I raise my eyebrows slightly. No, it is not the same for me. I have no concerns.

“That’s what he said to me!” Archbishop Cranmer says delightedly. “He suggests that there should be no kneeling to the cross, no bowing to the cross on entry to church, and no creeping to the cross from the church door on Good Friday.”

“The cross is the symbol for the sacred crucifixion,” Princess Mary objects. “It is revered for what it represents. Nobody thinks it is a graven image.”

There is a silence. “Actually, the king does,” Catherine corrects her.

Instantly, Mary bows her head in obedience to the woman who people think is her father’s mistress. “Then I am sure he is right,” she says quietly. “Who would know better than the king what his people think? And he has told us all that God has appointed him judge of these matters.”

* * *

We cannot discuss Thomas Cranmer’s reforms without mentioning the Mass, and we cannot discuss the Mass because it is illegal to speak of it. The king has outlawed debate on this most holy event. Only he shall think and speak.

“And yet they can interrogate me,” Anne Askew points out after she has delivered her sermon on the miracle of the wine at the wedding in Cana. “I may speak about the wedding wine, and about the wine at the Last Supper, but not the wine that is poured by a priest into a cup in the church in our own days, before our own eyes.”

“You really may not,” I say quietly. “I understand the point you are making, Mistress Askew, but you may not say it in words.”

She bows her head. “I would never speak of things that you wish to keep silent,” she says carefully. “I would never bring trouble to your door.”

It is like a pledge between one honest woman and another. I smile at her. “I know you would not,” I say. “I hope that there is no trouble for you, either.”

“And what is your married name?” Anne of Cleves asks abruptly.

Anne Askew’s beautiful face lights up with laughter. “His name was Thomas Kyme, Your Majesty,” she says. “But I do not have a married name, for we were never married.”

“You believe that you can be the one to declare that your marriage is over?” asks the divorced queen who is now named princess, and is to be regarded as the king’s sister.