How It All Goes Down
Spring 1536
- The ice melts, but Henry is still cold toward Anne.
- Anne attempts to get help from her uncle, whom she turned against the instant she became queen.
- Anne's uncle will not forgive her, or help her, unless she assures him that George will get the Order of the Garter in April.
- The king awards the Order of the Garter to someone else. So Anne is out of luck.
- The rumors around Anne continue to swell.
- The latest scandal is that Anne is apparently having affairs with many men.
- Mary's uncle advises Mary retrieve her son from the tutorship of Henry Norris, William Brereton, Francis Weston, and Thomas Wyatt.
- William agrees, and he says he will get Henry back.
- Meanwhile, Anne is sick of all the rumors, and she decides to confront Henry directly.
- Anne says that her not having a son is not her fault. She has given birth to a princess, who she believes will "be the greatest princess this country has ever had" (48.107).
- Henry turns his face away and will not address Anne directly.
- Henry dismisses Anne coldly, and she and Mary return to Anne's room with baby Elizabeth in tow.
- In Anne's room, she has an unexpected visitor: Mark Smeaton.
- Smeaton has been interrogated by the king's men. They asked if he had had an affair with Anne. Or with her brother, George. He denied it all, but Anne and George are still worried about the storm brewing in their direction.
- Soon, it's May Day. Mayday! Mayday! The Boleyn ship is going down.
- Mary learns that Smeaton has been taken to the Tower of London.
- Mary can wait no longer. She will take Catherine and leave court for good.
- Unfortunately, Mary's horse needs shoes. That's like wanting to go on a road trip, but first you need an oil change and new tires.
- By the time the work is done, George has been arrested and taken to the Tower of London.
- So has Anne, on charges of adultery and witchcraft.
- Even when facing certain death, manipulative Anne keeps playing her games. She takes young Catherine with her to the tower as her lady's maid.
- Mary is livid—and worried for Catherine's safety. But she is assured that Catherine will be fine.
- Mary is able to visit Catherine at the gates to the Tower of London.
- Mary asks Catherine to request release from Anne, but Catherine won't abandon her aunt, no matter how crazy she is.