Catherine of Aragon
Page 10
I know what a mistress is. It is a woman who lives with a man as if the pair of them were married, only they are not. I am glad Anne has refused to do that. It would be dreadful for Queen Catherine.
Mark laughed when I said this. “Anne has no sympathy for the Queen,” he said. “She is refusing to be the King’s mistress for just one reason. She wants to be his wife, and she will settle for nothing less.”
That is nonsense, of course. Henry is married to Queen Catherine, and the Church does not allow marriage vows to be broken. They will be man and wife for ever.
23rd August 1526
Mama says I am a woman now. I was frightened when I found traces of blood and ran to her because I thought I was ill, but she told me it’s a very important part of growing up. I felt angry at first. Couldn’t I have had a choice about whether I wanted to grow up? I have always wanted to have the same freedom as my brothers, to run about and ride and shoot, but Mama shook her head today, and said women have more important things to do. Perhaps it will not be too bad. The ladies of the court ride horses and fly hawks and go hunting, I suppose. In any case, I cannot change my life, any more than I can stop the winds blowing or the sun shining, so I will enjoy whatever there is to enjoy.
Rosanna has fallen in love with Diego Luiz de Frontera, the son of one of the Spanish attendants who came over from Granada with the Queen. She blushes and says it is not serious, but she cannot keep her eyes off him. He is very handsome, slim and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and eyes. I can see she is very happy.
Poor Princess Mary will not be happy. The French king, Francis I, wants to marry again because his wife died two years ago, and he has offered his hand as a husband for Mary. King Henry is delighted and so is Cardinal Wolsey.
The Queen, however, is not delighted at all. The French have always been enemies of Spain, so she does not want her daughter to marry their king. Besides, Mary is still only ten, and Francis is even older than the Emperor Charles. He could be her grandfather.
20th February 1527
Today is my thirteenth birthday – and I have been appointed a Lady of Court, to wait on the Queen! In a way it is nothing new, as I have always helped Rosanna and Mama, but I feel very grown-up, with my hair braided neatly under an embroidered cap, a present from Rosanna. Mama gave me a new gown, much more elaborate than any of my childhood dresses, and although I have always preferred boyish things, I must admit, this lovely dress is a pleasure. I specially like the slashed and embroidered over-sleeves that show the brocaded fabric underneath. They can be changed if they become soiled, as they are easier to clean than an entire gown. Mama gave me three pairs of sleeves, but my favourites are the pale-green silk ones, embroidered in blue and silver-white.
How strange it is to feel like a court lady! Suddenly I am included in the gossip instead of being sent away like a little girl, and I am starting to understand how things are done. People who want a favour of the King used to ask Queen Catherine to put in a word for them, but now they ask Anne Boleyn instead, knowing she is the one Henry listens to.
The Queen ignores all this. Since Christmas I have been going out with her and some other ladies almost every day, helping her to distribute charity among the crowds who flock to see her. Whatever her private worries may be, she is always serene and kind, and the common people adore her. They have probably heard the rumours about Anne, for gossip can never be stopped, but it has merely made them more protective of their true queen.
While the events described and some of the characters in these books may be based on actual historical events and real people, Eva De Puebla is a fictional character, created by the author and her story is a work of fiction.
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2001
(as My Story: My Tudor Queen)
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd, 2013
Text copyright © Alison Prince, 2001
Cover Illustration © Richard Jones, 2010
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