Betrayal (62 page)

             
“It was done,” Henry said quietly.

             
“Yes, it was done,” Ella agreed. “But, I would like to check the parish records.”

             
“Consider it done. Now, Lydia, what is the second letter that Elisabeth refers to? Is it there?”

“Yes, Uncle Henry, it appears to be exactly what she says it is; a letter of sworn testimony about Anne Boleyn’s adulterous affairs, giving names, dates, and locations of the meetings of the lovers. It’s quite a letter,” Lydia said handing the page to her Uncle.

              “I see what you mean, a nasty piece of work this is, and thorough too. Will it upset you to read it, old girl?”

             
“I suppose I must, mustn’t I?” Ella said reaching for the letter. “Oh, my,” she said laying the letter aside. “No one could escape these charges. I always believed Anne Boleyn was innocent; now I know she was. Here, Dan, take a look,” Ella said as she passed the letter to Alan.

             
“Lydia let me have a page of the first letter. Yes, thanks. I want to compare the handwriting, as Elisabeth asks. Hmmm, let me see. They are indeed very different. Look, Lydia, see how Elisabeth makes her m’s and t’s. Now look at the other letter, and see how different they are. We will need a handwriting expert to be sure but I’d say these two letters were written by different people. What do you think?” Dan asked handing the letter to Henry.

             
“Yes, I agree, they are very different, but why the dreams?  But, why the nightmares?”

             
“To force someone to look for the letters, of course,” Alan replied.

             
“But why? What does it matter after all these years? Henry the VIII is long dead and so are his heirs. We can’t prove to him that Elisabeth didn’t write the letter of accusation. He wouldn’t care even if we could, so why the urgency to find the letters?”

             
“To clear the name of a suspected traitor to the Crown,” Henry Hays-Morely said. “We Hays-Morely’s, were told from childhood that we had had a traitor in the family. I can remember my grandfather telling me as a child that one of our ancestors brought about the fall of a monarch. I always thought he meant that we had a roundhead in the family.”

             
“Roundhead, what’s that?” Lydia asked.

             
“Don’t you remember your English history?” Alan asked.  “The Roundheads rebelled against Charles the First causing what is known as The English Civil War, which was fought between the Royal Cavaliers and the Puritan Roundheads. It ended with Charles being executed on January 30, 1649. ”

             
“Oh,” Lydia said quietly.

             
“So, it seems the dreams have served their purpose in bringing out the truth about our ‘so-called traitor’,” Henry said as he walked to the hearth.

             
“Should we take these letters someplace?” Lydia asked.

             
“Where?” Henry replied.

             
“I don’t know, the British Museum?”

             
“Why?”

             
“To show Elisabeth wasn’t a traitor.”

             
“But she wasn’t, she wasn’t named, her document was never used.”

             
“I know that but wouldn’t the museum be interested in having these documents?”

             
“Yes, I suppose they would.  Perhaps that’s what she wanted.”

             
“What she wanted? What are you talking about, Henry?” Ella asked.

“There remains little documentation concerning the trial and execution of Anne Boleyn. Perhaps these documents will shed light on how the evidence against her was obtained,” Henry said after a few moments thought.  “And they served another purpose, you know,” he said turning to Lydia “Your search brought you home.”

              “Yes, it did.”  Lydia said as stood to hug Henry.

             
Dan quietly left the room.  When she noticed he was gone, Lydia went looking for him.

             
She found him upstairs in his bedroom. He was pacing the room. His anxiety was palpable.

             
“Why did you leave the room?”

             
“Lydia, we have to talk,” he said directing her to a chair.  “I want to apologize. I didn’t believe your dreams were any more than nightmares.”

             
“I know, Dan.”

             
Alan paused in the doorway watching the scene within.

             
“Lydia, I have to go back to Canada.  I have seen how Alan looks at you and how you look at him.  I am afraid I must ask you to choose.”

             
“Choose? Choose what?” Lydia asked.

             
“Which one of us you want to be with?”

             
“Yes, Lydia, you must choose.” Alan said stepping into the room.

             
Lydia looked from Dan to Alan. Too shocked to speak, she put her head down, her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t,” she said simply.

             
After a couple of uncomfortable days where Lydia avoided being alone with either man, Alan made his excuses and left for London.

Dan stayed on a few days hoping to mend his relationship with Lydia. But, he too had to return to Canada.  So when Henry asked, Dan allowed him to make arrangements with Willis to take him to Heathrow.

              Several days later Ella stopped Lydia in the dining room. “You really must make a decision.  I realize that you care deeply for both men, but I believe you love only one.  You really must choose.”

I have, Aunt Ella.” Lydia said moving to the telephone. She dialed the eleven digit phone number and waited impatiently as the telephone in Canada rang. At last he picked it up.
“Alan?”

Author's Note:

              There are indeed two entries for the name George Boleyn on the website for The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

             
Historians have always reported George Boleyn's (Lord Rochford’s) marriage to Jane Parker as barren.  Indeed, there is no mention of a child, yet how to explain the George Boleyn who grew up to become the Dean of Litchfield Cathedral?  Unfortunately it cannot be explained satisfactorily. I recommend reading Mr. Stanford Lehmberg's complete article.

             
Elisabeth Beeton, her husband, and cousin are all fictional characters, as are all the modern day characters. A maid servant's testimony was used in Anne Boleyn's trial, but history does not record the servant's name.

             
Morely's Cross exists only in the author's imagination, although Saint John, Totnes, Kingsbridge and Salcombe are wonderful places to visit.