The Italian Rose || The Tudors

•Chapter 3

June 11, 1536, Westminster Palace

Henry Point of view,

"What does your Majesty think of the Lady Lucrezia?" Cromwell asked me. It was the morning after the welcome party and Cromwell had come to my rooms early.

"She is young, polite and beautiful but can we trust her? She is the niece of the Pope with whom I have had problems for years."

"If the Pope intended to turn against you, he would never have sent his niece, Your Majesty. Lady Lucrezia is one of the wealthiest Italian heiresses and precious to the Pope" said Cromwell "this time you can really trust the Pope"

I nodded "Very well then. I still want her to be watched until I can really trust her. I want all her letters to go through you before they leave the palace, anything suspicious is reported to me"

"It will be arranged, Your Majesty." Cromwell bowed and left the room. Shortly afterwards, Jane Seymour entered the room.

She made a curtsy "Your Majesty" She whispered seductively "My love, I missed you, come here" I motioned for her to sit on my lap.

She sat down and took my hand. "Are you really going to marry the Lady Lucrezia?" she asked sadly. "I'm sorry Jane but I can't help it"

"You promised me that we would marry as soon as the whore Anne was dead, I would give you your long-wanted son. How could you do that to me" she wailed.

I grabbed her tight around her hips "My heart will always be with you Jane. Lucrezia is only my wife on paper, but you are the person I love, you are my queen. You will be treated like a queen and get the queen's rooms, that's a promise" I kissed her.

"Thank you Your Majesty"

~
Lucrezia point of view,

"The dress is beautiful ladies, you did a great job" I said to the seamstresses as I admired my reflection. I wore a cream and gold wedding dress that was decorated with pearls.

I turned to my ladies-in-waiting "What do you think?". "It's beautiful madonna" Bianca sighed admiringly. I gestured to Giulia, who took two bags of coins from a drawer and gave them to the seamstresses "As a thank you from the Lady Lucrezia".

The seamstresses made a curtsy "Thank you my Lady." I smiled at them and then turned back to the mirror.

After the seamstresses had left and I was back in my normal dress, I decided to walk through the gardens with my ladies-in-waiting because of the nice weather. The gardens were peaceful when we got there and I enjoyed the silence.

"It's much cooler here than in Rome, don't you think?" I asked my ladies-in-waiting who walked next to me. "It is indeed much colder. I don't like this country" lamented Clarice, looking around in disgust.

"Oh Clarice, You can't hate everything about this country," Bianca said with a laugh. I giggled at Clarice myself too.

Charles Brandon came up to us with a woman. "My Lady" Charles bowed "Your grace" I smiled.

"My lady, may I introduce you to my wife Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk." The woman made a curtsy and smiled shyly at me. I smiled back. "Nice to meet you, Lady Catherine. Would you like to walk with me?"

She looked questioningly at Charles who nodded in agreement "Of course my Lady". "I'll leave you ladies alone then, good day my lady" Charles bowed and kissed his wife on the cheek before walking away in the opposite direction.

"Can I trust you Catherine?" I asked as we walked "Of course my lady". I looked into her eyes but could tell she was an honest person. "How is the king with his wives, don't be afraid to tell the truth"

I saw Catherine stiffen and saw the doubt in her eyes "you can trust that everything you say stays between us" I assured her.

"The king is good to his wives until she gets fed up. For more than 20 years he had a loving relationship with Queen Catherine. But they had no living son. When his mistress had a son, the king knew it wasn't his fault and wanted to get rid of Catherine as soon as possible. When he married Anne Boleyn it was the same story, after three years he was tired of her and her head fell off. Now he has you and I don't know how long it will be before he puts you aside too."

I looked at her confidently "I am the Pope's niece, all Christianity is by my side" Catherine grabbed my arm and I was startled "The holy father will not live forever, my lady. You need a son to keep yourself safe. Until then you have to be careful"

I looked at her in shock as I pondered her words. Without a son I was indeed not safe as the king's wife even though I had so much power.

I needed a son, and soon.