In the Shadow of the Crown - By Jean Plaidy Page 0,134

for one, the widow of his son, the Duke of Richmond—a very lovely girl, with the Howard looks which, in the case of Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard, had enchanted him.

Charles Brandon had now died and the young and beautiful wife was now an attractive widow. So there were two beautiful young women, either of them capable of bearing sons; and watching men, waiting to snatch at an opportunity, were aware of the King's thoughts.

Gardiner and Wriothesley wanted to be rid of the Queen—and with her, Cranmer. The Queen's leanings were well known. They had already come near to destroying her. If the King's legs had been better instead of worse, they might have achieved it. But this time they would act more carefully.

They were interested in the arrival at Court of Anne Askew. They regarded her closely. The woman was blatant in her conduct; she made no effort to disguise her views, and placing a few spies round her was an easy matter; in a short time she had said enough to give them reason to arrest her.

I was with the Queen when news was brought to her that Anne Askew had been walking in the gardens when two guards had come to take her away.

Katharine turned pale and dropped the piece of embroidery on which she was working.

“Anne…in the Tower,” she whispered.

Jane Grey, who was seated at her feet working on another part of the embroidered altar cloth, picked it up and looked appealingly at the Queen: I could see by the child's expression that she knew why Anne had been arrested and how deeply it disturbed the Queen.

“On … what grounds?” asked Katharine slowly.

“For heresy, Your Majesty.”

“They will question her,” said the Queen. “But Anne will be strong.”

A gloom had settled over the Queen's apartments. Everyone knew how fond she had been of Anne Askew.

Once I came into the schoolroom where Jane and Edward sat together. There were books on the table, and they were talking. Jane was saying that terrible things were happening in Spain, and under the Inquisition people were burned at the stake for their beliefs.

“They die for their faith, Edward.”

“Yes,” said Edward. “They are martyrs. They die for the true faith.”

When they saw me, they stopped talking. So, at their age, they were aware of the dangers regarding the old and the new religions. Could it be that, under the Queen's guidance, they were leaning toward the new?

I was anxious about the Queen. I wondered what trouble she was storing up for herself. On the other hand, I believed wholeheartedly in the old ways. It was my mission to bring England back to Rome, if ever I had the chance. I was fond of Katharine. I knew she was a good woman; yet we were in opposing camps.

All the same, I wanted no harm to come to her.

THEY HAD TAKEN ANNE Askew to the Tower for questioning. Questioning! That dreaded word! It sounded mild enough—just a few queries to answer; but everyone knew what methods could be used to get the answers, and unless they were the answers the questioners wanted, the prisoner could be maimed for life…if any life was left to him or to her.

Susan said, “She will stand up to it. They will never wring anything from her.”

“What could they want to know?” I asked.

“She will state her beliefs. She always has. They are said to be treason…but she has never made any secret of them.”

“They know that. I fear it is not for her that they go to such lengths. They are angling for bigger fish.”

I knew what she meant by this, and I trembled for the Queen.

Anne Askew's arrest and subsequent incarceration in the Tower set people whispering. There was so much persecution now. Those whom the King called traitors to the Crown fell into two groups: the Lutherans and the Papists. All the King asked was that people should worship in the old way, the only difference being that he was head of the Church instead of the Pope. It seemed simple enough to him; but there were those who had to follow this wretched Martin Luther, and others who traitorously declared that the Pope was still head of the Church of England. Both must be eliminated.

The triumphs abroad had lost some of their glory. The Scots were putting up a great fight and having some success. The French had made an attempt to recapture Boulogne. They had not done so, but they had attempted to land