by G Lawrence
Henry was mine, would be mine in lawful marriage, and I would let nothing stand in the way of my future with him… or of my future on the throne, as Queen of England.
Epilogue
The Tower of London
The early hours of the 18th May, 1536
The fire burns low, and my candle flickers with the last of its life. Outside the window, the stars are retreating against the coming of the sun. Night has turned to morn, and still I sit here, lost in my memories of the past. But they have brought me comfort, and I find strength in them. All those memories, all those times… the first flush of the love between Henry and me. They bring back the strength I thought I had lost, as I saw my brother die.
The morning comes… soon Master Kingston will come to me, to tell me if I am to die this day or no. Will Henry’s promises that I might retire into a religious order become the truth? I think not, and yet I am left some hope to believe still in the love of my husband. There was a time, a time when I was all there was that could bring comfort to his heart and life to his soul. Perhaps, even now, he has not forgotten that, as I have not. Perhaps there will be something that echoes still within him, of the powerful love that lived and breathed between us.
The dawn comes, bringing red and gold fingers to stroke the heavens. The women are stirring about me and soon enough I will be no longer alone with my thoughts. What will come of this day? Will they tell me of my fate now, or will I be left to languish more, in this place between reality and dreams… sorrowing for the loss of my brother and the other men falsely accused with me of treason and adultery? I must gather the strength that my memories have brought to me, and hold them as a shield before me… I must be strong. I must have courage. I must stand and face whatever Fate has in store for me. Once, I was as a lioness in the face of the censure of the court and Katherine’s supporters… But that was later… that will be the next part of my story to remember, if I am left to wait longer to know what my fate will be.
There is noise outside in the corridor. I believe they will come and tell me what the King has decided… The present calls me from the past, and I must turn to face it, no matter what may come.
This is the end of The Lady Anne. Book Two of Above all Others; The Lady Anne. In Book Three, Above All Others, Anne faces the censure of the world as she and Henry seek to annul the marriage of the King to Katherine, and marches towards her goal, to become Henry’s wife, and the Queen of England.
About the Author
I find people talking about themselves in the third person to be entirely unsettling, so, since this section is written by me, I will use my own voice rather than try to make you believe that another person is writing about me to make me sound terribly important.
I am an independent author, publishing my books by myself, with the help of my lovely editor. I write in all the spare time I have. I briefly tried entering into the realm of ‘traditional’ publishing but, to be honest, found the process so time consuming and convoluted that I quickly decided to go it alone and self-publish.
My passion for history, in particular perhaps the era of the Tudors, began early in life. As a child I lived in Croydon, near London, and my schools were lucky enough to be close to such glorious places as Hampton Court and the Tower of London to mean that field trips often took us to those castles. I think it’s hard not to find the Tudors infectious when you hear their stories, especially when surrounded by the bricks and mortar they built their reigns within. There is heroism and scandal, betrayal and belief, politics and passion and a seemingly never-ending cast list of truly fascinating people. So when I sat down to start writing, I could think of no better place to start than somewhere and sometime I loved and was slightly obsessed with.
Expect many books from me, but do not necessarily expect them all to be of the Tudor era. I write as many of you read, I suspect; in many genres. My own bookshelves are weighted down with historical volumes and biographies, but they also contain dystopias, sci-fi, horror, humour, children’s books, fairy tales, romance and adventure. I can’t promise I’ll manage to write in all the areas I’ve mentioned there, but I’d love to give it a go. If anything I’ve published isn’t your thing, that’s fine, I just hope you like the ones I write which are your thing!
The majority of my books are historical fiction however, so I hope that if you liked this volume you will give the others in this series (and perhaps not in this series), a look. I want to divert you as readers, to please you with my writing and to have you join me on these adventures.
A book is nothing without a reader.
As to the rest of me; I am in my thirties and live in Cornwall with a rescued dog, a rescued cat and my partner (who wasn’t rescued, but may well have rescued me). I studied Literature at University after I fell in love with books as a small child. When I was little I could often be found nestled half-way up the stairs with a pile of books and my head lost in another world between the pages. There is nothing more satisfying to me than finding a new book I adore, to place next to the multitudes I own and love… and nothing more disappointing to me to find a book I am willing to never open again. I do hope that this book was not a disappointment to you; I loved writing it and I hope that showed through the pages.
This is only one of a large selection of titles coming to you on Amazon. I hope you will try the others.
If you would like to contact me, please do so.
On twitter, I am @TudorTweep and am more than happy to follow back and reply to any and all messages. I may avoid you if you decide to say anything worrying or anything abusive, but I figure that’s acceptable.
Via email, I am [email protected] a dedicated email account for my readers to reach me on. I’ll try and reply within a few days.
I publish some first drafts and short stories on Wattpad where I can be found at www.wattpad.com/user/GemmaLawrence31 . Wattpad was the first place I ever showed my stories, to anyone, and in many ways its readers and their response to my works were the influence which pushed me into self-publishing. If you have never been on the site I recommend you try it out. Its free, its fun and its chock-full of real emerging talent. I love Wattpad because its members and their encouragement gave me the boost I needed as a fearful waif to get some confidence in myself and make a go of a life as a real, published writer.
Thank you for taking a risk with an unknown author and reading my book. I do hope now that you’ve read one you’ll want to read more. If you’d like to leave me a review, that would be very much appreciated also!
Gemma Lawrence
Cornwall
2016
Thank You
…to so many people for helping me make this book possible… to my editor Brooke who entered into this with me and gave me her time, her guidance and also her encouragement. To my partner Matthew, who will be the first to admit that history is not his thing, and yet is willing to listen to me extol the virtues and vices of the Tudors and every other time period, repeatedly, to him and pushed me to publish even when I feared to. To my family for their ongoing love and support; this includes not only my own blood in my mother and father, sister and brother, but also their families, their partners and all my nieces who I am sure are set to take the world by storm as they grow. To Matthew’s family, for their support, and for the extended family I have found myself welcomed to within them. To my friend Petra who took a tour of Tudor palaces and places with me back in 2010 which helped me to prepare for this book; her enthusiasm for that strange but amazing holiday brought an ally to the idea I could actually write a book… And lastly, to the people who wrote all the books I read in order to write this book… all the historical biographers and masters of their craft who brought Anne, and her times, to life in my head.
Thank you to all of you; you’ll never know how much you’ve helped me, but I know what I owe to you.
Gemma
Cornwall
2016
Anne