The Concubine [antikvár]

"It was devised that the Lord Percy should marry one of the Earl of Shrewbury's daughtersas he did afterwards. Mistress Anne Boleyn was greatly offended with this, saying that if ever it lay in her power she would work the Cardinal as much displeasure as he had done her."Cavendish. Life of WolseyBückling Hall, Norfolk. October 1523The serving woman went and knelt by the hearth and busied herself with the kindling of the fire. Every movement, every line of her body proclaimed that she was making a concession to unusual circumstance. Fifteen years and almost as many small promotions lay between her and such a lowly task, but the room, the whole house except for the kitchen, was as cold and damp as the grave, and what was left of the household was in that state of disorganisation possible only to one caught unawares in the moment of relaxation following a visit from its master who has just departed and is unlikely to return for some time. So Emma Arnett, a practical woman, was lighting the fire.She had, after all, been specially charged to look after her new mistress, the pale, thin girl, stony-eyed with misery, who now stood, still in her damp riding clothes, staring out at the lashing rain. It had rained almost all the way from London, and the state of the roads had added at least two days to the miserable journey. Unless the girl were soon warmed, and coddled a little, she'd come down with a cold, and to judge by the look of her, she was in no state to shake off even the most trivial indisposition.i1