Falling For Henry (26 page)

“What happened to your leg?” she asked.

“Rugby,” he said. “One of the reasons I've been off school this week. It doesn't hurt too much but it itches like the dickens.”

Somehow I'm not surprised, thought Kate, the corners of her mouth twitching.

“Hasn't really slowed him down,” said Martin. “But his teachers don't need to know that. A little time off school is often a good thing.”

“Yes,” said Kate, still in the strange new tone. “Yes, it is. As long as you keep learning on your own. The world has many marvels to discover.” I sound ridiculous, she thought. As if I'm about five centuries old. This guy won't like me in a million years. But when she looked over at him, Will was smiling down at her, obviously interested.

They were heading toward the elevator and Kate felt the old panic thicken in her chest. She stopped and considered for a moment and then deliberately walked forward, entering the elevator as calmly as she could. Her fear of enclosed spaces was with her still, but it wasn't getting the best of her. She took a deep breath.
This is who I am
, she thought determinedly, holding the door open for the others.
This is who I am
.
And I can live with that.

Author's Note

This novel borrows from the wealth history has to offer, while at the same time rendering a fictional landscape that fuels a narrative of love and death, learning, growth, loss and resilience. I am grateful for the help I have received attending to historical detail, while at the same time I am conscious that any errors are my own and not to be blamed on reviewers who offered me sage advice. At times I have consciously selected fantasy over fact, putting story ahead of authenticity, and for this I make no apology.

While some of the characters in this work are fictional, others are based on real people whose lives are further chronicled in historical texts. The prince who was to become Henry VIII was born June 28, 1491, and appointed Duke of York at the age of three. On the death of his father and just prior to his eighteenth birthday, Prince Henry became King of England in April 1509, and married his brother's widow, Katherine of Aragon, in June 1509, at Greenwich Palace.

Many sources describe the young man who was to become Henry VIII as handsome, charismatic, and charming, accomplished at music and sports, and with the reputation of a scholar. Yet by the time he died in 1547, he had the reputation of an abusive and domineering murderer, tainted in the death of at least two of his six wives.

In order to understand the man Henry became, it's important to acknowledge the pressures and allowances of the sixteenth century in Tudor England: in other words, Henry himself is not singly to blame for his future deeds. Rather, he was a man created out of a specific social setting, in a particular historical time, and had expectations heaped upon him due to his station in life as a child-heir to the throne after his elder brother's death. Although this understanding in no way excuses him for the ruthless decisions he made in later life, it does make his character more complex than that of a simple tyrant. Further factual information about Henry's life and times can be located in Alison Weir's non-fiction text
Henry VIII: The King and His Court
. Other useful sources of information about the context of this story include: Arthur F. Kinney and David W. Swan's
Tudor England: An Encyclopedia
, and Simon Thurley's
The Royal Palaces of Tudor England: Architecture and Court Life, 1460-1547
.

The character of William Fitzroy is loosely based on a combination of a number of members of the young Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, including: William Fitzwilliam, Henry's Cupbearer, who had been brought up with the prince, and Prince Henry's cousin, Henry Courtenay, who was another favorite and whose mother was a relative of Elizabeth of York, the wife of Henry VII and Prince Henry's mother. Courtenay's father had been sent to the Tower by Henry VII on suspicion of treason and was not released until Henry VIII freed him when he became King. The idea of floating water meadows, attributed to William Fitzroy in this story, was actually devised by Rowland Vaughan and first practiced in Herefordshire. The psalm William quotes is actually from the King James Version of the Bible. William's statement, “I'd rather lie down in a ditch and be bowled with turnips,” was inspired by William Shakespeare's lines given to Anne in the play
Merry Wives of Windsor
: “Alas, I had rather be set quick i' the earth / And bowl'd to death with turnips!”

An outbreak of the Sweating Sickness did occur in England in 1507; it was considered a different sort of illness from the plague, and, after a sudden onslaught of symptoms, including a sense of apprehension, cold shivers, giddiness, headache, and severe pains in the neck, shoulders, and limbs, a few hours later, patients might experience a sense of heat and sweating, headache and delirium, rapid pulse, and intense thirst. Patients commonly died within twenty-four hours, although sometimes, as in William Fitzroy's case, death was somewhat prolonged.

The persecution of people perceived as witches occurred in England since at least the early fourteenth century. The particular case of a “cunning woman” mentioned in the story is based on the following incidents: in 1583, the churchwardens of Thatcham in Berkshire sent for a cunning woman to find out who had stolen the church's communion cloth; in 1507, a girl run over by a cart in Cheapside, London, was reported as lifeless, but eventually she revived and said she'd seen Our Lady of Barking lifting up the cart to save her life.

Wolves also faced persecution in early Britain. Some reports suggest they were completely eradicated in England by 1500, while other research indicates that a scant number were discovered since that time. In the words of my character Martin Brown, “One can't be a hundred percent certain. Not a hundred percent certain. About anything, really.” Thus, I have allowed that a few wolves were left in 1507, supporting this novel's environmental theme; it is possible that I am not completely historically correct in this rendering of the wolves' timeline.

The character of MacQueen is derived from a story indicating that the last wolf in Britain was killed in the Scottish highlands in 1743 by a well-known hunter of great renown named MacQueen.

William's story of Frank Hopkin, as told to Mary, was derived from a story about George Bucker in
Isoult Barry of Wynscote
, by Emily Sarah Holt, written in 1871. Holt's work was helpful in assisting me to develop William's storytelling voice, which I found to be the essence of his character. I was also playing on the idea that perhaps Holt's story of Tudor Times originated with William's storytelling, from a true story about Charlotte that was passed along until it reached the ears of Holt, who fictionalized it. Stranger things have happened in the world of storytelling.

Theophrasus Bombastus von Santorio is a character based on that of Paracelsus, an alchemist, physician, and astrologer working in the early part of the sixteenth century. Born Phillip von Hohenheim, he later took up the name Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, and still later took the title Paracelsus, meaning “equal to or greater than Celsus.” The first Paracelsus was a Roman encyclopedist from the first century known for his tract on medicine.

In terms of the setting, my choice to use the royal palace at Greenwich was based on the fact that Prince Henry was born there and spent a good deal of his youth within its bounds. Because there is little historical information available regarding the exact interiors of this palace, my research involved visiting Hampton Court, a favorite dwelling of Henry's when he was older, and basing Greenwich interiors on what I saw there. The Royal Naval College and Museum now stand on what was the site of the royal palace at Greenwich.

The
Cutty Sark
, a famous tea clipper ship first launched in 1869, was housed for many years in dry dock at the site of the former Greenwich Palace. The ship's figurehead was a witch, inspired by a character in a poem by Scottish poet Robbie Burns, and when I viewed it, I did think she changed expressions when I passed by … or perhaps it was just a trick of the light. The
Cutty Sark
was severely damaged by fire in the spring of 2007. Vandalism was suspected.

In late autumn 1506, King Henry VII did send Katherine of Aragon and her household to Fulham Palace. There is some controversy as to why he did so—whether he was concerned about the developing relationship between Katherine and Henry, or whether he wanted to avoid having Katherine contract illness, or to retire in case she was already a carrier, historians continue to deliberate.

Many reports indicate that Anne Boleyn was indeed born in the summer of 1507 (although other reports differ, some pointing to the year 1501 as the time of her birth), and historical information also indicates that she did have a growth on her hand (some reports describe it as a sixth finger) which had to be removed. She became Henry's second wife in January 1533 (following an earlier secret ceremony) and Katherine of Aragon, who would not grant Henry a divorce, was told her marriage was annulled and that she was to move households. Katherine was banished from Henry's side and died in Kimbolton in 1536. The only surviving child of the match between Katherine and Henry was Mary, who reigned as Queen of England for a short five years (1553-1558), and was the first reigning queen since the disputed Mathilda in the twelfth century. Katherine thus became, as she had dearly hoped, the mother of a ruling female monarch.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the Mint Agency and all the folks at Red Deer for supporting this work. Thanks also to: Wilson for giving me Theophrastus Bombastus as well as the tachyon theory that inspired the time travel element of this novel within the context of real world physics; Connor for his close editing; Eric for his helpful suggestions; Sara Jayne Amundson, Erin Beresh, and Tally Derkachenko for their many good ideas and encouragement; Alison Weir for her suggestions related to part of an early draft; Sharon Wright for her answers to specific questions regarding historical detail; Yvonne Petry, a historian at the University of Regina, for her sage historical consulting work, and the University of Saskatchewan for support in the form of a research subvention grant; Rachna Gilmore for her clear vision and wise council; my cousin Beth for her stalwart promotion of my work; Elma Brenna for her warm encouragement; and my mom Myra Stilborn for her editing help. Appreciation to St. Peter's Abbey at Muenster for a peaceful retreat opportunity, gratitude to the Canada Council for financial assistance, gracias to my editor Peter Carver for the phenomenal literary partnership, and to my husband Dwayne, a big hug for his everlasting love and support.

Interview with Bev Brenna

For you, where did this story begin — what was the seed of the idea?

This book began with a short story manuscript written while I lived in England in the early 90s. I had been thinking about portals between worlds, and the picture of a girl on a swing, pumping higher and higher, jumping off, and then … somehow disappearing … was a strong image that kept coming back to me. Coincidentally, I had been reading about Henry VIII, and how charismatic he was as a young man.

Eventually, I decided that a time slip account of the relationship between a young woman and Prince Henry could offer a really good story, exploring how both parties in a relationship should respect each other and how “changing someone” is more difficult than one might at first imagine. The short story began with the girl disappearing in time, followed her developing relationship with Henry, and concluded with her coming back through the “swing” portal. In this version of the story, the protagonist imagined all to be a dream, but then discovered the pearl ring on her finger as a sign that what she experienced had been real.

Of course, there was too much action to make this tale work as short fiction, and because of the amount of work involved in writing a historical novel, I set it aside for ten years or so until I could attack it with the attention that it deserved.

Is this is your first venture into historical fiction? For you, what has been the most difficult aspect of writing in this genre?

I have a young adult short story, “Higher Ground,” in a Ronsdale Press anthology titled
Winds Through Time.
The story fictionalizes events in the childhood of the suffragette we now know as Nellie McClung, a Canadian hero who championed women's rights. The research involved in writing that short story was exhausting, and I knew before going into the Henry project that it was going to take me a lot of time. Because of the incredible commitment involved in trying to “get the history right,” I would suggest that historical fiction projects are for writers who truly like research. The research process is kind of like the plot line of Numeroff's picture book
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
. Put one detail into a historical story and there's a whole sequence of things you have to do that connect to each other. For example, in the banquet scene, I had to think about what they'd be eating, and then how they'd be eating it, including what cutlery they'd use, and the serving techniques. That scene alone took a good deal of work.