Katharine received them in her private apartment and they sat together at the window overlooking the Palace gardens as they talked.
“You know, Master Vives, why I have commanded you to come to me?” asked Katharine.
“My friend has given me some idea of what Your Grace desires,” Vives answered.
“My daughter’s education is a matter which is of the utmost importance to me. Tell me how you think this should be arranged.”
“Sir Thomas and I are of one opinion on the education of young people,” said Vives.
“It is true,” added Thomas. “We both believe that it is folly to presume that a girl’s education is of less importance than that of a boy.”
“It is but natural,” went on Vives, “that an intelligent girl may come to a better understanding of Latin and Greek than a boy who is not possessed of the same intelligence.”
“I would have my daughter educated in scholarly subjects, but at the same time I wish her to learn the feminine arts,” answered Katharine.
“In that I am in full agreement with Your Grace,” said Vives.
“What more charming sight,” mused Thomas, “than a girl at her embroidery?”
“Or even at the spinning wheel working on wool and flax,” added Vives. “These are excellent accomplishments, but Your Grace has not summoned me to discuss them.”
“I am going to appoint you my daughter’s tutor,” the Queen told Vives, “and I wish you immediately to draw up a list of books for her to read.”
Vives bowed his head. “I will go to my task with the utmost pleasure, and I can immediately say that I think the Princess should read the New Testament both night and morning, and also certain selected portions of the Old Testament. She must become fully conversant with the gospels. She should, I believe also study Plutarch’s Enchiridion, Seneca’s Maxims, and of course Plato and Cicero.” He glanced at his friend. “I suggest that Sir Thomas More’s Utopia would provide good reading.”
The Queen smiled to see the look of pride on Thomas’s face thinking that his few vanities made him human, and therein lay the secret of his lovable nature.
“And what of the Paraphrase of Erasmus?” asked Thomas quickly.
“That also,” agreed Vives. “And I think the Princess should not waste her time on books of chivalry and romance. Any stories she might wish to read for her entertainment should either be sacred or historical, so that her time is not wasted in idleness. The only exception I would make is the story of Griselda, which contains such an excellent example of patience that the Princess might profit from it.”
Katharine said: “I can see that you will be an excellent tutor, but we must remember that she is but a child. Her life must not be all study. There must be some pleasure.”
Vives looked surprised; to him the greatest pleasure was in study, and he believed the Princess to be the most fortunate of children, having such a plan of study made for her.
Thomas laughed. “I’ll swear the Lady Mary, who so loves her music, will find time to escape to it from her books now and then. I know my own daughters….” (Katharine noticed the look of pride when he spoke of his daughters, which was even more marked than when he spoke of his books) “…are proficient in Greek and Latin but they find time to be merry.”
“Yours is a merry household,” answered the Queen.
And she found that she was comparing the King and Thomas More—two fathers who could not be more unlike. She had seen Thomas in company with his eldest daughter, Margaret, had seen them walk, their arms entwined, had heard the girl’s unrepressed laughter ringing out as she scolded her father in an affectionate way. It was impossible to imagine Mary and Henry thus.
What a fortunate man, this Thomas More; what a fortunate family!
“There is much merriment at Court,” answered Thomas gravely.
But he understood of course—he was a man who would always understand—and a great tenderness touched his face; the Queen knew that it expressed the compassion he felt for her little daughter, who would study alone—not as Thomas’s family did—and would be taught by the somewhat stern though excellent Vives instead of merry Thomas.
Somewhere from the grounds she heard the sound of laughter, and glancing down saw a group of young people. They made a charming picture on the grass in their brightly colored clothes and there was one girl among them who appeared to be the center of attraction. She was dark-haired, dark-eyed, somewhat sallow of complexion and, although not a beauty, certainly striking. She seemed to have more vitality than any other member of the group and was quite clearly taking the attention of the young men from the other girls who were present.
“A high-spirited party,” said the Queen; and Vives and Thomas More glanced out of the window. “That girl seems familiar but I do not recall who she is. Surely that is Thomas Wyatt with her—and Henry Percy.”
“The girl is Thomas Boleyn’s daughter, Your Grace,” Thomas told her.
Then Katharine knew of whom the girl reminded her. It was Mary Boleyn. The resemblance was slight, otherwise she would have realized immediately. This girl had an air of dignity and assurance, and pride too—all qualities in which Mary had been dismally lacking.
“This is the second girl, I believe,” said the Queen.
“Recently home from France on account of the war,” explained Thomas.
“Doubtless her father is looking for a place at Court for her,” said the Queen.
“He will find it,” replied Thomas, “not only for Anne but for his George also.”
“I trust,” said the Queen, “that this Anne is not like her sister in her morals, and that George does not bear too strong a resemblance to his father.”
“From what I have seen of them,” Thomas answered, “I should say they are a dazzling pair.”
“Well then, I suppose we must resign ourselves,” said the Queen with a smile, “for it seems the Boleyns have come to Court.”
THE CARDINAL had shut himself in his private apartments at Hampton Court; seated at the window from which he could see the river, he was waiting for a message which was all-important to him, for it would tell him whether his greatest ambition was realized or not.
The pale November sun shone wanly on the river. He thought: I shall miss Hampton Court; I shall miss England.
He would miss his family too; but he would find means of seeing them. He would have young Thomas in Rome with him, because he would very quickly overcome all difficulties. He thought of Rodrigo Borgia, Alexander VI, who, while living in the Vatican, had yet arranged to have his children with him; for a Pope was as powerful as a King; and once he was supreme in the Vatican, the frowns of unpredictable Henry would be of little moment to him.
Yet, he mused, I shall not forget my own country, and it will be a good day for England when an Englishman takes the Papal Crown.
How long the waiting seemed! He would see nobody. He had told his secretaries that he was to be disturbed only by messengers from abroad because he was working on important matters of state.
But soon the messenger must come.
He began to pace the apartment because he could no longer bear to stare at the river.
His chances were good. On the death of Leo X when Adrian VI had been elected, his hopes had been slender. Why should the Cardinals have elected a comparative newcomer to their ranks, an Englishman who had not previously worked closely with the Vatican? That election had taken place at the beginning of the year, and Adrian’s tenure of the Papacy had indeed been a short one for in September news had come to England of his death, and for the next two months the Cardinal had given less thought to affairs in England; his mind was on what would happen at the next conclave.