Chapter summaries Boleyn Traitor Philippa Gregory

Oatlands Palace, Surrey, Summer: 1540

SPOILER WARNING

This summary contains detailed plot points from Chapter 37 of Boleyn Traitor.

Summary

Jane Rochford arrives at Oatlands Palace to take up her post as chief lady-in-waiting to the newly elevated Queen Katheryn Howard. Katheryn greets her with childish exuberance, showing off her jewels and demanding admiration. Jane immediately realizes that teaching her queenly restraint will be difficult. At the celebratory dinner, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, pulls Jane aside and orders her to keep Katheryn on a tight rein, emphasizing that everything depends on the girl conceiving a royal heir. The wedding is a secret ceremony—stiflingly hot, quiet, and devoid of public spectacle—officiated by Bishop Bonner. During the wedding breakfast, a messenger delivers the news that Thomas Cromwell has been executed. Jane is devastated, overcome with regret for not saying goodbye or acknowledging how much his mentorship meant to her. Later, Norfolk again pressures Jane for intimate details, confirming that the king is sleeping with his bride. He openly hopes that Prince Edward might die so a Howard heir could inherit. As the court rides out hunting, Jane mourns Cromwell’s loss and recognizes that without his intellectual companionship, her world has shrunk to nothing but monitoring sex, birth, and death.

Key Events

  • Jane Rochford arrives at Oatlands Palace to serve as Queen Katheryn’s chief lady-in-waiting.
  • Katheryn greets Jane with careless excitement, revealing her immaturity.
  • At dinner, the Duke of Norfolk instructs Jane to control Katheryn and ensure she pleases the king sexually to secure a Howard heir.
  • The wedding of Henry VIII and Katheryn takes place in stifling heat; it is a secret, quiet affair with Bishop Bonner officiating.
  • During the wedding breakfast, Catherine Brandon informs Jane that Thomas Cromwell has been executed.
  • Jane experiences profound grief, regretting that she never expressed her gratitude or said farewell.
  • Norfolk interrogates Jane about the king’s sexual relationship with Katheryn; Jane confirms consummation.
  • Norfolk speaks of hoping that the sickly Prince Edward might die so a Howard son could become king.
  • The court rides out to hunt; Jane reflects on her isolation and how much she misses Cromwell’s mind.

Character Development

  • Jane Rochford: Her internal conflict deepens. She realizes she has been reduced to a Howard tool, good only for sniffing shifts and reporting on bodily functions. Her grief over Cromwell isolates her further; she longs for his intellectual engagement and feels the court is less interesting without him.
  • Katheryn Howard: Presented as self-centered and wilful, a sixteen-year-old who has been spoiled by her step-grandmother’s negligent household. She wears her motto “no other will but his” with palpable irony, prizing her own desires above all, yet she can temporarily enact obedience.
  • Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk: His ruthless pragmatism is laid bare. He treats Katheryn as a broodmare and pressures Jane to monitor the marriage bed. His casual mention of Prince Edward’s death reveals his hunger for absolute power.
  • King Henry VIII: Shown as a doting groom, reinvigorated by his young bride. He smiles at news of Cromwell’s death, unbothered by its timing, reinforcing his self-serving cruelty.
  • Thomas Cromwell (deceased): Though absent, his influence looms. Jane’s memories paint him as her magister—the mirror of the world—whose execution leaves a void she cannot fill.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Power and Transaction: Queenship is reduced to a transaction: obedience and fertility in exchange for jewels and houses. Norfolk’s blunt instructions strip away all romantic pretense.
  • Loss and Isolation: Cromwell’s death marks a personal catastrophe for Jane. She has no one left who shares her intellectual curiosity or can appreciate the shifting political game. Her grief is private, and her role becomes purely instrumental.
  • Performance vs. Reality: Jane must play the loyal Howard even as she mourns an enemy of the old order. Katheryn’s motto highlights the gap between performed obedience and genuine willfulness—a tension that will eventually doom her.
  • Youth and Age: The chapter contrasts Kitty’s girlish excitement with the king’s swollen, aging body and Norfolk’s cold scheming, emphasizing how young women are consumed by the court machine.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter cements the Howard family’s resurgence while exposing its fragility. The secret, muted wedding signals public exhaustion with Tudor marital politics and foreshadows Katheryn’s isolation. For Jane, Cromwell’s execution severs her last intellectual lifeline, leaving her surrounded by relatives who see her only as a spy. Norfolk’s talk of a Howard heir bypassing Prince Edward reveals the deadly arithmetic of succession, setting the stakes for the tragedy to come. The chapter uses Jane’s mourning to remind the reader that political triumphs are always shadowed by personal loss, and that the new queen’s selfish immaturity will be her undoing in a court that devours its own.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. What does the Duke of Norfolk mean when he says Katheryn “has to give us a royal heir,” and why is he willing to speak openly about Prince Edward’s death?
    Norfolk invests all his ambition in Katheryn’s womb. A Howard prince could supplant the ailing Seymours. He speaks boldly because he believes his position is unassailable, illustrating the ruthless, zero-sum nature of Tudor court politics where even the king’s legitimate son is viewed as a competitor.

  2. How does the news of Thomas Cromwell’s execution affect Jane, and what does her reaction reveal?
    Jane is overcome by “a sudden sweep” of loss, regretting that she never said goodbye or acknowledged his teaching. Her grief reveals that Cromwell was more than an ally; he was her intellectual mentor and the one person who made court politics feel like a shared intellectual exercise. His death isolates her completely.

  3. In what ways does Katheryn Howard’s behavior in this chapter foreshadow future danger?
    Katheryn pouts at the suggestion she cannot do as she pleases, values personal pleasure above duty, and calls for dancing and drinking on the eve of her wedding. While she can momentarily “enact obedience,” her fundamental selfishness makes her a fragile pawn who will struggle to navigate the lethal expectations of queenship.

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