The Tudor Dynasty · Conversa

Thomas Boleyn stood in the corridor of the Palace of Westminster, its walls lined with faded tapestries, his fingers worrying at a loose thread on his cuff. Cardinal Wolsey had just emerged from the King's council chamber, the hem of his robes whispering across the stone floor, his face wearing the smile of a man who has been flayed and still finds it necessary to look dignified. Boleyn stepped forward to meet him, but Wolsey spoke first: "Thomas, the King has no interest in hearing Norfolk's side of things today." The words had barely settled when the Duke of Norfolk came rounding the corner from the staircase, his boot heels striking the floor in sharp, urgent beats, muttering about French treachery and how Francis's ambassador should have been thrown into the Thames long ago. Boleyn did not reply, because he had just caught sight of Anne coming from the far end of the corridor, a folded letter in her hand, her eyes cutting toward the council chamber door. He shifted to block Norfolk's line of sight and said quietly to his daughter: "Don't wait here." Anne did not slow her pace, tossing back only a single remark as she passed: "Queen Catherine did not come to the chapel this morning." At that moment the council chamber door was pulled open from within. Henry VIII stood on the threshold, one hand resting on the doorframe, his gaze sweeping across the figures gathered in the corridor. He looked at Wolsey. "That matter I asked you to handle — has Rome sent any word?"\n\nWolsey's smile faltered for just an instant. Boleyn lowered his head and heard Norfolk give a quiet, cold laugh beside him.