Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd [438]
And every few days, she would meekly beg him:
“Soften your heart, Edward. As a child at least, you must have been a Catholic once. Are you sure, now you are a man, it is not pride in your own mind that makes you turn from the authority of the Catholic Church?”
Authority. He understood what she wanted very well: it was the ancient demand of the Roman Church: admit that you are nothing, submit.
He would not.
Besides, after lying to her for those years, it was a relief to tell her the truth at last.
After six weeks had passed however, a slight change occurred. She went about her daily business quietly. She even welcomed him to her bed. She tried in all things to please him. And only once a week, on a Sunday, did she gently and lovingly sit beside him and beg him to reconsider.
“Not to please me,” she explained seriously, “but to save your soul.”
Inwardly he groaned.
How kind she was. How wronged. But whether she was weeping or, as now, coaxing, it was hard, week after week, to endure her sad mistrust.
And now he was about to give way.
It was Thomas Forest who persuaded him.
They had discussed the whole question the day before.
The new queen had only been on the throne a week and she had promised religious toleration. He had wanted to believe it, but the landowner assured him:
“Queen Mary will make England Catholic – by force if necessary.”
Already there were hints for the observant in Sarum, of what might be to come.
“I’ve spoken to Bishop Capon,” Forest explained, “he’s the best weathervane.”
“He’s a vigorous Protestant.”
Forest shook his head.
“That was last week. He’s changing. You must think of your safety and our business, Edward, and be ready to do the same.”
Which had made Edward Shockley think of his wife.
He looked at the situation calmly. He suspected Forest was right and the talk of tolerance was only a pretence.
Unless he wanted to risk his life, therefore, he would have to profess Catholicism again.
But what of Katherine? If he did so to comply with the new regime would she ever believe he was sincere? Surely not. He had already lied to her before.
Which led to a simple conclusion. Unless he was to endure years of her disbelief and distrust, he must convert now, apparently of his own free will.
He stood before her now in the guise of a penitent.
“Katherine, I ask your forgiveness. I spoke with fear in my heart, and with anger. I believe in the Catholic faith in which I was raised and I wish to return to it.”
“Are you sincere, Edward?” Her pale blue eyes were doubtful, yet he saw the hope in them.
“I swear.”
“Will you confess to a priest?”
“With all my heart.” He smiled.
There were tears in her eyes.
“I have prayed for this, Edward, three long months.”
“And I thank you for your prayers.”
How easy it was. He kissed her, though not without a secret sense of shame.
Forest was right.
Not only did Capon change sides again, but Bishop Gardiner was soon back at nearby Winchester. Within months, Parliament had granted Mary everything she demanded except the return of the English Church to Rome. All talk of toleration was forgotten. The Protestant bishops Latimer and Ridley were thrown into prison. Poor Archbishop Cranmer was arrested.
Worse, the thirty-seven-year-old queen longed for a Catholic husband and a child. Within a month she had chosen Philip of Spain. In order to make sure of support in the council Philip’s father the Holy Roman Emperor sent a gift of two thousand crowns to several key men. Lord Pembroke was one of them. And when Parliament protested at this intrusion of Spain into England’s affairs, Mary told them to mind their own business.
The news that came to Sarum left no doubt of the new queen’s strength.
In January a rebellion led by Wyatt, son of the minor poet, collected a large body of men and marched from Kent to London. At London they were