The first gift

The first gift

Jane closed the casket upholstered by a fine blue texture and handed it out to the page.

« Bring it back » she said, without turning her bright eyes away from that object.

« The King won’t be pleased if I do so » replied the boy, who showed no intention of moving.

« Report to him that I feel honoured by his thought, but I can’t accept it » she advised. Then she turned her back to him and moved toward the window. She leant her hand on the glass and glanced down to the garden. When she finally was alone, she sat down and reclined her head.

Now everything was going to change.

King Henry delivered to her a necklace with an enormous and magnificent sapphire; that unexpected gift came along with a small dedication.

This jewel will add a new light to the splendid star that already lies in you.

E.

He signed only with the initial of his name: maybe he wished to play the secret admirer game. It wouldn’t be the first time, King Henry loved to disguise himself and pretend to be a Mister Nobody, so that he could claim to seduce women not with his title but with his charm. Not that he ever managed to trick anybody. However, who but the King could possibly own such a jewel?

Providentially, that gift came while she was alone in her room: the Queen would have gone mad if she had seen it. Anne Boleyn was an impetuous woman, extremely jealous of what was hers. Conquered the King’s heart and convinced him to deny the sacred bond which linked him with Queen Catherine, she was afraid to succumb to the same fate.

If she had known that now King Henry was dedicating his attention to her, to Jane Seymour, she would have made her life impossible.

The circumstance in which she was receiving such a gift was making everything even more terrific: it was the first day of the year 1536. If the King was showering her with gifts since the first day of the year, what should she expect from the successive three hundred and sixty-four?