Free Cor Rotto: A novel of Catherine Carey by Adrienne Dillard Page A

they were wrongfully accused of doing what Katherine truly is. And instead of going to the king’s councillors you aid in her deception.”
    Jane got up from her bed and came to me. She gripped my hands. “Please, Catherine, do not go to the councillors. If the queen is found out, my life is in danger for helping her. She is your own cousin, would you see her head on a block?” She hung her head. “Can we truly blame her? We all knew she loved Culpeper before the king decided to take her for his own. “
    My indignation faltered. She was my family, but for that reason alone she should have known better. The Howards never forgot that the Boleyns had almost brought them down and they reminded us at every opportunity. It was easy to look down at her from the comfort of my marriage to Francis, but I too had been denied my first love. Perhaps if she had truly given the king a chance, she could have been happy and satisfied to be queen. The king certainly adored her and demonstrated it for everyone to see. Instead of accepting her new position, she had acted impetuously and put both her life and Jane’s in danger.
    “I will not go to the councillors,” I said softly. “But I will not be party to this dangerous deception. I will not deliver your cramp ring or any other gifts that the queen wishes to give to Culpeper and I will not help you get them alone. I will not actively seek her fall, but I will not lie when asked about her activities.”
    Jane nodded. After a moment she said thoughtfully. “You know why she looked so panicked back there?”
    I stared at her silently.
    “Because I am supposed to help her see Culpeper tonight. They are meeting in her close stool.”
    Disgusted, I shook my head and left the room.
    Francis tried his best to be intimate before bed, but I could not stomach the thought after hearing what the queen was planning with Culpeper.
    Frustrated, Francis lay down beside me. “Catherine, you are completely distracted. Have I done something to offend you?”
    His worried eyes broke my heart. “Oh Francis, you have never offended me!” I leaned over, kissed him and then lay my head on his chest.
    He stroked my hair. “Then please tell me what is wrong. You have never rebuffed me before.”
    I could not stop the tears from my eyes or the torrent of words that came from my mouth. Before long, the whole sordid affair was out. Francis was angry that Jane had tried to involve me. He wanted me to go to Suffolk, but I begged him not to force me. Finally he agreed. We would not go to the councillors until we were back in London. I knew this was a secret I could not keep for long and I could not bear to put my husband or son in danger. Francis wrapped me in his arms and we slept. His warm muscular body made me feel protected. It would pain me to leave those arms in the morning.
    We continued our progress through Pontefract, Stamford and York. We were greeted with crowds and great cheers. It had been such a long time since the king had shown his favour to the North and after the rebellions in the last five years he was eager to show his forgiveness. He was also demonstrating his strength and reminding his people that if they rose up again, they would be defeated as before. Katherine revelled in the attention and, just as I suspected, kept up her affair with Culpeper. Along the way she collected a new secretary. In August, a young man named Frances Dereham joined our party. He had known Katherine when she was living at Lambeth, long before she was queen, but I still distrusted his familiar behaviour towards her.
    “Why does Katherine allow this Dereham to speak to her as though she were a common washer woman?” I asked Nan as we sat in the garden enjoying the mid-summer sun. The roses were in full bloom and the heavy perfumed scent enveloped us. That scent always took me back to the gardens at Hever. I wondered if the garden had, once again, bloomed into a riot of colour and hoped that Anne of Cleves was