The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katherine Parr

by Jean Plaidy

  “It was just an intellectual exercise, nothing more.”

  “It was not a heresy… not a faith to die for.”

  The Queen took to her bed; she was physically sick with horror. Anne—delicate Anne—condemned to the flames! This thing must not be allowed to happen. But how could she prevent it? What power had she?

  The King had been irritable with her; he had ignored her when the courtiers were assembled. Once he had made up his mind regarding the Duchesses of Suffolk and Richmond he would find some means of disposing of his present Queen.

  Her sister came and knelt by her bed. They did not speak, and Lady Herbert’s eyes were veiled. She wanted to beg her sister to plead for Anne; yet at the same time she was silently begging the Queen to do nothing.

  Little Jane Grey went quietly about the apartment. She knew what was happening. They would burn Mistress Anne Askew at the stake, and no one could do anything to save her.

  Imaginative as she was, she felt that this terrible thing which was happening to Anne was happening to herself. She pictured herself in that cold and airless cell; she pictured herself facing her judges at the Guildhall.

  That night she dreamed that she stood in the square at Smithfield, and that it was about her own feet that the men were piling faggots.

  She was with the Prince when Princess Elizabeth came to see him.

  Elizabeth was a young lady now of thirteen years. There were secrets in her eyes; she wore clothes to call attention to the color of her hair, and rings to set off the beauty of her hands. She could never look at a man without—so it seemed to Jane—demanding to know whether he admired her. She was even thus with her tutors. And it was clear that Mistress Katharine Ashley, who thought her the most wonderful person in the world, now found her a difficult charge.

  Everyone, even Elizabeth, looked sad because of Anne Askew. Elizabeth liked the new learning as much as Jane did—but differently. Elizabeth appreciated it, but would be ready to abandon it. Jane thought: I would not. I would be like Anne Askew.

  “Something must be done to save her!” said Jane.

  Edward looked expectantly at his sister, for she was the one who was always full of plans. If something could be done, Elizabeth would invariably suggest the means.

  But now she shook her head.

  “There is nothing to be done. Those with good sense will keep quiet.”

  “We cannot let them send her to the stake!” insisted Jane.

  “It is no affair of ours. We have no say in the matter.”

  “We could plead, could we not?”

  “With whom could we plead?”

  “With the King.”

  “Would you dare? Edward, would you dare?”

  “With those near the King perhaps?” suggested Edward.

  “With Gardiner?” cried the Princess ironically. “With the Chancellor?”

  “No, indeed.”

  “Then with Cranmer? Ha! He is too wise. He does not forget how, recently, he himself came near to disaster. He will say nothing. He will allow this affair to pass away and be forgotten—as we all must.”

  “But it is Anne—our dearest Mistress Askew!”

  “Our foolish Mistress Askew. She dared to stand up and say that the holy bread was not the body of Christ.”

  “But that is what we know to be true.”

  “We know?” Elizabeth opened her eyes very wide. “We read of these things, but we do not talk of them.”

  “But if she believes…”

  “I tell you she is a fool. There is no place in this court …nor in this world, I trow, for fools.”

  “But you…no less than ourselves….”

  “You know not what you say.”

  “Then you are against Anne, against our stepmother? You are with Gardiner?”

  “I am with none and against none,” answered the Princess. “I am … with myself.”

  “Perhaps Uncle Thomas could put a plea before my father,” said Edward. “He is clever with words, and my father is amused by him. Uncle Thomas will know what to do.”

  “’ Tis true,” said Elizabeth. “He will know what to do, and he will do what I shall do.”

  She smiled and her face flushed suddenly; it was clear to Jane that Elizabeth was thinking, not of wretched Anne Askew, but of jaunty Thomas Seymour.

  THE KING WAS in a merry mood. He sat, with a few of his courtiers about him, while a young musician—a beautiful boy— played his lute and sang with such sweetness that the King’s thoughts were carried away from the apartment. The song was of love; so were the King’s thoughts.

  It should be my lady of Suffolk, he decided. She would bear him sons. He pictured her white body and her hair, touched with the bright yellow powder which so many used to give that pleasant golden touch. She was a fine, buxom woman.

  Her glances had told him that she found him attractive. He liked her the better because she was the widow of Charles Brandon. There had always been friendship between himself and Charles. How readily he had forgiven the fellow when he had so hastily married Henry’s own sister, Mary Tudor, after old Louis’ death. Henry chuckled at the recollection of the old days, and a great longing for them swept over him.

  He was not an old man. Fiftyfive. Was that so old? He decided angrily that he felt old because he no longer had a wife who pleased him.

  Why is it, he pondered, that she cannot give me sons?

  He had the answer to that. God was displeased with her. And why should God be displeased with her? She was no harlot—he would admit that—as the others had been. No. But she was a heretic. She was another such as that friend of hers, this Anne Askew. And that woman had been found guilty and condemned to the flames. Henry licked his lips. Was this wife of his any less guilty than the woman they had condemned to die?

  I would not wish her to die such a death, he thought. I am a merciful man. But was it right that one woman should die for her sins while another, equally guilty, should go free?

  There was an unpleasant rumor that the Duchess of Suffolk was one of those ladies who had dabbled in heresy. He did not want to examine that now. He refused to believe it. It was the sort of thing her enemies would say against her, knowing his interest. No! There was no need to occupy his thoughts with that matter…at this time.

  She was a fascinating creature—aye, and not a little fascinated by her King. Feeling perhaps just a little afraid of such a mighty lover, seeming at times to long to run away? Perhaps. But he knew how she longed to stay!

  In the old days she would have been his mistress ere this. But when a man grows older, he mused, he does not slip so easily into lovemaking. There is not the same desire for haste. Lovemaking must now be conducted more sedately, by the dim light of say…one candle?

  His Chancellor was at his side. The King smiled. Wriothesley had comported himself well at the trial of the heretic. He had shown no softness merely because she was a woman.

  A woman! A new vision of the Duchess’s beauty rose before him. Soon to be tested! he thought with pleasure.

  Nay! Anne Askew was scarcely a woman. Lean of body and caring for books rather than the caress of a lover. That was not how a woman should be. No! Anne Askew was no woman.

  He caught the phrase and repeated it to his conscience, for he was wily and shrewd and could guess what plans were being formed in the Chancellor’s mind.

  No woman! No woman! he repeated to his conscience.

  She was not alone in her guilt. There must be others. A little questioning, and she might disclose their names. The name of the Duchess of Suffolk came quickly into his mind. No, no. It was not true. He did not believe it. Moreover he had no fools about him. There was not one of them who would dare present him with the name of an innocent lady.

  But why should Anne Askew not be questioned by his servants of the Tower? Because she was a woman? But she was no woman…no true woman.

  And if I find heretics in my court, he said to his conscience, they shall not be spared. In the name of the Holy C
hurch of which I am the head, they shall not be spared…no matter who…no matter who….

  He could see the fair Duchess staring dreamily ahead, listening to that song of love. Was she thinking of a lover, a most desirable and royal lover?

  He spoke to his conscience again: “I am a King, and many matters weigh heavily on my mind. I am the head of a great State, and I have seen that State grow under my hands. I have shown wisdom in my relations with foreign powers. I have allowed nothing to stand in the way of England. I have played off the Emperor Charles against sly François… and I have seen my country grow in importance in the world. I am a King and, because of these state matters, which are ever with me, I have need of the soothing sweetness of love. I have need of a mistress.”

  The conscience said: “You have a wife.”

  “A wife who is a heretic?”

  “Not yet proven.”

  The little eyes were prim.

  “And if it were proved, I should have no alternative but to put her from me. I cannot tolerate heretics in my kingdom. Whoever they should prove to be, I could not tolerate those who work against God’s truth.”

  “Nay! But it would have to be proved.”

  “Perhaps it is my duty to prove it. And when I talk of love I think not of my body’s needs. When did I ever think of that? Nay! I need sons. I need them now in my declining years more than I ever did. If I put away one wife and take another, it would be solely with the object of getting myself sons, of making my line safe … for England’s sake.”

  “That,” said the conscience primly, “is a very good motive for putting away a barren wife.”

  The conscience was subdued. It had been shown that as usual the sensualist and the moralist walked hand in hand.

  And now the Chancellor was at his side.

  He murmured: “Your Grace’s pardon, but have I Your Grace’s permission to question the condemned woman?”

  “You suspect you can get the names of others?”

  “I do, Your Majesty; and I propose to question her in the service of Your Grace.”

  “If there be those in this realm who disobey their King, I would know of them. Whoever they be, sir Chancellor, they may expect no mercy from me.”

  The Chancellor bowed. He was pleased to have won such an easy victory.

  THE DOOR OF ANNE’S cell was opening.

  Two men had come for her.

  “Is it to be so soon?” she asked. “Do you take me to Smithfield?”

  “Not yet, mistress. You have another journey to make ere you set out on that last one.”

  “What journey is this?”

  “You will see soon enough. Are you ready to come with us?”

  “Yes.”

  She walked between the two men.

  “Whither are you taking me?” she asked; but she believed she knew.

  “Oh God,” she prayed, “help me. Help me now as never before, for I need Your help. I am a woman… and weak… and I have suffered much. I am faint from hunger, sick from cold; but it is not these things which distress me. I mourn because I am afraid.”

  She fell against the slimy walls in her sickness; she drew back shuddering as she heard the rats scuttling away, alarmed by the sound of footsteps.

  “This way, mistress.”

  One of the men pushed her forward, and before her dazed eyes appeared a short, spiral staircase, down which they led her.

  Now they were in the gloomy dungeons below the great Tower. Foul odors from the river were stronger here.

  “Oh God,” she prayed, “let me die here. Let me die for the Faith. Willingly I will give my life. Let me not bring disgrace on the Faith. Let me be strong.”

  Now the sickening stench of stale blood assailed her nostrils. She had no doubt to what place they were taking her. Misery seemed to haunt it. She fancied she heard the screams of men in agony. Did she really hear them, or were they the ghostly echoes of forgotten men?

  She was pushed into the chamber—that dread chamber, the sight of which sickened the hearts of the bravest men.

  She fell against a stone pillar from which hung the hideous instruments whose uses she could only guess, except that she knew they were made to torture men.

  Two men had come toward her—two of the most brutishlooking men she had ever seen. Their eyes betrayed them—their glittering, cold, excited eyes. Those eyes betrayed too a certain lewdness in their thoughts; it was as though they spoke and said: “Ha! Here we have a woman!” These two men were Chancellor Wriothesley and Solicitor-General Rich, whom she had seen at her trial.

  She was aware that this was to be one of the most important cross-examinations which had ever taken place in this room, for not only were the Chancellor and the Solicitor-General present, but there also was Sir Anthony Knevet, the Lieutenant of the Tower.

  She looked at him appealingly, for he had not the cruel, animal look of the other men, and it seemed to her that there was sympathy in his eyes, as though they meant to convey the message to her: “I am not responsible for this. I but obey orders.”

  The Chancellor spoke first. He had seated himself at the table on which were writing materials.

  “You wonder why you are brought here, madam?” he said.

  “I know why people are brought here. It is to answer questions.”

  “You are clever. I can see that we need not waste time with explanations.”

  The Solicitor-General had turned to her. “You will answer my questions, madam.”

  “Do not weary yourselves with asking me questions,” she said. “I have answered them, and I shall not change those answers. I believe that the body of Christ…”

  Rich waved a hand. “No, no. That is settled. You are a heretic. We know that. You have been sentenced, and that case is closed.”

  “It is for another reason that you are brought here,” said Wriothesley. “You were not alone in your heresies. You must know the names of many people who support that erroneous belief for which you are going to die.”

  “How should I know what goes on in the hearts and minds of others?”

  “Madam, you are very clever. You have read too many books… far too many books. But do not waste your cleverness on us. We do not want sly answers. We want names.”

  “Names?”

  “The names of those who attended your meetings, who read those books with you.”

  “I cannot give you names.”

  “Why not, madam?”

  “If I could say with certainty that such and such a person believes as I do…even so Iwould not give a name.”

  “It would be wise not to be saucy. We are less patient here than in the Guildhall.”

  “That I understand. Many may hear your words in the Guildhall. Here, you may say what you will.”

  “Madam, you are a lady of gentle birth. I do not think you realize the importance of your visit to this chamber.”

  “I know, sir, why you have brought me here,” she said. “Here you bring men to suffer torture. I did not know that you brought women. I understand now that it is so.”

  “You are insolent, Madam. Have a care.”

  Wriothesley signed to the two men, who came forward. They were professional torturers; their faces were blank; they were devoid of all feeling, as all must become who ply such a horrible trade.

  They had seized her by the arms, and Wriothesley put his face close to hers.

  “I do not think even now that you fully understand what will happen to you if you are obstinate. You have heard of the rack, no doubt, but you have no notion of its action.”

  “I can imagine that,” she answered; she hoped that he did not see her lips moving in prayer, forming that one word which made up her desperate plea: Courage.

  “Take her to the rack,” said the Solicitor-General. “Mayhap the sight of it will bring her to her senses.”

  She was dragged across the room and her eyes perceived that instrument which none could look on without a shudder. It was shaped like a trough, at the ends of
which were windlasses; in these, slots had been cut in which oars could be placed in order to turn them, and about them were coiled ropes to which the wrists and ankles of the sufferer could be tied and made taut by winding the windlasses. By means of the oars, in the hands of two strong men, the windlasses could be turned so that the victim’s legs and arms were slowly pulled out of their sockets. Even the dreaded Scavenger’s Daughter was not more feared than the rack.

  “You…you would put me on the rack…in the hope that I would betray the innocent?” asked Anne.

  “We would put you there that you might betray the guilty.”

  She looked at the men about her, and her eyes rested on the anxious face of the Lieutenant of the Tower, but he could not bear to meet her glance. He said: “My lords, I like this not. A lady…to be put on the rack!”

  “Those are His Majesty’s orders,” said Wriothesley.

  Knevet turned away. “If you are sure, gentlemen, that these are the King’s commands, then we must obey them.” He turned to Anne. “I appeal to you, madam. Give us the names that we ask of you, and save yourself from torture.”

  “I cannot give names merely to save myself from pain. How could I?”

  “You are brave,” said the Lieutenant. “But be guided by me. Give the names…and have done with this miserable affair.”

  “I am sorry,” said Anne steadfastly.

  “Then,” said Wriothesley, “we have no alternative. Madam, you will take off your robe.”

  She was made to stand before them in her shift, whereupon they placed her on the rack and attached the ropes to her emaciated wrists and ankles.

  “Are you sure,” said Wriothesley, “that you wish us to continue?”

  “You must do with me as you will.”

  The Chancellor and Solicitor-General signed to the two men who had taken their stand at each end of the trough.

  Slowly the windlasses began to turn; her poor sagging body became taut, and then… such agony took possession of it that for one terrible moment she must scream aloud for mercy. But almost immediately she was lost in blessed unconsciousness.

  They would not allow her to remain in that happy state. They were splashing vinegar on her face. She opened her eyes, but she did not see the men about her; she was aware only of her sagging body held to the ropes by her dislocated limbs.