The Italian Rose || The Tudors

•Chapter 35

December 25th, 1537, Hampton Court

The next day I started the day early. My ladies-in-waiting helped me into a warm bath and then donned me into a black dress made of silk and velvet. A white lace veil was placed over my hair

My ladies-in-waiting, including the young ladies-in-waiting, wore cream-colored dresses and had in their hair a similar veil.

When I was ready, Henry, The Lady Mary who had arrived at court the night before, and I left for the chapel where we went to pray with the court.

This was followed by a lavish breakfast in the great hall.

The party was to continue into the evening, so I decided to visit James and Elizabeth in the nursery in the meantime.

"Mama." cried Elizabeth when she saw me walk in through the doorway. She got up from where she was playing and ran towards me saying "Hello sweet Elizabeth." I dropped to my knees and hugged her.

Elizabeth was dressed in a red dress. She had a wreath of Christmas flowers over her loose hair.

I walked to the door separating Elizabeth's part of the nursery from James's and opened it.

James was cradled in the arms of one of the nannies under Lady Bryant's supervision. When they saw me, they both fell in curtsy.

"Your Majesty, welcome." Said Lady Bryant, "Bring a chair for the Queen." she said to one of the maids.

I sat down on the chair and took James over from the nanny.

"My golden boy, my heart and soul. Mama loves you." I said kissing his forehead.

Elizabeth walked into the room and stood up to me. She grabbed James's hand and stroked it with her thumb.

"When will I have a sister, mommy?" she asked suddenly. I smiled "God willing Elizabeth, then you will have a sister." I answered.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness." I heard the Lady Bryant say, "The Queen is with the Prince."

The door of the room opened and Henry walked in with Margaret.

"Majesty." I said, I stayed on the chair. Henry kissed my cheek and then James took over from me. "My precious prince." He said.

I smiled at the sight of Henry and his son, but when I looked at Elizabeth who was not getting any attention from her King, that smile faded.

"Henry..." I said softly, gesturing to Elizabeth who was still standing next to me.

He understood what I meant and handed James back to me and then kissed Elizabeth too.

"You look beautiful, Elizabeth." Henry said, Elizabeth made a curtsy "thank you, majesty."

Margaret watched us from the doorway.

I got up and walked over to Margaret. "Would you like to hold him?". She looked doubtful but took him from me anyway.

Henry turned to us. "I'll leave you two ladies alone so you can talk about your motherly things." He smiled and walked out of the room.

Margaret sat down in one of the chairs. "He's a sweet kid. Congratulations on your new pregnancy." she said as she played with James.

"Thanks, it's tough being pregnant so soon after giving birth, but I'm happy." I said.

"I see what you mean. My first two children, James and my daughter, were only 8 months apart, my third child, Arthur, was 11 months away from my daughter. Then I had another son James, named after my first son James who had died when he was young, followed by a girl who was born 7 months later, unfortunately she was born prematurely and passed away. Two years later my son Alexander was born, he also passed away."

"I'm sorry you had to go through this. It seems terrible to lose your children like this." I looked at her with pity.

Margaret smiled sadly. "It didn't stop there. When Alexander was born, my husband was already dead. I married Archibald Douglas and had Maggie. 13 years later I remarried and had another daughter, Dorothea, but she also died very young."

She sighed and stroked James' brown hair. "I don't want to scare you, but I want to tell you that these are the things that can happen and you need to be prepared for them."

I nodded. "I understand. I spoke to your daughter yesterday. She told me a lot about the things you went through during the separation of Henry and Catherine and I want to tell you that I am nothing like Anne Boleyn and that you cannot hate me there. I want to make a friendship with you, a sisterhood, but for that you have to trust me."

I sighed in anticipation of her response.

Margaret smiled. "Very well then, we'll be friends, sister." She stood up "I'm going to my rooms to get ready for the party." She handed James to the nanny.

I nodded. "I'll go too. I'll see you tonight, sister."