Jean Plaidy (63 page)

It seemed such a short time ago that little Edmund had died. It was heartbreaking when they lived a little while and one grew to love them. A pretty child, Edmund, but to suffer such discomfort, such pain, and then to give birth to a sickly child over whom one watched with anxiety until one suffered yet another loss!

I am too old, too weak for more childbearing, she thought. But she said nothing. What use would it have been to complain to him—to say: I have given you six children, four of whom are living. Do they not suffice?

His answer would be cool and to the point. A Queen must go on bearing children as long as possible. It is her duty.

Did he, she wondered, ever give a thought to Katherine Lee, her own maid of honor? If he did, not even Katherine would know it. She doubted whether Henry was ever unfaithful to herself even in thought.

She had married a strange man, a cold man; but at least she had a faithful husband. Henry would indulge in a sexual relationship for only one purpose: the procreation of children; and to procreate children with any other partner than his wife would in his opinion be an unnecessary act.

There were times when the Queen of England wanted to cast aside her dignity and laugh aloud; but that would be hysterical laughter and the Queen was no more given to hysterical outbursts than her husband was.

So she bowed her head and told herself that she must inform her women that this would be one of the nights in which the King would spend in her bed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J
EAN
P
LAIDY
is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also known as Victoria Holt. More than fourteen million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Visit
www.CrownHistorical.com
to learn of other Jean Plaidy titles available from Three Rivers Press.

Read all of the Tudor novels
in historical order
published by Three Rivers Press

To Hold the Crown
The Story of King Henry VII
and Elizabeth of York
previously published as
Uneasy Lies the Head
FROM THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

Katharine of Aragon
The Story of a Spanish Princess
and an English Queen
AVAILABLE NOW FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

Murder Most Royal
The Story of Anne Boleyn
and Catherine Howard
AVAILABLE NOW FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

The King’s Confidante
The Story of the Daughter
of Sir Thomas More
previously published as
St. Thomas’s Eve
AVAILABLE SPRING 2009 FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

The Sixth Wife
The Story of Katherine Parr
AVAILABLE NOW FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

The Thistle and the Rose
The Story of Margaret, Princess
of England, Queen of Scotland
AVAILABLE NOW FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

Mary, Queen of France
The Story of the Youngest Sister
of Henry VIII
AVAILABLE NOW FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

For a Queen’s Love
The Story of the Royal Wives
of Philip II
previously published as
The Spanish Bridegroom
AVAILABLE SPRING 2010 FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

A Favorite of the Queen
The Story of Lord Robert Dudley and
Elizabeth I
previously published as
Gay Lord Robert
AVAILABLE SPRING 2010 FROM
THREE RIVERS PRESS

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.