The next big event that happened in the southern court was something that Isabel expected. Although the timing is a little wrong, what should have happened still happened, and the characters involved still came to a turning point in their fate.

At the end of October, as soon as Henry VIII and his new queen had returned to the large and lavish stone palace of the City of London (Whitehall House), Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived at the court with an anonymous letter carefully written by Isabel to find Henry VIII.

Everything went well, and Henry VIII agreed with the archbishop to investigate further. Subsequently, the archbishop followed the clues given in the anonymous letter to the Lambeth Palace and found someone who was familiar with Queen Catherine. As soon as Mary Hall, the maid of the Duke and Lady of Norfolk II, saw the archbishop coming, she quickly told the archbishop of the queen's rash behavior before marriage.

Who knows, the archbishop said that he came for this very purpose. The maid was curious, and she told the archbishop that she was preparing to have her Protestant brother go to the archbishop to expose the queen's rash behavior. The archbishop did not take the maid's words to heart, but was in a hurry to find out all the evidence of the queen's adultery.

Subsequently, the Duchess's music teacher was arrested, and the former Duchess's secretary, the current Queen's private secretary, was arrested. All of Queen Catherine's encirclement, including the lady-in-waiting, Lady Rochford, and Henry VIII's chamberlain, Thomas Culpeper, were arrested by the Archbishop of Canterbury and escorted to the Tower of London.

Witnesses, confessions, and love letters written by Queen Catherine to Henry VIII's chamberlains all show that Queen Catherine did indeed commit premarital impropriety and adultery. Catherine Howard never imagined that all of this was caused by her female partner Isabel Walton years ago.

In early November, Catherine was arrested and imprisoned in her room at Hampton Court Palace, with only Madame Rockifer with her. She was forbidden to meet Henry, and the archbishop was personally in charge of her interrogation. In order to prevent Catherine from committing suicide, the archbishop ordered her guards to take away all possible objects that could be used to commit suicide.

After several days of interrogation, Catherine was stripped of her title of Her Majesty Queen and sent to Sion Abbey in Middlesex to continue her detention. A month later, her secretary-husband and the court's attendant lover were executed in London, and after they were crippled and beheaded, the two heads were routinely hung from London Bridge.

Her relatives were imprisoned in the Tower of London, with the exception of her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk III, her cousin, the Earl and Lady of Surrey, and her cousin, the Duchess of Richmond. After trial, they were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of property. However, in less than a month, they were released and their property was returned to them.

On 10 February 1542, Catherine Howard was sent back to the Tower of London. The next day, Henry VIII signed the Deprivation of Citizenship Act, sentencing her to death for treason. The execution was scheduled for 7 a.m. on February 13.

At the time of the execution, the Earl of Surrey was the only one in the Norfolk family to observe the execution. When Catherine is guillotined, she sees her cousin, Earl of Surrey, with a blank face. The corners of his mouth grinned slightly, and then he turned his gaze to the others and said a few words, "Your Majesty's judgment on me is just and just, I ask for mercy for my family, and pray for the salvation of my soul." I died as a queen, but I would have preferred to die as Culpeper's wife. ”

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On Thursday, May 4, 1542, before the Ascension Day, Isabel requested a private audience with the Duke of Richmond after the Second Council of Princes in April. When the retainers left that morning, Isabel and the Duke of Richmond were the only ones in the halls of Sharif Hatton Castle.

The Duke of Richmond walked down the stairs of the throne with a glass of wine, and came to Isabel with a smile, "Isabel, Your Majesty has written to let me go to the city of London with Lord Cumberland, Lord Westmoreland, and your father, Sir Augustine, to celebrate the Ascension Day. ”

Isabelle's smile looked beautiful, and her voice was beautiful, "Henry, the Duchess's cousin died less than three months ago, and His Majesty's mood has already recovered?" ”

"Your Majesty has never loved that slut." The Duke of Richmond took a sip of wine and snorted. However, as soon as the words came out, he realized that the person he was talking to was a woman, and he hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, Isabel, I won't talk like this in front of you in the future." ”

Isabel shook her head, "Say whatever you want." I'm talking to you alone today because there are a few things to deal with. ”

"Okay, I'll listen."

"First of all, you must take back the Church Hill Manor and the land, as for the handicraft workshop, farm and ranch, you can sublease it to other people, or you can run it yourself, and I will only get back the capital I invested."

"Okay. If you still want to continue to run the wool business in the future, I can still lease the land to you. ”

"Second, if my father is made a nobleman and has a new land, I will find a way to raise money to buy the Asker Manor."

"Well, anything else?"

Isabel nodded, thought about it, and looked at the other party, "Henry, can you ask His Majesty the King to remove my father from his position as magistrate?" ”

The Duke of Richmond, who had just sat down, stood up suddenly, "Isabel, why is that?" ”

"Henry, my father and mother are very old, and what they need now is recuperation. With the new territory, it was time for my father to build a new estate and a new territory. ”

The Duke of Richmond looked at her, and after thinking about it, he thought it was not wrong. When Sir Augustine was made a nobleman, he was indeed free from holding local office. Isabel was still serving in her duke's palace at this time, and she didn't have much time to build a new estate and oversee the new territory.

At this time, he thought of a person, "Isabel, what about your father's eldest son, Ernest?" ”

Isabel pressed his shoulders and asked him to sit down again, sitting beside him herself, "Henry, I'll talk about Ernest next." As the chairman of the committee, you can arrange for local officials in the five northern counties, right? ”

"Absolutely."

"Henry, do you think Ernest can take over my father's duties as magistrate, chief of the guard, and procurator?"

"Well, as long as he continues to serve His Majesty, is there any other opinion?" The Duke of Richmond did not see anything wrong with the other party's suggestion.

"Can you keep my father as a member of the committee?" Isabel knew that she had asked too much, and her tone became less forceful.