An Endless Supply Of Rubies

Search for a New Queen I

Fanfic: An Endless Supply of Rubies Ch 29, Tudors | FanFiction

A/N: In history, Charles Brandon was appointed Lord President of the Council in 1530, which was a new office. In the show, he is not given this office until about 1538. In this story, he has held the office since 1530, which explains his frequent absences.

The show has Henry going into seclusion after Jane's death, but doesn't give any indication as to how long, so I'm guessing that it was at least a few months before he began to think about marriage. The portrait of Christina, Duchess of Milan, was painted in March of 1538. Negotiations for a marriage between Henry and Anne of Cleves did not begin until March of 1539.

I do not speak Danish, but Google Translate does, so I'm sorry for any errors. The letters are written this way to show how cautious Amelia is. After all, intercepted letters seem to be the downfall of many.

January 1538

Even though a certain darkness had seemed to settle around the kingdom since the King had gone into seclusion, life at Westhrope did not slow down. With both Mary and Clemence around the house, taking care of the five young children was not as hectic as it could have been. Clemence had taken over a governess-like role for John and Elizabeth, which helped to keep them calm during the daytime.

The only thing that was missing was Charles.

With the King still in seclusion, Charles's presence at court was almost required. If he left, then the Lord Privy Seal might try to put himself in a more important position. He had come home for the last half of December and the first half of January, much to the delight of all of the rest of the family.

Charles had finally made peace with himself over what he had done the previous year, and Amelia had found comfort in the fact that what had happened had happened, and that since the rebellion had been quelled, there would be no more killings on that scale.

Violence still prevailed in the capitol. When Charles wrote, he told her that it was all because of Cromwell, and Amelia had started to feel as though Cromwell should no longer be in the position of power that he was in.

There had been several requests from the last few months from various people to see Edward, most notably Edward Seymour himself, who insisted that as the Prince's uncle, he had the right to see the boy whenever he so desired. Amelia had strongly disagreed, going as far as slamming the door in the man's face after telling him in a low and dangerous tone that the only ones allowed to see her brother were the ones with written permission from the King.

Therefore, the only person that had been allowed to see the baby was Sir Francis Bryan, who had complimented Amelia on the good job she had done taking care of him. In truth, even without written permission from the King, she probably would have let Sir Francis in to see the boy. It was easy to say no to Edward Seymour, because he didn't have the same violent reputation that Sir Francis did.

15 February 1538

"We must discuss marriage," Henry told Cromwell and Charles, his fingers twisting the cane he held in his hand. His attention was focused on the Lord Privy Seal. "As usual, the French want to mess me around. Who does the Emperor propose?"

"Your Majesty, the Emperor has put forward Christina, his niece, the Duchess of Milan," Cromwell said. In truth, he was not happy with the idea of a marriage to someone who was related to the Holy Roman Emperor. It meant that the new Queen would be Catholic, and then all hope of their reformation would be lost.

"Tell me about her," the King commanded.

"Originally from Denmark, she was married at thirteen to the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, who died a year later," Charles said, moving towards the King. "She is now sixteen, both a widow and, apparently, still a maid. She's living in Brussels with the Regent, Mary of Hungary. She is reported to be a great beauty, and likes nothing better than hunting and playing cards."