Cromwell’s early letters to Mary, supported by Chapuys, showed a genuine concern for her. Since Elizabeth’s birth, Mary had lived at Hatfield, forced to serve in her half-sister’s household. Anne’s paternal aunts, Lady Anne Shelton and her sister Alice Boleyn, managed the household from 1533 onwards, and during this time tried to persuade Mary to accept the title of ‘Lady’ as opposed to ‘Princess’. Lady Shelton was repeatedly chastised by Anne Boleyn for showing too much sympathy for the young girl. In The Mirror and the Light, Cromwell enjoys a close relationship with Lady Shelton and her husband, noting that she harbours no ill will towards him for the execution of her niece. Cromwell also sends Rafe Sadler and Thomas Wriothesley to visit Mary and explain her position, their respectful tones contrasting with the aggressive approach of the Duke of Norfolk and Bishop Sampson, who were sent by Henry on the same errand.
In the midst of this battle of wills between Mary and her father, Reginald Pole sent his royal cousin a copy of his treatise, Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione, a strong denunciation of Henry’s position as head of the English church; it also attacked Henry’s claim of royal supremacy and his second marriage. Reginald also called on the princes of Europe to depose Henry, without recognizing that such an act of treason endangered not only his family, but also Mary, whom he sought to champion.
As Mantel’s Henry rages: ‘You see how it all works together? Pole exhorts Europe to take arms against me, and at the very same hour, my own daughter defies me.’ But rumours spread that the Poles and Courtenays planned to marry Reginald Pole to Mary Tudor and overthrow the king. To make matters much worse, Mary received numerous messages from the Pole family, and Gertrude Courtenay even visited her. Henry dismissed Henry Courtenay from the Privy Council and would become fixated on finding Reginald, and either having him brought to England to face justice or, even better, assassinated.
Cromwell and Chapuys became greatly alarmed as Henry prepared legal proceedings against Mary, which could result in her execution, a move that shocked his own Privy Council. When William FitzWilliam, Henry’s Treasurer, spoke out against the proposal, he was summarily dismissed from the Council. The scene appears in The Mirror and the Light, with Cromwell pulling off FitzWilliam’s chain of office as he pushes him out of the room. But Henry assumes, rightly, it is only for show as he knows Cromwell is in agreement. Mantel’s Cromwell works with Chapuys to resolve Mary’s situation, then feigns despair at failing the king, and pretends that he fears for his reputation, even his life. But historically his fear was genuine. Henry ordered the arrests of several men who had been allies of Cromwell and acted against anyone who supported Mary. Several of Cromwell’s friends and supporters were brought in for questioning, thus Cromwell had every reason to feel anxious.
In The Mirror and the Light, Cromwell summons Francis Bryan to the Tower for an interview. Cromwell knows that Francis, together with his brother-in-law, Nicholas Carew, supported Mary’s restoration as rightful heir, as did the Poles and Courtenays. Bryan’s mother, Lady Margaret, had been Mary and Elizabeth’s governess, and Cromwell instructs Bryan to visit his mother and ask her to persuade Mary to submit to her father. For now all efforts must be made to save Mary from her father, and herself.
This was a critical moment for Henry and for Mary, and Mantel frames the collaboration of Cromwell and Chapuys to resolve the situation from historical records. It is more than likely that they would have met to discuss what Mary should write to her father. Although Mantel places Cromwell with his son and nephew, sitting at his desk trying to choose just the words that will placate her father, we are not entirely sure who drafted Mary’s letter. In his despatch to Charles V, Chapuys wrote that he had ‘put down in writing several candid and temperate statements’. Mantel gives these statements to Cromwell, though we may allow that Chapuys had decided to omit Cromwell’s involvement to his master.
Throughout The Mirror and the Light, Cromwell’s relationship with Mary is ambiguous but there are seemingly elements of passion, the meaning of which remain just out of reach to the reader. In The Mirror and the Light, Mary’s scenes with Cromwell convey her pain and turmoil at betraying one parent for the love of the other. It is Rafe Sadler who delivers the draft letter to Henry for Mary to sign, which she does without reading it. Mary wants it to be over: she wants to be restored to favour and unlike her mother, she takes no comfort in being a martyr. Finally, Mary is reunited in an emotional visit with her father and his new queen. From Jane she receives a large diamond ring, the weight and size of which is measured in a flash by Mantel’s Henry as it is slipped onto Mary’s tiny finger.
H
ENRY
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ITZROY
One person who was likely to have been keen for Mary to remain estranged from her father (and therefore out of the succession race) was Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. Fitzroy, whose mother was one of Henry’s most well-known mistresses, Elizabeth Blount, is a minor character in the first two books, and historically Fitzroy’s value rose and fell depending on how many other legitimate heirs Henry was willing to acknowledge. Following Anne’s death in 1536 we see a young man who for the first time feels that the throne is very much within his grasp.
It seems likely that Henry intended to make Fitzroy legitimate, making him Duke of Richmond and
