A/N: Hi! I love you guys! I always always read the review a bunch of times as inspiration to get me to write! It'd been so long since I touched this story though that I forgot where I was with it so I reread it and hated it lol. issa rewrite! Hope y'all like it!
October 15, 1501
Anne sat in the reading nook in her apartments staring out the window. She'd long given up focusing on her book and tried to imagine that she was anywhere but here.
She was of age now to go to court with her father and brother, and she was not looking forward to it.
Anne had spent time in the French court as a child, and she had truly loved it. Everything in France was vibrant, beautiful, and lively.
She'd loved to watch the masques, and to dance, and she especially loved all the music. It had been lovely.
Not only was she painfully aware that the English court would likely be lacklustre in comparison, but she knew it would be very demanding.
There were no positions for her in the Queen's household, but as her father and brother held the premier dukedom and premier earldom, respectively, as long as they were at court she would be allowed to remain.
She just knew her father would be insistent that she find a worthy husband, one who would bring honour to the family since her sister had disgraced her family by marrying far beneath her own station.
Sometimes Anne thought she'd like to do the same. Alas, the price for such defiance was complete filial abandonment. Much as her father stressed her, she loved her brother dearly and couldn't bear being unable to talk to him.
All she wanted was to be able to stay at Arundel Castle and continue her studies. She'd already made a home of the library and was loathe to try and use the library at Richmond.
"My Lady, your father the Duke of Norfolk is here." One of her ladies, Lady Bridget Wingfield, announced.
Her father wasted no time in sweeping into the room and seemed to be nearly fitfully excited for she'd barely made her curtsy before he was raising her up and spoke before she could properly welcome him.
"Daughter, I have wonderful news." His wide smile reached all the way to his eyes.
"I am pleased to hear so, father. What is it?"
"After many, many months of hard work and negotiations, I finalized your betrothal to Prince Henry, Duke of York."
Thomas Boleyn was especially proud of this development. King Henry VII was a shrewd man, far more astute with money than any accountant could hope to be.
Prince Arthur had been married for a year now, his new wife had just arrived from Spain to accompany him during his official ascension as being able to rule his main territories of Wales and Cornwall on his own.
With his heir squared away and his Spanish bride's dowry clanking around the royal treasury, much to His Majesties delight, he'd been in a wonderful temper and could bring his attention to marrying off his second son.
As the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, the highest office one could hold outside the royal family, Anne was a perfect match for the second son.
She was high enough rank, with enough royal blood to make her worthy of a prince but not enough that her and Henry's children could challenge any of Arthur's line for succession.
Thomas had only had to take extra care when discussions for her dowry were engaged, as he neither wanted to insult the King by offering an amount too low nor did he want to squander a substantial amount of the family fortune on Anne's dowry.
After a long debate, the King had agreed to half the Infanta's dowry of £200,000. Thomas had already paid £50,000 when they signed the betrothal papers and would pay the other £50,000 after the marriage was consummated.
She watched as her father began to order her ladies about her apartments.
They would have to leave for court sooner than originally planned if he was to have enough time to properly present his daughter before the King and Queen before the wedding. Or if the prince and his daughter sought to enjoy any courtship before the wedding as he supposed they would want to do.
She was grateful, that much she knew. She had to be. She didn't have a choice but to be a grateful, obedient daughter.
Except she was not yet ready, she didn't feel ready.
The Prince was a fine match, a very desirable one she was sure. But she had not yet resigned herself to even going to court, much less being betrothed.
She had thought she had at least two years before her father made a match for her rather than allowing her near free rein of the court to see what kind of suitors she'd attract.
"You shall be the most happy in all of England and bring great fortune to our family, provided your husband has the good sense to remain in the good graces of His Majesty the King and Prince Arthur."
The Duke of Norfolk didn't bother to continue speaking to his daughter. He grew more interested in what her ladies were packing.
Anne was grateful. She was. The Prince was only 3 years her elder. Her father could have married her off to a man ten times her age if it pleased him to do so.
She heard herself snap for Lady Nan Gainsford to come to help her loosen her corset, which had grown far too tight for her liking.
Anne felt herself clawing at it like a wild animal but it would not give. There was no room. The room had begun to spin a little and the edges of her vision blurred.
Lady Nan made haste of loosening Anne's dress while Lady Eleanor opened the window nearest to her mistress in an attempt to get her fresh air.
"No, no, simply move her into her bed and continue to pack her things. We leave in a fortnight!" Her ladies obeyed her father and abandoned her in her bed.
She looked on with unseeing eyes while they set aside two of her travelling gowns, neither of them very comfortable but both very fine, for her father to choose one.
Richmond Palace was not very far from Arundel Castle, if they left in the morning time they'd arrive in time for dinner.
Anne wondered how long she had at Richmond before it suited His Majesty to send them to York.
Then again Prince Henry could always govern from the comfort of Court.
So instead she wondered how long before she fell pregnant and was sent away to York.
Or perhaps her husband's grace would allow her to stay at Court for a time. She'd loved her time in France court when her father was sent there as ambassador.
If she was lucky he would.
October 28, 1501
Anne was making use of the time she had left at Arundel, for she knew that when she left tomorrow she may never return.
She'd managed to stow her favourite book in one of her trunks, hidden from whoever might think to take it from her, and made a comprehensive list of the ones she had yet to read from the library.
She'd spent vast amounts of time in the gardens, trying to commit its beauty to her memory.
And now, Anne found herself in the games hall playing cards with her brother, George.
He was trying to get her to see the joy in the cards she was dealt, as it were.
She couldn't help but envy him, sinful as it was. But he didn't know how lucky he was!
He'd be able to have at least some say in who he would eventually be married off to and he could travel between court and Arundel nearly whenever he pleased!
One day all of their fathers land and titles would belong to him.
"Cheer up, sister."
"I cannot. I plan to remain exactly this upset through the wedding and the time thereafter. There shall be no end to my misery." Anne professed dramatically, even with the hope in her heart that this wouldn't be the case.
"The revelries for the wedding will keep you so busy you will have no time for your sadness, I am sure of it." he laid his hand flat and looked up at his sister. "Pay the future mind no more and try to enjoy this moment, where I almost beat my clever sister at cards."
"We leave in the morning, brother." Anne deadpanned, taking in his cards to shuffle the deck. "This has been my home for so long…I'll never know its comforts again."
"How many of your ladies are they letting you keep?"
"Five." Anne rolled her eyes. "Apparently I need an entirely new household better prepared for the 'honour of serving the Duchess of York.'"
"And who will you retain?" Anne shot her brother a withering glare. "What! I must know who you're leaving here to keep me company."
"I've chosen Ladies Nan, Emma, Rachel, Sarah, and Eleanor."
"So you're leaving me with just Lady Bridget and Lady Margaret to pass my time?"
"My sincerest apologies, my Earl Arundel, for I did not take into consideration your potential bedfellows when choosing which of my companions to take with me."
Anne sat back with one finger pressed to her temple. George aped at her and accepted her faux apology as a real one.
She appreciated his attempts at humour and his attempts at cheering her up, but there was nothing to quell the pit of fear that had settled in her stomach and made a home there since their father walked into her chamber and announced his plans for her.
She tried, again and again, to remind herself again and again that this was a good thing, a happy time.
It was a woman's greatest consolation in the world to be married well and to have children, a horde of them if it pleased the Lord.
The Prince is a young man, bound to be in the prime of both his handsomeness and his potency.
But having nearly resigned herself to the thought of leaving her childhood home she was filled with new anxieties to take its place.
What if he was a drunkard? What if he was unforgivably violent? Unkind? A liar? What if her husband found her displeasing?
If he found her so then she would be trapped in an unhappy marriage, perhaps even a childless marriage if he found her so displeasing that he kept the company of mistresses rather than his wife.
What if they found each other so disagreeable that they couldn't even bring themselves to consummate the marriage?
If the prince sought an annulment she'd never outlive the shame. She'd be stained by the rejection.
To be rejected was very unlucky, and it would greatly harm a woman's chances to make a second match as she would certainly never make one as great as the first.
But if Anne found herself rejected by the prince she would likely never find another match.
Her father would most assuredly send her to a convent if that were to happen.
She drummed her fingers against the table thoughtfully. Anne didn't think she would mind a convent.
"George, do you think I would do well in a convent?"
They had moved on to chess, a game at which they were nowhere near to evenly matched. Anne barely had to pay the game any attention.
"A convent?" he rolled his eyes. "Of course, sister. Your great facility for music, arts, dancing, academics, politics, and strategy will be of much use to you in a convent."
He finally made his move and Anne sighed as he did so, not wanting to prove his sarcastic point but unable to keep from letting him know that he'd just assured his defeat.
"I suppose you have a point. Will you at least ride in the carriage with me, George?"
"Father has laid his express wishes that I ride alongside your carriage with him."
"But come this time next week I will, through my marriage, outrank both of you."
"I suppose you will, Anne." George grinned wickedly at his little sister. "I suppose you will."
October 29, 1501
The journey was not a very long one — about 8 hours, for which Anne was grateful.
Her anxieties had reached a fever pitch last night, robbing her of the luxury of sleep.
She'd rather get some of that dearly missed sleep than sulk throughout the journey.
There were two carriages following her own, one with four of the five ladies she was permitted to retain and another filled to the brim with her trunks.
Annes was the most richly furnished with plush seats and decorative pillows that she planned to make use of.
"Would you like some fresh fruit, my Lady? Or would you, my Lord?" Lady Sarah kept her eyes low.
Her father had impressed upon her how fortunate she was and that she had to take extra care to be respectful and indispensable to the Lady Anne.
This advice was, according to him, now doubly important now that such an advantageous match had been made for her mistress.
Sarah was in the shadows of one of the most powerful families in England, and now she would be in the shadows of the most powerful family — the royal family.
She hoped to find a decent husband but as the daughter of a knight well…she had few options and fewer still if one took into account how paltry her dowry was after her father had paid for her three elder sisters to make decent matches.
It was luck that she was near in age enough to the Duke of Norfolk's daughter to be her schoolmate companion, then her handmaiden, and now an honorable Lady in Waiting to the (soon to be) Duchess of York.
While attending Lady Anne at court she would meet any number of agreeable men who might seek her as his wife.
For this opportunity, she was eternally indebted to the Lady Anne for choosing to retain her.
"I'd love some, Mistress Sarah." George reached over to the proffered bowl of fresh strawberries that Sarah had graciously sprinkled with sugar and plucked one up. "Mm, juicy. Sweet."
Anne clicked her tongue at her brother, pinching him as indiscreetly as she could.
Poor Sarah was red from the tip of her nose all the way to the tip of her ears.
"Pay him no mind, dear Sarah."
"Pay me mind, Sarah." George winked at her.
He loved the way the blush on her face spread to her neck and it caused him to ponder where else it had spread.
Anne chastised him once more before having Sarah help her get comfortable enough to rest her eyes.
In about 8 hours, give or take, she'd be welcomed into Richmond palace and formally presented to the King and Queen as their new daughter-in-law.
R&R babes
Guest: It's not abandoned anymore! So hopefully we will see them grow up and fall in love!
Whitemiko12: Thank you! I love your reviews, hope you'll read the rewrite!
HermioneandMarcus: I appreciate the review, sorry there's not more yet but think of this as a nice reintroduction. Same concept new polish.
bfireworks5: True and truer. So... I didn't update soon but I did update! It's lit.