can't help feeling a little sad.Then she laughed at herself, she still has the mood to be considerate of others now? "Good luck to him too," said the Queen.

Mrs. Rutland did not leave, but stood there, hesitating to speak.The queen looked at her and couldn't help but smiled wryly: "Madam, you can say whatever you want, after all, it's already at this time."

Mrs Rutland curtseyed. "Your Majesty, my husband and I have just been notified that the king requires me and my husband to leave the palace before tomorrow morning, and we must not appear here unless there is an edict from the king." She and her husband are Ke Mrs. Rutland was very lucky that the staunch members of Renwell's party were now simply exiled, rather than in the Tower of London with their backstage bosses.

Queen Anne didn't speak for a long time. After a long time, she finally nodded: "Good luck, madam."

"Good luck to you too, Your Majesty." Mrs. Rutland curtseyed to the queen for the last time, turned and walked out of the room.

The queen returned to the quiet state before. Not long after, there was a rush of footsteps in the corridor outside the house, the door was pushed open, and it was the queen's German maid Hilda who entered.She seemed out of breath and panicked: "Your Majesty, there are many guards outside, and the adults of the Privy Council are here!"

The queen slumped on the sofa all of a sudden. Although she had already been mentally prepared, she still felt like a thunderbolt.She grabbed the armrest of the sofa and tried to sit up straight, but she couldn't. The two maids next to her quickly supported her and made her sit up straight.Her face was pale, and her eyes were fixed on the half-open door.

There was a sound of chaotic footsteps outside the door, as if a large group of people were approaching, accompanied by the sound of conversation.The queen took a deep breath, straightened her body with all her strength, and prepared to meet her impending fate.

The door opened, and the Duke of Suffolk entered first, followed by the members of the Privy Council, and finally by a bodyguard in full armor.The Duke of Suffolk walked up to the queen solemnly, and bowed deeply: "Madam, my colleagues in the Privy Council and I are ordered by the king to question you on some issues. We look forward to your cooperation."

The queen tried her best to look calm, "I am happy to obey His Majesty's request." She nodded slightly.

"That would be great, madam." The duke smiled slightly, "I think we'd better sit down and talk, if you don't mind?" He looked as casual as he was in his own drawing room, which made the queen wonder A little angry, she is still the queen now!However, she knew that this was not the time for her to get angry: "You can do it yourself, sir. Hilda, bring a chair for each of you adults." She straightened her skirt and sat opposite the Duke of Suffolk armchair.

When the members of the Privy Council were seated, the Duke of Suffolk waved his hand, and his servant immediately sent him a few compiled talking points. "Let us begin, Madame," he said. "First of all, allow me to ask you, what is your engagement to the Duke of Lorraine?"

"When I was 1527 years old in 11, the then Duke of Lorraine signed a marriage contract with my father and betrothed me to Francis, the son of the Duke of Lorraine. However, as you know, the marriage contract was dissolved in 1535. "

"However, as far as I know, this is not the case." The Duke said seriously.

"Please explain." The queen looked at the Duke of Suffolk arrogantly, she was really too lazy to continue going around in circles with this man.

"Antoine, Duke of Lorraine once paid your father a dowry gift worth 15000 ducats. However, as far as we know, the money has not been returned in full."

"That was between my brother and the Duke of Lorraine, and I didn't know about it."

"However, this has created very serious problems." The Duke sighed, as if regretting, "The King's lawyer reminded His Majesty that the marriage contract was still valid because the dowry was not fully returned. His Majesty was very shocked, and his conscience was not good." Allow him to snatch someone else's fiancee."

Anne almost laughed, the king's conscience?Oh My God.However, her reason overcame her instincts, and she must not laugh at this moment. "I am very sorry if Your Majesty thinks so, but I must say that I have no knowledge of it, and therefore there is nothing I can do to help you," she said deadpan.

"Well, if you don't know anything, I think the discussion on this issue can be over." The Duke shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Let's move on to the second topic, do you know that your dowry has not all arrived in England?"

"No, I don't know." In fact, the idiot ambassador had already told her, but Anne felt that it was better to continue to pretend to be confused.

"Your country's ambassador, Dr. Carl Hearst." The Duke of Suffolk showed a hint of contempt when referring to this person, "He told me before that His Excellency the Duke may delay paying part of the dowry because of your country's financial situation. Poor."

"It's such a pity." Anne said, "But you must understand that our country is a small country, maybe not as big as a county in England, and our financial situation is naturally not comparable to that of a big country like England."

"And do you think that this is the real reason why your brother did not pay his dowry?"

Anne's eyes widened slightly, and there was no other reason. Her younger brother was a miser, which was known throughout Europe. "I can't express my opinion, you should ask my brother." Her tone became stiff.

"I suppose you know that if the dowry is not paid in full, then the engagement is not fully consummated, is it?"

"Indeed," said Anne, cursing her miser brother and the damned ambassador inwardly.

"Then what do you think of this conjecture." The Duke said slowly, "Your brother knows that your engagement with the Duke of Lorraine has not yet been dissolved, but he is unwilling to lose the huge benefits that can be obtained by marrying England, so he cheated Your Majesty and the Ambassador of our country, yes Your Majesty signed a marriage contract with your country on the premise of being deceived. And your younger brother found out with his conscience after this that he hoped that by delaying the payment of the dowry, the marriage contract between you and Your Majesty could not be legally fully concluded , so as to alleviate your own sins?" He stared at the queen's face with fox-like eyes, trying to see what was in her heart.

The queen was a little dizzy by this complicated logic, what are these things?When she finally came to her senses, she couldn't restrain her surprise: "What are you talking about, sir?" Her own brother?Conscience found out?She really didn't know how these two words could be combined without any sense of disobedience in the mouth of the Duke of Suffolk.

"Which passage did you not hear clearly?" the Duke asked politely, but his eyes showed a little mockery.

"I can hear every sentence clearly." Annie was already a little angry. The king actually pushed all the responsibilities onto others, while he himself became a poor victim of being deceived. It was simply disgusting. . "I just can't believe everything you said."

The Duke of Suffolk sighed, "Indeed, I am also very shocked and very sorry, but we must face reality, don't we?" He picked up another piece of paper, "This is the testimony provided by His Majesty, he What do you think of His Majesty's testimony that he has been condemned by his conscience and therefore has not consummated with you?"

"I have no comment." Annie's voice seemed to be icy, asking such a question in public?She would never answer, not even because of the guillotine.

"Well, if you don't want to answer." The Duke smiled, but in Anne's eyes he was like a wolf baring its fangs, "But we have a witness." He waved his hand and signaled the guards to take the witness bring in.

"Am I facing the king's court now?" Anne asked, "Why are there still witnesses?"

"No, ma'am, what you are facing is only the Privy Council." The Duke ignored her objection.

A witness was brought in, a face Anne knew very well. It was the king's valet, Anthony Denny, who had previously been entrusted by Cromwell to speak well of Anne before the king.Seeing the queen's stern eyes, he immediately lowered his head like a frightened rabbit.

"Ah, don't be afraid, Mr. Danny." The Duke glanced at the Queen nonchalantly, with mockery and warning in his eyes, "Please tell the members of the Privy Council and the Queen what you have said before in front of the Archbishop. Repeat it before Your Majesty." He deliberately emphasized the word "Her Majesty the Queen".

Anthony Denny was still timid, he raised his head and saw the warning eyes of the Duke of Suffolk, so he finally mustered up his courage: "I testify to the Privy Council that Your Majesty has never consummated the marriage with the Queen, since he lacks desire for it , and lack of motivation. His conscience does not allow him to complete all the obligations of marriage with her before all doubts about the unresolved engagement with the queen dissipate.” He gave the queen a sorry look. He didn’t want to come at all, but the day before yesterday In the evening, the king called him into his bedroom and asked him to "testify to God, the court, and the Privy Council according to the facts and his own conscience". He could not forget the eyes of the king at that time.Mr. Denny has always been Cromwell's man, and since his master's arrest he has been so frightened that he will not disobey the king's orders unless he is insane.

The Duke of Suffolk waved his hand to signal the poor manservant to back off, before turning to the Queen: "Madam, do you have any comment on this witness' testimony?"

"I have nothing to say." The queen didn't even want to look at the duke.

"Then I regret that the Privy Council and Parliament must find your marriage to Your Majesty invalid," said the Duke. "Since you were also the deceived party, Your Majesty has decided to refer to you as his sister in the future, and to refer you to Richmond Palace. Presented to you, you will receive every year an allowance due to an English princess."

The king's sister?This was so absurd that Anne was about to refuse subconsciously, when suddenly she noticed from the corner of her eye that her German maid, Hilda, was winking at her, and she was holding a small bag studded with pearls in her hand.Annie recalled that it seemed to belong to Ms. Mary, she left it when she came back... Annie suddenly understood what Hilda meant, and recalled the two words of advice from Ms. Mary in her mind:

"Never disobey the king, and when he offers you a condition for breaking the engagement, accept it at once."

"Because a king never bids a second time."

Queen Anne felt her sanity returned, and she tried hard to suppress the humiliating tears that were about to flow from her eyes: "I thank His Majesty for his generosity, and I pray to God that he... all goes well."

The Duke nodded in satisfaction, this woman is quite interesting. "His Majesty hopes that you can move out of Whitehall Palace as soon as possible and go to Richmond Palace. The place has been arranged according to your preferences. I hope you like it." It was a request, but it was actually an order.

"I would like to follow His Majesty's orders." Annie gritted her teeth and said.

"Then, I wish you all the best, Your Royal Highness." The Duke of Suffolk has changed the name of Anne to her pre-marriage appearance.He bowed and walked out of the room, followed by other members of the Privy Council and guards.

When the figure of the last guard disappeared at the door of the room, Annie finally couldn't bear it anymore and fainted in the arms of the maid.However, to her surprise, the last thought in her mind before she passed out was not sadness or humiliation, but rejoicing.

She survived.