It is autumn 1532. Both Uncle Howard and the Duke of Suffolk, the king’s brother-in-law, dislike Anne. After she becomes Marquess of Pembroke, Anne decides to finally have sex with Henry. She taunts George to express his admiration for her; she wants everyone to admire her. Thomas More is sent to prison for not obeying the king, showing how the country feels about Henry’s changes in the church and his anticipated marriage to Anne.

Mary is torn beteen William and duty. William suggests Mary could break her family’s hold over her, and they could rescue the children. George warns Mary she cannot have an affair until Anne is safely married. Anne demands Mary’s help preparing for travel to France and goads the king into getting the crown jewels back from Katherine so Anne can wear them. Aboard the ship to Calais, Mary confesses to William that she loves him but admits that Anne will not let Mary go; she likes ensuring Mary witnesses her success. Though she is not invited to meet the French king officially, Anne plans a masque to entertain him. Anne is annoyed when King Francis remembers Mary. George chides Mary for spending time riding out with William Stafford and reminds her that “true love has no place at court” (436).

It is winter 1532. Anne is treated as queen in all but name, and Mary feels lonely. Anne becomes pregnant, and Henry marries her under his new law. George and Mary hold a feast in Anne’s rooms while the secret wedding takes place.

In spring 1533, Mary realizes that English courts are now at the mercy of Henry’s whim, as is the church. When she learns Uncle Howard sent William Stafford away, Mary no longer wants to live her life as a courtier. Instead, she realizes: “I was a woman who was capable of passion and who had a great need and a great desire for love. I didn’t want the rewards for which Anne had surrendered her youth. I didn’t want the arid glamour of George’s life. I wanted the heat and the sweat and the passion of a man that I could love and trust” (443).

Mary travels alone to William’s farm in Kent and reflects, “for the first time ever I felt as if I had taken my life into my own hands and I could command my own destiny. For once I was obedient neither to uncle nor father nor king, but following my own desires” (445). They marry quickly, and William returns to court with her so Mary can try to get custody of her children. Mary finds Anne in the queen’s rooms, surrounded by her ladies, working on the altar cloth.

Before her coronation, Anne quarrels with Uncle Howard, telling him she is great now and needs no one. William warns Mary of the gossip that George and Francis Weston are lovers. Mary decides to remain loyal to her brother and sister even if they are at odds. During Anne’s coronation procession, the crowds are eerily silent. Anne sarcastically tells Mary that she is happy, but she is worried because her child must be a boy. Anne selects the ladies of her court and includes Jane Seymour. Mary warns George about the gossip, concerned that his love for Francis could be his undoing.

It is summer 1553. Anne is pregnant and will not allow Mary to go to Hever. News arrives that the pope has excommunicated Henry. Anne is furious and publicly berates Henry when he sleeps with another woman. Henry reminds her that “a wife’s whole duty is to mind her husband’s comfort” (477). Mary meets William in secret and notices that George, too, slips away from entertainment. Anne enters her confinement. Mary identifies with Queen Katherine, who is confined to her home and not allowed to see her daughter.

Anne has a girl in the autumn of 1533. Mary reflects, “If Anne had given birth to a boy we would have been the most powerful family in England with a stake in the throne forever. But she had a girl” (487). Henry delights in the infant. Anne takes a new interest in Mary’s son, saying he must be sent to a tutor, and Mary is devastated. William promises they will get him back.

It is winter 1533. Anne commissions a golden fountain for the king and gets pregnant again.

At a family meeting in spring 1534, Anne takes Uncle Howard’s chair. Mary observes, “There was nothing she loved more than the exercise of her power that had been bought at so high a price” (494). Uncle says he has chosen a Howard girl, Madge Shelton, to divert the king while Anne is pregnant so that his eye doesn’t fall on a Seymour girl. 

Anne begins bleeding and doesn’t want anyone to know she might be losing the baby. Anne wears a golden mask to disguise her identity when the midwife visits. Mary notes, “It was like a scene from some dreadful morality painting with Anne’s face like a depiction of greed and vanity, with her dark eyes glittering through the holes in the proud gold face at the head of the bed, while below her vulnerable white thighs were parted over a mess of blood on the sheets” (501).

Anne loses the baby. Their mother demands they burn the evidence and that Anne pretend nothing happened and say there was no baby. Uncle Howard asks if she dabbled in spells to conceive and commands her to get back up and conceive a boy. Anne is furious at him.

It is summer 1534. Mary is pregnant and enjoys the summer at Hever with her children and William. Anne’s court feels older and corrupt when she returns. Anne is furious that Mary is pregnant. She banishes Mary from court and vows to take away her son, Henry. George says William has ruined Mary, and William points out, “That’s the spite and ambition of the queen and the Boleyn family” (513). Mary fears she is abandoning George in a dangerous place. 

At William’s farm, Mary learns how to go on. She writes letters hoping to regain her pension and her children. She doesn’t regret her choice, instead reflecting, “In a world where women were bought and sold as horses I had found a man I loved; and married for love. I would never suggest that this was a mistake” (518).

It is winter 1535. George writes that the king is showing interest in Jane Seymour, and Anne is sick with fear; he suspects Anne is lonely and frightened. Mary has a baby girl.