Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies - the RSC Stage Adaptation

by Mike Poulton

  MARY. A fortnight? Alone with the person?

  MARY almost faints. THOMAS catches her, slams down the stool. MARY gazes at him, amazed, until she has to snap out of it and answer her mother’s question.

  THOMAS. Before His Majesty returns, you are to go to another place – in Hertfordshire.

  KATHERINE. Do you think me a box – or a package – to be bundled up and sent to Hertfordshire? I am England’s Queen. (Falters.) I knew that one day he would go and not come back. I never thought he would send a man like you to tell me… (Breaks down.)

  THOMAS. Madam –

  KATHERINE. Do you make your own wife cry, Cromwell?

  THOMAS. My wife died, madam. Accept it – take it gently. Or he may… separate you.

  KATHERINE. From my daughter?

  THOMAS. Advise your daughter. Conciliate him.

  KATHERINE. You mean conciliate his woman.

  THOMAS. Madam… one honourable course is open to you. Withdraw from the world – enter a house of religion. If God calls you, your marriage can be dissolved. England – all Europe would applaud your sacrifice. And the King would be good to you.

  KATHERINE. And the Princess? Mary, could you make such a sacrifice?

  MARY. Gladly! I should like it above all things.

  KATHERINE. Then… you may tell the King I will become a nun. Princess Mary and I shall tidy ourselves away. My one condition is that Henry must become a monk.

  THOMAS. Madam. (Bows, smiling.)

  KATHERINE. Mark my words – my husband is changeable. Let the concubine remember that. One day you may have cause to remember it yourself.

  THOMAS bows. As he leaves, the sun comes out. He takes a deep breath of fresh air, throws off his coat, and loosens the neck of his shirt. CHAPUYS arrives. They bow stiffly to each other.

  THOMAS. Splendid weather for once, Ambassador Chapuys! –

  CHAPUYS. I hear the King’s left her. Is it true?

  THOMAS. News travels fast.

  CHAPUYS. Ill tidings fly on raven wings.

  They bow and part. Then CHAPUYS turns to deliver a tirade.

  Cromwell… Cromwell, I hope you will reflect upon the tangle of wreckage – all that will be left of England – if your King pursues his devilish and destructive course? (Earnestly and passionately.) My master the Emperor cannot see his aunt insulted – nor the Princess Mary’s rights taken from her and given to whatever bastard Henry gets on his concubine. The Pope will excommunicate him – my master may be forced to make war on you – your merchant friends will lose their livelihoods – many will lose their lives – your Tudor King may go down – the old nobility will reclaim the throne. Then what will happen to you?

  Doors fly open. CHAPUYS sweeps in to KATHERINE. Leaving THOMAS standing.

  THOMAS (to himself). Yes, Cromwell – splendid weather! (Pulls open his shirt again and leaves.)

  ACT FOUR

  Scene Seventeen

  Christmas. Darkness. Violent knocking. Confusion at Austin Friars. CHRISTOPHE, half-dressed, opens the door. BRERETON bursts in – an armed guard. Enter RAFE and GREGORY, bleary-eyed – half-dressed.

  BRERETON (bellowing). Cromwell! Cromwell!

  GREGORY. Is my father arrested?

  BRERETON. He’ll be hung up next to the grand thief his master if I get my way – Cromwell!

  CHRISTOPHE picks up an axe. THOMAS arrives.

  THOMAS. Christophe, put that down. Merry Christmas, William.

  BRERETON. I warned you I’d come for you. King’s at Greenwich. He wants you. Now.

  GREGORY. Are you arrested?

  THOMAS. Back to bed, Gregory.

  GREGORY. No – I’m coming with you.

  RAFE. So am I –

  CHRISTOPHE. We are all coming, master.

  THOMAS. What does he want me for?

  BRERETON. How should I know? But I hope it’ll be something nasty.

  CHRISTOPHE (aside). Shall I smack him on the mouth?

  THOMAS. Another time perhaps. William, go ahead with the gentlemen of the guard – we’ll follow when we’re dressed.

  BRERETON. Forget it. I was ordered to fetch you and fetched you’ll be. Come on – there’s a barge waiting.

  Scene Eighteen

  Outside KING HENRY’s bedchamber. CRANMER and NORRIS come out.

  CRANMER. We meet under the strangest circumstances. I’ve been with him these last three hours but it’s you he’s calling for.

  Bedchamber, darkness, except for a hellish log fire. KING HENRY, shivering in his nightshirt on a velvet stool, head in hands.

  KING HENRY. I’ve seen my dead brother.

  Waits for an answer. THOMAS just looks at him.

  Between Christmas Day and Epiphany, God permits the dead to walk. This is well known.

  THOMAS (gently). How did he look?

  KING HENRY. Pale – very thin – as I remember him in life. There was a white fire around him – a strange light. Arthur died at Ludlow. In winter the roads are impassable. They had to take his coffin in an ox-cart. I can’t think it was well done. They buried him at Worcester. It troubles me I never saw him dead –

  CRANMER. The dead do not come back to complain of their burial –

  KING HENRY. Never saw his face in death till this night… His body shining white. Why does he come back – why?

  CRANMER. It was not his body. It was an image formed in your mind. Read St Augustine on these matters.

  KING HENRY. He looked sad. so sad… He seemed to say, ‘You have taken my kingdom – you have taken my wife.’ So sad – so sad.

  CRANMER (hint of impatience). Your brother died before he could reign. It was God’s will. As for your marriage – we know it is contrary to Scripture. It is a sin – that we acknowledge. But God will grant you mercy.

  KING HENRY. Can there be mercy for me? When I come before God’s judgement throne, Arthur will plead against me – and I must stand there and bear it. I – I alone! I’m afraid.

  CRANMER. Majesty, you must –

  THOMAS’s look stops him.

  THOMAS. Did your brother speak to you, Majesty?

  KING HENRY. No.

  THOMAS. Did he make any sign?

  KING HENRY. No.

  THOMAS. Listen to me. (Grips KING HENRY’s arm.) Lawyers say ‘Le mort saisit le vif’ – the dead grip the living. If your brother visited you it’s not to accuse you – only to remind you that you are vested with the power of both the living and the dead. You’ve inherited his rights – and the rights of all England’s kings who came before you. Your brother Arthur brings you this sign: Examine your kingship. Exert it.

  KING HENRY. Cranmer?

  NORRIS brings a huge dressing gown of russet velvet lined with sable. KING HENRY wraps himself comfortably in its warmth. Exit NORRIS.

  CRANMER. My opinion is –

  THOMAS (signalling CRANMER to be quiet). What is written on King Arthur’s tomb?

  KING HENRY. Rex quondam, rexque futurus.

  THOMAS. The former king is the future king. Your father made living proof of it. He came out of exile and claimed his right. That right is now your own and it must be held and made secure in every generation. God took your brother from us – God set you in his place. It is God who sends your brother’s spirit to you – urging you to be the king he would have been. Your brother Arthur cannot fulfil King Arthur’s prophecy – so he wills it to you.

  KING HENRY looks at CRANMER.

  CRANMER. Perhaps… I cannot see anything against it. Though I still counsel you against heeding dreams.

  THOMAS. The dreams of kings are not the dreams of lesser men.

  CRANMER. Well…

  KING HENRY. But why now? Why does he come back now? I’ve been King twenty years.

  THOMAS. Because the time has come for you to be the ruler you should be – sole and supreme head of your kingdom.

  KING HENRY. Anne tells me I should no longer bow to Rome. (Stands.) Very well. I understand. I knew who to send for. I always know. Thank you, Thomas. Where’s
Norris? Norris! What time is it?

  Re-enter NORRIS.

  NORRIS. Four o’clock, Majesty. Four more hours until dawn.

  KING HENRY. Make up the fire. Have my chaplain robe for mass. Go and get the…

  NORRIS. Majesty.

  KING HENRY. Gentlemen. Goodnight.

  THOMAS and CRANMER leave.

  CRANMER. You’re a man of ready wit and vigorous invention, Thomas. But I doubt I could find authority in the Gospel for it.

  THOMAS. Still – a good night’s work. ‘For the Gospel.’

  CRANMER. Do you imagine the Gospel is a book of blank sheets on which Thomas Cromwell may print his desires? When you touched the King – took his arm in your grasp – I winced. To touch the King! Are these your sons?

  THOMAS. Gregory’s my son. This is Master Rafe Sadler who’s like a son to me. And this, my servant, could be my son. The Cardinal imagined a whole tribe of my children running wild. Christophe was caught robbing my master in France. I took him into my service.

  CRANMER. A thief?

  THOMAS. Thieves may come to paradise, I suppose? Didn’t Christ himself say so?

  GREGORY. Father? Are you in any danger?

  THOMAS. No. The King had a dream, that’s all.

  GREGORY. A dream! He got you out of bed for a dream?

  NORRIS (passing with a ‘stool’). Believe me – he gets one out of bed for much less… (Exit.)

  GREGORY. Was it a bad dream?

  THOMAS. He thought so. It isn’t now. Dr Cranmer, tell Lady Anne we did a good night’s work for her.

  Scene Nineteen

  THOMAS and the boys get in a boat.

  THOMAS. It’s as if England’s other affairs no longer exist.

  GREGORY. All because he wants Anne Boleyn?

  CHRISTOPHE. I go trit-trot about London – I listen. They say first the King goes to it with old mother Boleyn – good luck to him! Then he goes to it with sister Mary – well, it is what kings do. But now he lusts after sister Anne – which is a witch with twelve fingers and seven teats. ‘Ma foi!’ they say ‘Where will it end?’ But all the while Nan the Witch say ‘non’ to the King, she’s doing it with brother Georges – her own brother!

  RAFE. George Boleyn?

  CHRISTOPHE. Like dog on bitch – like man on boy – ‘filthy French tricks’! When English say something filthy they call it ‘French’ –

  GREGORY. Can’t you keep your voice down, Christophe?

  CHRISTOPHE. Why? We’re in the middle of the fucking River Thames! Ha! Anne won’t let the King do her because if she say ‘ oui’ he say: ‘ Ah, thank you, madame, merci bien! Now au revoir, putain – trit-trot, trit-trot!’ So she say: ‘Oh, Majesty! Pardonnez-moi, I never could permit…’ But Georges shoves it up her every night – bonk, bonk: ‘Oh, my lady sister – hurry, hurry! Let me unload my big wagon!’ ‘Quick! Quick!’ she say, ‘shove it up the back way – where it will do no harm!’

  THOMAS. So that’s how it’s done! I wondered how they were managing.

  RAFE. And this is what London is saying of a future queen of England!

  THOMAS. Thank you, Christophe, for the information. (Gives money.)

  GREGORY. Ought he to speak like that? And be paid for it?

  THOMAS. Certainly – let him go trit-trotting around the city and bring me word what people say of the King’s great affairs. Government should always listen to the voice of the people.

  Scene Twenty

  Council – STEPHEN (now Bishop of Winchester) smirks, WARHAM asleep. Enter THOMAS, CRANMER and RAFE. Enter KING HENRY.

  KING HENRY. Cranmer?

  CRANMER. Majesty, have you ever found a passage in Scripture where it says England is subject to Rome?

  KING HENRY. There’s no such a passage.

  CRANMER. Nor can I find where it says a king – appointed under God to rule his people – is subject to any jurisdiction out of his own realm.

  KING HENRY. Go on.

  CRANMER. Where in Scripture does it say that England’s gold must be sent each year to Rome –

  THOMAS. So the Pope can clothe and feed his whores?

  KING HENRY. Well… I’ve never understood by what authority His Holiness takes my money. He speaks to me as if I were his subject. But it’s always been so. Hasn’t it?

  THOMAS. Fetch the books, Rafe.

  Exit RAFE.

  STEPHEN. Majesty, is this the time and the place –

  THOMAS. His Majesty asked Dr Cranmer to consult the universities of Europe on questions concerning his marriage to Queen Katherine – and to enquire into the nature of those authorities deemed competent to pronounce the marriage lawful or otherwise.

  STEPHEN. The authority of Rome –

  THOMAS. The authority of Rome is what’s in question.

  KING HENRY. Is it? In question?

  RAFE, GREGORY and CHRISTOPHE bring in huge piles of books and papers on carts. This time, in contrast with the earlier scene, the carts glide smoothly as THOMAS has oiled the wheels.

  CRANMER. The Pope holds you his subject, Majesty. He demands tribute. You ask if it’s always been so? In these books, we have found matter to show that in times past the King of England was the Head of his Church in England.

  THOMAS. He always was, always ought to have been, and ought to be so now.

  STEPHEN (picking up a book). Geoffrey of Monmouth? Historia Regum Britanniae? But –

  CRANMER. Geoffrey of Monmouth was a fine churchman and a great scholar – though an Oxford man. We have traced for Your Majesty the devious means and doubtful ways by which the natural order of things was subtly twisted and perverted for the benefit of Rome. A corrupt Church made the English king Rome’s subject and leached away his wealth – to his shame, and the shame of all England.

  THOMAS. We can show legal proofs that England should be an Empire entire of herself –

  KING HENRY. Will it take long?

  CRANMER. It will get you your annulment –

  KING HENRY. Truly? But can it be legal? These powers you say I ought to have… if I take them back… Could I just… ‘take them back’? How would that be lawful?

  THOMAS. Parliament will make it lawful.

  CRANMER. Once accepted by the bishops, it will be lawful in any court.

  KING HENRY. The Pope named me Defender of the Faith… would that not be taken from me?

  CRANMER. When you are rightfully Head of your Church, you can order religion in your realm and defend it as your own conscience, subject to God, dictates.

  KING HENRY. I’d preside in the Church courts?

  THOMAS. Who else?

  KING HENRY. Could I bring in my own case and sit in judgement on it?

  CRANMER. Subject to your own conscience.

  KING HENRY. Ah, but could I grant my own divorce?

  THOMAS. Your Archbishop could.

  KING HENRY. Warham? I doubt that. But when God gathers Warham to his bosom…

  THOMAS. A third of the wealth of England is in Church hands. Would it not be more useful to the Crown? Christ did not bestow on his followers grants or offices of state. When the gold we send to Rome is diverted into your treasury –

  KING HENRY. No… I’m not sure. I must discuss it with Anne. But… could it be… that this may at last…? I’m going to her. No word of this to Thomas More – go no further until we have discussed it with the Lady Anne. Cranmer – come and argue your case.

  Exeunt with CRANMER.

  RAFE and GREGORY cart out the books. STEPHEN collects his papers.

  THOMAS. You were very quiet, Stephen. Where do you stand?

  STEPHEN. Mmmm? Behind the King.

  THOMAS. Whatever your private opinion?

  STEPHEN. Always behind the King.

  THOMAS. I knew you were bishop material. How’s your new house at Hansworth coming along?

  STEPHEN. It is my joy – my consolation. Though the glaziers, gardeners, and other craftsmen you sent me are robbing me blind.

  THOMAS. No – they are the best. The best is exp
ensive. By the way, I am hearing strange rumours about you.

  STEPHEN. What rumours?

  THOMAS. It’s whispered that you keep two women in your household dressed as boys.

  STEPHEN. Do I? Better than two boys dressed as women. Now that would be opprobrious. (A dry laugh.)

  As THOMAS, RAFE, GREGORY and CHRISTOPHE leave, HARRY PERCY is heading towards them, drunk and in tears. He sees them and hurries off in another direction.

  HARRY PERCY. No, not you! No, no –

  THOMAS. Harry? Harry Percy – what’s the matter with you?

  HARRY PERCY. Go away, Cromwell – leave me alone! (Exit.)

  THOMAS. Go after him, Rafe – see what’s upset him.

  GREGORY. Did you see his face? I think he was crying.

  MARY BOLEYN runs on laughing – she’s been chasing HARRY PERCY.

  MARY BOLEYN. Cromwell – we’ve been looking everywhere for you.

  THOMAS. What’s the matter?

  MARY BOLEYN. The marriage is off! Anne’s hopes are dashed! The King came to tell her you’d finally cleared a way through to an annulment and then –

  THOMAS. What?

  MARY BOLEYN. Harry Percy’s wife is petitioning Parliament for a divorce. He’s not been to her bed for two years – says his conscience won’t let him because they’re not legally married. (Laughs.) They never have been! How could they be since he’s married to Anne Boleyn!

  THOMAS. What!

  MARY BOLEYN. The King’s a bachelor again but Anne’s a married woman! Don’t laugh though – arrange your face –

  ANNE’s room. BOLEYN at the table. GEORGE, head in hands – NORFOLK staring into an unlit fire. MARK, overlooked, plays a sad song. THOMAS and MARY BOLEYN arrive.

  JANE ROCHFORD. Better send Anne away until his rage cools. Pack her bags.

  GEORGE. Say another word, wife, and I may strike you!

  JANE ROCHFORD. The King can have nothing to do with her – if she’s concealing a secret marriage –

  GEORGE. I wish you were concealing a secret marriage – I wish I could divorce you – but Jesus, no chance of that! The fields were black with men running in the other direction.