When Henry heard her words, he froze and pushed the baby back to a midwife's arms. He stormed out of the room as Anne cried out behind him.
"No! Henry come back!" Anne screamed, jumping out of her bed and then falling back in agony. Mary and a midwife come over to her.
"Shh, sweet sister," Mary told her, pushing her under the covers and brushing her hair off her face, "you must rest. You will feel better in the morning, and King Henry will get used to the idea of his daughter. You must sleep now."
Anne wanted to protest, every fiber in her being wanted her to get up and run after her husband to pull him back into the room and show him their lovely little daughter. But she could barely keep her eyes open, barely stay awake.
She laid down in pillows and turned to Mary.
"I want my daughter," she said weakly. Mary nodded and got up, taking the baby princess from a midwife and handing it over to the Queen.
"My beautiful baby," Anne whispered to the child, "your father wants you to be a boy, and I cannot lie, I wished for a son too. But now that you are here, my darling, I would never trade you, not even for a hundred boys."
"Your Grace, may I take the child?" a midwife asked, "she must be fed and you must rest."
Anne handed her baby over to the nurse and called over her sister.
"I am tired, Mary," she said as Mary settled next to her in the bed.
"I know you are, sweet sister," Mary replied. She brushed Anne's auburn curls out of her face and held her sister until the soft sound of her breathing filled the room.
~~~
When Anne woke up she found daylight streaming through an open window in her room. She breathed in the air, thankful that her room was not closed off. Anne tried to sit up, but a horrible pain stabbed through her body.
This birth had been much worse than Elizabeth's had been. She hoped that nothing was wrong with either her or the baby. Where was her baby? Anne wanted her baby.
Anne got up and rang a bell next to her bed, groaning with the pain of the movement. As soon as the bell chimed, the door opened and maid walked in, followed by midwives and Anne's ladies-in-waiting. The only person Anne was searching for was her sister.
"Mary," Anne said thankfully after she saw the woman. Mary rushed to her sister and pushed her onto the bed.
"You have rested well, Anne," Mary told her, "now you must eat and take a bath. And then you shall rest and calm yourself. Once you are strong enough, we will bring your baby to you."
"Where is my daughter?" Anne asked after the maids forced her to eat.
"She is in the nursery, I have been to see her. She is a very sweet darling, Anne. Even King Henry admitted it," Mary replied.
"Henry?" Anne tensed, "Henry has been to see her?" Mary nodded.
"He has, he remarked that the baby is very gentle and pretty," she said, "and he said that he will leave her name up to you."
"I want to see her," Anne decided.
"I will bring her to you," a midwife said and left to get the princess.
"How is my Elizabeth?" Anne asked her sister.
"She is being brought from Hatfield House to meet her new sister," Mary replied.
The baby was brought into the room and Anne took the girl in her arms, cuddling and kissing her.
"She is so chubby and rosy, Mary," Anne said. At that moment, Jane Seymour entered the room and gave a bow to the Queen before sitting on the bed next to Mary.
"I must thank you, Jane, I couldn't have done it yesterday with you and Mary," Anne said.
"I am simply thankful to be able to assist Your Grace," Jane replied and then looked at the baby in Anne's arms, "might I see her, Your Grace?" Anne handed the princess to Jane who rocked the baby in her arms gently.
"Have you decided on a name yet, Your Grace?" Jane asked, handing the baby back to her mother.
"I think I shall call her Margery, Jane. What do you think of the name, Mary?" Anne decided.
"I think it is a beautiful name and fit for a princess," Mary replied, kissing her sister on the cheek.
"If I could say my opinion, Your Grace?" Jane asked and continued when Anne nodded, "I think it is just the right name for her, and I am a bit partial to it as my mother is called Margery." Anne laughed.
"Then it is decided," she kissed her daughter's forehead, "welcome to the world, Princess Margery Tudor."
YOU ARE READING
A Tudor Rose
Historical FictionWhat if, before her execution, Anne Boleyn had another daughter by Henry VIII? What would happen to that daughter? Margery Tudor has been hated from birth by her father and his court, yet had been adored by her mother before her death. Margery never...
