The Kiss of the Concubine: A story of Anne Boleyn Read Online Free PDF Page A

strings , we follow after him. I hurry forward, try to slow his pace. “My Lord Cardinal, the queen is expecting me in her chambers.”
    His step does not falter. “If Her Majesty can be made to wait while you dally with my secretary, she can wait a while longer.”
    Harry, who has turned from a randy lion into a mewling kitten, makes a face at me, begging me not to argue further. When the cardinal turns suddenly up a sweeping stone stairway, we both follow like miscreant children.
    Wolsey storms into his chambers and slams a book on the table. His aide quietly gathers his papers and melts into the tapestried walls , as if used to this kind of interruption.
    “Well, explain to me, Percy, what you are doing dallying with this girl when you are betrothed to marry Mary Talbot in the spring.”
    Percy’s face turns as red as the cardinal’s robes. He flaps his arms helplessly, decides to engage the cardinal’s mercy. “My Lord Cardinal, I have known Mistress Talbot for years, I have no wish to wed her, nor she to be joined with me. Anne and I ….”
    “Anne and I? Anne and I? There is NO Anne and I. There is only Mary Talbot and Henry Percy – the match is made, all is settled. You will marry in the spring!”
    Percy makes a strangl ed noise in the back of his throat. “But I’ve promised ….”
    “Then you had no right to promise … and neither did she.” He waves his arm rudely in my direction. “She is intended for Ormond. That too is decided. It is not your place to decide.”
    Not our place to decide? The rage is bubbling inside me. Who is this fat priest to tell me what I should do? What I should feel?  With the anger still rising, I take a step forward.
    “We are pledged.”
    The accent I picked up in France becomes more pronounced when I am upset, and even I can hear the foreignness of my voice. He slowly turns his head, fixes me with his liverish eye. “Pledged?”
    My knees begin to tremble. I creep closer to Percy, hoping for his support , but he says nothing, his hands hanging limply at his sides. I am forced to speak out to try to save the both of us.
    “Yes, My Lord Cardinal, pledged before witnesses to be married.”
    He turns his face back to Percy. “Is this so?”
    Percy stammers and sweats, shifts from foot to foot. His face works as he thinks up a reply, he bites his lips, loosens his collar until, at last, he discovers his courage.
    “I love her, My Lord.”
    “Love? You are Northumberland’s heir. It is not your place to love. If you continue with this … this folly, your father will disinherit you. And then what will you do? Feed her on worms?”
    I can see Harry’s bravado diminishing. He is easily beaten , but there is yet a little fight left in me.
    “We had hoped you would speak for us, My Lord Cardinal. My father has much love and respect for you as, I am sure, does the Earl ….”
    “If Boleyn … if your father wasn’t in Europe, he would have spotted this misbegotten attachment and stopped it in the bud the moment it began! Percy here would be safely married and you’d be at Hever nursing a sore arse.”
    He turns back to Percy. “I will summon your father to court. He will put you straight. Meanwhile, you are not to look upon this … this girl, again.”
    I turn to Percy , who reaches for my outstretched hands. Wolsey steps between us. “Or touch her!” he roars.
    He swivels his head toward me, his eyes full of venom. “Get you to the queen, Mistress, and don’t let me see or hear of you in this boy’s company again.”
    “Percy!” I wail as Wolsey edges me toward the door. He won’t look at me. His head is lowered, his eyes on the floor, The cardinal stands between us, ready to block any move I may make toward Harry.
    My eyes fill and Harry seems to dissolve, his features blurring as if I am looking at him through a rain-washed window. I see him shatter and his cheeks grow moist and, as I look, I realise that he is really just a boy. I try to hang on to the