The Duke of Richmond, who was still unsatisfied, seemed to want to stay with his privy counsellor for a little longer, so he turned the conversation to the new queen, "Isabel, I remember you once said that you knew Catherine, didn't you?" ”

Isabel turned her head to look at the Duke and smiled, "yes, that should have been a few years ago. I remember knowing it as if it was at the baptism of Lord Surrey's eldest son. ”

"Oh...? You mean December 1536? What month was Henry's firstborn born? ”

"No, it's 6 months later. Your Highness, have you forgotten? I went to Windsor for the baptism of Lord Surrey's eldest son, and I did so with your consent. ”

"Hahaha...... I'm sorry, Isabel, I forgot. You know, there's a lot of work on the committee. The Duke of Richmond scratched his head with some embarrassment.

Isabel habitually crossed another leg, and just as she did so, she remembered what Lady Surrey had told her, and put it down again. Sitting on the edge of the flower stand and straightening her upper body, "Catherine was very young at the time, and was fostered by her father in the Lambeth Palace of her grandmother, the Duchess of Norfolk. ”

"Well, Catherine's father is the second son, and the child can only be blessed through his own mother." The Duke of Richmond still knows a lot about the Norfolk family, and he looked at the green in the garden and smiled lightly, "The ugly duckling back then has now become a beautiful swan." Isabel, you didn't expect Catherine to be queen now, did you? ”

How could Isabel not think of it, she just pretended not to expect, "Yes, at that time, Mrs. Surrey still despised her, thinking that she was the child of a poor relative in the Norfolk family. ”

"Now it seems that Catherine can become the new queen is entirely an effort of the Duke of Norfolk. The duke, unwilling to accept the defeat of his first niece, introduced the second niece to His Majesty. ”

"Because the Duke of Norfolk wanted the family to gain prestige in the court again, it also showed that the Catholic Church had won the war against Protestantism."

The Duke of Richmond did not want to have a conflict with the Norfolk family because of his relationship with the Earl of Surrey. I just wanted to turn my thoughts to the war between the two religions, and I became a little distressed, "Isabel, when will this religious war end?" ”

Isabel felt a little tired from sitting down, and stood up and paced in front of the duke, "I don't know. However, I know that this war of religion in the kingdom will be long, long before it will subside. ”

"Do you mean to say that even His Majesty returns... Heaven, when the Duke of Cornwall ascended the throne? ”

"No, there's not enough time."

"Far from enough? Isabel, when will that be? ”

"When? Even if the Tudor dynasty ends its reign when your half-sister Elizabeth I dies, this war of religion will not end. Isabel glanced at the Duke in deep thought, shook her head, and reached out to pull out the finely crafted handguard sword from the royal weapon workshop and hand-forged by Italian craftsmen at her waist.

Holding the grip of the handguard sword in his right hand, he raised the sword close to his face with the tip of the sword pointing upward, "Henry, probably we won't be able to see the end of the war between the two religions. ”

Henry Fitzroy looked at the handguard bayonet in her hand with some distraction, and suddenly a question popped into his mind. Or rather, he wanted to ask her on July 2, the feast of the Feast of the Feast of the Virgin. With a reserved smile on his face, he pretended to gaze calmly at the young woman he had loved for years, "Isabel, this stabbing sword was made in the Greenwich Royal Workshop?" Well, show me. ”

Isabelle Walton saw that he had turned the subject to the gift that the Earl of Surrey had given her, and knew that he must have wanted to know something, at least from her lips the reason for the Earl of Surrey to give her this beautiful and deadly handguard. Smiled lightly, "Okay, Henry." ”

Immediately, he placed the blade flat in front of his eyes and pinched the tip of the sword with his left hand, and handed the grip to Henry's eyes with the bayonet sword. Henry glanced at her left hand, "Be careful, don't let your hand get cut by the blade." ”

Isabel held the blade of her sword flat in her left hand and nodded, "I will." ”

The Duke of Richmond took the dangerous but delicate handguard sword very slowly, held the grip tightly and pointed the sword upwards, and carefully examined the blade, "This sword is very well made, and I am sure that the Italian craftsmen who made it must have spent a lot of time." ”

Isabel took two steps back with her hands behind her back and looked at the Duke with wary eyes, "Yes, Henry. The Greenwich Royal Workshop was built at the request of His Majesty the King, so the armor and weapons made in the workshop are always the best. ”

The Duke placed the blade of the sword flat in front of his eyes again, and gently stroked the plane of the blade with the index and middle fingers of his left hand and swiped it from right to left, "The best stabbing sword, I guess the price will be very expensive." In many cases, the weapons of the workshop were also only affordable to His Majesty and the nobles. ”

"Henry, if you really like this bayone, you can stay." Isabel was keenly aware of an outward manifestation of a bad emotion coming from the Duke of Richmond's heart.

"Stay? No, Isabel, this is a gift from my good buddy. The Duke of Richmond looked at the sword body, admired the somewhat complex and delicate branch-shaped gauntlet, and shook his head with a smile, "Such a bayonet sword that can be sold for 20-30 pounds, I can still afford it as a highest-ranking nobleman with a double duke's title." ”

"I didn't expect this bayonet sword to be so expensive. Henry, well, you... Do you want to know why Lord Surrey would give me such an expensive gift? Isabel asked cautiously, she didn't want to be entangled with the other party anymore. Although she didn't believe that the Duke of Richmond would kill her suddenly, she was still prepared for the worst.

Henry Fitzroy stood up and grasped the bayonet sword in one hand, and swung it diagonally downward, "Isabel, what do you think Lord Surrey would answer if I didn't believe the facts you said?" ”

Seeing him stand up and wield his sword, Isabel took a few steps back to the side, still with a charming smile on her face, "I don't know. At that time, Lord Surrey told me that he had made the sword after asking a lot of advice from the craftsmen, did you notice the intricate Italian hoop gauntlet near the grip? ”

The Duke of Richmond stared at her expression, still willing to believe the other party in his heart. It's just that he can't tell why his attitude suddenly changed to a different shape.