A Writer's Wonderland [PDF] - University of Portsmouth

Passed my child-bearing age? Henry will
soon
Realise, the doctors question me but
I do not know where the bump of my
Belly is, I do not know what I am
Punished for... I see the court whispering.
I sense their spies circling me, I shiver
In my chambers because I know they are
Pressed against the thick, dark wood,
listening.
They consider their rewards and betray me.
They have told him and he is furious.
He has no heir. He has only Mary.
I cannot calm him. There is no hope left.
We do not pray to God for a next time.
IX
This affiliation with the Boleyn
Girl has become something quite different.
Henry has abandoned Sir Loyal Heart,
And now he pronounces his motto as
‘Declare I dare not’. Is this for her, Anne?
She has denied him, yet this entices
Him. He stalks her, writes her secret letters,
He has bestowed Anne her own apartments!
I am alone in this scandalous court.
Mary has been sent from me and I dare
Not leave Henry alone to his sorceress.
In my rooms, Anne deals cards for her and
I.
I feel the ladies watching intently,
I struggle to retain my appearance,
89
But I lean forward and utter to her,
‘You have good hap to stop at a King, Anne,
But you are not like others. You will have
All or none.’ She looks at me and she slips,
Her sleeve rides up to reveal her blemish,
Her sixth finger, her mark of a witch.
Others would cross themselves, but I
refrain.
She is a clever girl, denying a
King to get what she wants, to make lust
look
Like love. She does not play games like a
whore,
She uses dark magic, worthy of death.
I hear rumours that Henry doubts our
Marriage, I hear that he wishes to try
Us before a court of law. I am dumb,
Stunned, affronted, I am almost sick!
There is not much time. I alert the Pope,
The Emperor and Rome - they must stop
this.
My letters are barely thrust into the
Palms of my Spanish ally when Henry
Comes to me in my closet. He bids my
Court to leave us. He is shamefaced. I wait,
He has prepared himself. I lean myself
Against the back of my chair, I grip the gold
Until my hands turn white. He drops and
kneels.
‘Learned and pious men have advised us to
Separate, Catherine. We are living
Together in sin. I should not have wed