monarch

Chapter 42 Father and Son

"His Majesty will depart from Holyrood Palace at ten o'clock in the morning on January NO.15." The Earl of Hertford held the arrangements for the coronation ceremony in his hand. Church, the ceremony starts at eleven o'clock, and everything is ready."

King Henry straightened up from the reclining chair with difficulty. He reached for the wine glass on the small coffee table in front of him. An attendant hurriedly stepped forward to pour a glass of mulled wine for the king, and then handed the glass to His Majesty.The king coughed a few times and took a few sips of the wine in his glass, "I see." He said casually.

"You will be crowned by the archbishop," continued the earl, "and there will be a service of homage, in which representatives of the three estates will swear allegiance to you, and hand over a petition to treat you with mercy in Scotland. People."

"I've always been like this." The flesh on the king's face twitched a few times.

"After that, you will make His Royal Highness Prince Edward the Duke of Argyll," the Earl of Hertford turned to the prince sitting aside, "you will declare him the heir to the Scottish throne."

A slight smile appeared on the king's face, and he held out his hand to signal Edward to come forward.

"No problem, my son?" He smiled and touched the prince's head, "It's very simple, just kneel down on one knee, and then I will put the sword on your shoulder, don't be afraid. When I finish speaking Then you just say your oath."

"Yes, father." The prince smiled obediently.Different people have different opinions about Henry VIII, but all agree that he was a good father to his only male heir. "I'll be fine."

"Of course, you have always been a smart child." The smile on the king's face became brighter, "There was such a ceremony when you were canonized as Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall before, but you were still a baby at that time, or Lord Hertford's oath for you."

"I am honored, Your Highness." The count bowed deeply.

"Back then you were just Sir Edward Seymour," the king seemed to be chatting, recalling the past, "now you are the Earl, Lord Seal, and Knight of the Order of the Garter." He seemed to glance at the Earl casually His thigh, with the Order of the Garter garter hanging from it, "Your sister, the late Queen Jane, will be very pleased."

"Thank you Ron, Your Majesty." The count knelt down on one knee and kissed the king's hand.

"Ah, yes, I have always been very generous to my friends." The King smiled. "You are my friend, are you not, Count? A faithful friend."

"I am your most respectful servant," said the count, "and His Royal Highness." He glanced at Edward.

The king smiled noncommittally, "You did a good job this time, this thing about Scotland." The king took another sip of his wine, "It's more perfect than our original plan."

"It's all His Highness's idea."

"Ah, that's true," said the king, "but if you hadn't failed to capture the little queen, we wouldn't have had this chance, would we? After all, she was engaged to my son before, so of course I have to be courteous to her." Treat each other, so that the two countries will not become one after two generations. This is a blessing in disguise, isn't it?"

"It was my negligence, Your Majesty." The count apologized.

"I hope she and the grandson of the French king and grandson will have a happy life," the king smiled coldly. Well, I think that's it for the day, count."

The Earl of Hertford bowed in trepidation, "Good night, Your Majesty." He turned sideways again, "Your Highness." He bowed again, and then walked backwards out of the room.

The king watched meaningfully as the figure of the count disappeared outside the door of the room. "What do you think, Edward?" He turned to the prince sitting beside him.

"I hope the Earl's gratitude and trepidation are more than half of what he has shown," said the prince.

The king nodded approvingly, "Very good, my son." He picked up the glass and looked at the purple liquid inside. "But we can't get rid of him just yet."

"Because his prestige is growing?" asked the prince.

"Ah, not only that," the king said, "but also because he is still useful. Now there are not many people with brains left in the cabinet." The king snorted coldly, "I can't let an idiot like the Marquess of Dorset be in power." Bar."

"He is indeed an idiot." The prince smiled, "His wife is much better than him."

"An ambitious woman can be more dangerous than a man," murmured the king, "do you know that she wants to be your mother-in-law?"

"I think the whole court knows." The prince shrugged.

"Yeah, everyone has ambitions." The king nodded, "It's like a game of grabbing chairs, everyone keeps their eyes on other people's chairs, and at the same time prevents others from taking their own chairs, and I am this Master of the game, that's the nature of the court game." He looked tired, "The important thing is to keep them busy so they don't have time to plot rebellion."

"Yes, father," Edward said.

"You know that Hertford wants to be regent?" asked the king again.

"I suppose it's also a secret known all over London."

The king laughed, "Indeed! He is not hiding anything." He reached out and picked up a dagger on the small table. The sheath of the dagger was pure gold and it was inlaid with precious stones. Like oranges, we squeeze the juice out of them and throw the rest away." He touched the prince's nose, "The Earl of Hertford still has plenty of juice."

There were several knocks on the door, and the attendant came in.

"What's the matter?" the interrupted king asked with some displeasure.

"The Duke of Norfolk begs to see you."

"Did you see that, Edward?" The king looked at his son again, "It's a squeezed orange, and it's already rotten, and it's even covered with mildew."

"Then I'm afraid it's time to throw this orange away," said the prince.

"You are quite right," the king nodded approvingly. "Tell the Duke that I am unwell and cannot see guests." He turned to the aide-de-camp and gave the order.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The attendant walked out of the room respectfully.

……

"You've done a good job." John Dudley, Earl of Essex, looked at his son approvingly, "Your title is of great help to our family's prestige."

"I'm glad you're satisfied with that," said Robert Dudley.

"Yes, I am very satisfied." The earl patted his son's shoulder approvingly, "Have you met the crown prince yet?"

"Yes," said Robert.

"Very well. I don't think I need to remind the future king of the value of your friendship to yourself and our family." The count looked into his son's eyes, "I heard rumors that you had a quarrel?"

"All is well, Father," said Robert. "There is nothing to worry about."

"That's good." The count picked up the jug and poured a glass of wine for himself and his son. "The Earl of Hertford appreciates you too, it's all perfect."

"The Earl of Hertford is very proud recently." Robert took the glass and took a sip.

"Ah, if it were me, I would be proud." John Dudley smiled slightly, "But frankly speaking, it is indeed extremely thrilling. If the prince does not propose a plan for the king to be crowned King of Scotland, then my old friend Hey Tford could have been brought down by Bishop Gardner by now."

"The bishop is said to be a pious man," said Robert in a low voice.

"Just pious to himself," said his father disdainfully, "these priests are all the same, playing political games, but they still talk about God all day long. Wolsey was like that back then, and he was fine." The difference." The earl took a sip of wine, "Now these two groups of people are on the verge of drawing their swords for the future status of regent." He looked at his son, "Have you heard... Which side does His Highness support?" ?” He lowered his voice.

"Your Highness doesn't seem to care about these things."

"Ah, I guess so. It's the safest thing for the prince to let them bite each other."

"Then which side do you support?" Robert looked casual.

"Ah, I think we still have to stand with His Highness on this issue, don't we? After all, we have already boarded his ship." The earl smiled, "Besides, I don't have a good impression of these two people. If I shall be glad they follow in the footsteps of our old friend the Duke of Norfolk."

"So the Duke wants to..." Robert looked at his father in surprise, "I thought His Majesty had forgiven him."

"Your Majesty never forgives." The earl looked at his son meaningfully. "It's the nature of monarchs. They never forgive anyone. They may put on a pleasant face, but it's only because the time is not up." That's all, when that moment comes, you will be amazed at their real thoughts." He took a sip of his wine, "So I want to remind you, my son, although the prince is your friend, he is also your friend in the future. King, never forget this. The Duke of Suffolk lived his life as a friend of the King because he always remembered it. You are a man of affection, Robert, but a king of affection? It's a rare animal."

"Thank you for your reminder." Robert also smiled slightly, but if you look carefully, you can find that the smile is very forced.However, maybe he didn't notice it, or pretended to be confused, the Earl didn't seem to notice it.He looked at the hourglass on the table, "Ah, it seems that it's almost time for dinner. Would you like to stay for dinner?" His face showed the loving expression of a father to his son again, "I brought the cook at home , the cooking of these Scots is simply another Battle of Bannockburn, in other words, a disaster. Sometimes I really wonder if they are trying to gain independence by poisoning the entire English court." He seemed Started laughing as if amused by his own joke.

Robert smiled appropriately. "I'm honored." But he didn't look like he had much appetite.

……

The suite of the Duke of Norfolk was arranged on the second floor of the west wing. There was a fire here ten years ago, and the entire west wing was almost burnt to an empty shell.Although reconstruction work began immediately, the entire project was rushed due to Scotland's disastrous financial situation.

The Duke sat at the dining table and looked at the painting hanging across the table. The steward of the palace assured him that it was Botticelli's original work, but both of them knew the truth very well. Scotland could not afford it. Kind of painting, and even if they could afford it, they wouldn't hang it here.The dinner in front of the duke had cooled down, but it looked almost completely untouched, except for the flagon beside it which was half empty.

The Duke's personal servant came forward, "Your Excellency, do you need me to replace you with a new piece of venison?"

The Duke was stunned for a moment. He lowered his head and looked at the plate in front of him. "Leave it." He said coldly.

The servant hurriedly took away the plate, but the Duke immediately stopped him, "Has my son not come back yet?"

"The Earl of Surrey says he won't be back for dinner."

"Let me know when he comes back." The Duke poured himself another glass of wine.He felt chills all over his body, and the room was still cold and damp even though the fire was lit.It was past eight o'clock, and it was pitch black outside the window.The Duke sighed, he closed his eyes slightly, and a sense of powerlessness swept over his body immediately.

The Duke of Norfolk is already an old man. In his 70-year-old life, he has encountered countless dangers and faced countless enemies.He had faced Scots and French on the battlefield, and political enemies at court, but he had never felt this way before, suffocated by the frustration of this dying struggle.

The Duke looked at the time, his son hadn't come back yet.He smiled self-deprecatingly, he worked hard for the benefit of the Howard family, but his family fell apart in front of him.His sons and daughters had grown old and estranged, for the Count of Surrey intended to send his widowed sister to be the king's mistress, "to exercise her influence as the Duchess de Etampes had done with the King of France." ’” Even though the Duke himself thought it wasn’t such a bad idea, his daughter, the Duchess of Richmond, was furious about it.Her dead husband was the king's illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, which also made the king theoretically her father-in-law, and the duchess would rather "cut her own throat" than seduce her former father-in-law.

Then there was the matter of the Earl of Surrey's coat of arms - he added the coat of arms of the ancient king Edward the Confessor to the corner of his coat of arms.In theory he did have this right, and the first Duke of Norfolk had the same part on his coat of arms, but this completely angered the king, although many people think he just took a chance.Now in the cabinet meeting, the king has completely regarded the Duke of Norfolk as non-existent, and the newly written poetry collection sent by the Earl of Surrey for the crown prince to comment on has also been returned without opening.There is no doubt that the duke and his son have fallen completely out of favor.

There was a knock on the door, "Your Excellency, the Earl of Surrey is back."

The Earl of Surrey walked into the room with the cold outside, his hair and cloak were still stained with water from the melting snowflakes, he took off his cloak and gloves, and stuffed them to the servant, "you have dinner Are you here, father?" He turned to the Duke.

"I'm waiting for you." The Duke waved his hand to signal the servant to step back.After confirming that the servant had walked out of the room, he turned his head and looked at his son, "Where have you been?"

"I think it's better for you not to know." The Earl of Surrey smiled.

The Duke suddenly felt a fear he had never experienced before, "What are you doing?" His voice trembled.

"Just met some interesting people." The Earl of Surrey poured himself a glass of wine. "Don't worry, father."

"Tell me you're not doing anything behind my back!" the Duke grabbed his son's arm.

"I just thought it would be better if you didn't know." The count shrugged.

"My God, what did you do..." the Duke glared at his son, "Although I don't know what you did, I will never agree."

"Are you worried about angering the king?" The Earl of Surrey smiled mockingly. "If that's what you're worried about, it's too late. After all, it's not just now that he's angry with you."

"You, how could you..." The Duke's face was flushed, and he stood up abruptly, but he soon fell back on the chair weakly, with a dejected look on his face. "Not to that extent." He looked at his son with begging eyes, hoping that he would express some agreement, at least not deny it, so that he still had hope of convincing himself.

"I'm afraid I can't agree." The Earl of Surrey completely ignored his father's eyes, "Do you know that Mary came to Edinburgh today?"

"What is she here for?" The Duke seemed to have guessed something, and his voice changed a little.

"The King invited her here," said the Earl of Surrey, taking a sip of his wine. "The King sent Bishop Gardiner to meet her in person, and they talked for hours. Do you think such a gesture is necessary to convey the invitation?"

"My God, you mean..." The Duke looked pale.

"She came to testify. I don't know what the king promised her, but she did come to send us to hell." The count stared at his father. "She knows everything, from Anne Boleyn to Catherine Howard, she knows everything."

"Impossible, she is my daughter after all, she shouldn't..."

"Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard are also your relatives." The Earl of Surrey said meaningfully, "I think you understand Mary's motives better than anyone else. You were trying to protect yourself, and she was the same. Although I We were at odds with her, but I understand the logic behind her decision."

The Duke was panting violently like a fish struggling on the shore, and he reached for the glass. The Earl of Surrey picked up the glass, poured half a glass of wine, and handed it to the Duke.The Duke coughed violently, and he drank a few sips of wine to calm his breathing.

"What are you going to do?" asked the Duke, who looked as if he had aged ten years, in fact he looked very ill.

"It's hard to say now," the Earl of Surrey smiled, "but I think I will be able to bring you new news soon."

"Well, well..." said the Duke wearily, "do what you want, Henry, and God bless you." He rang the bell, and the servant opened the door of the dining room, came forward, and held The Duke went back to his room to rest.

The Earl of Surrey sat down in his chair and poured himself another glass of wine.

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