29
" Jane would be the next queen and her children, when she had them, would be the next princes or princesses. Or she might wait, as the other queens had waited, every month, desperate to know that she had conceived, knowing each month that it did not happen that Henry's love wore a little thinner, that his patience grew a little shorter. Or Anne's curse of death in childbed, and death to her son, might come true. I did not envy Jane Seymour. I had seen two queens married to King Henry and neither of them had much joy of it. "
― Philippa Gregory , The Other Boleyn Girl (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #9)
34
" Tell Anne..." I broke off. There was too much to send in one message. There were long years of rivalry and then a forced unity and always and ever, underpinning our love for each other, our sense that the other must be bested. How could I send her one word which would acknowledge all of that, and yet tell her that I loved her still, that I was glad I had been her sister, even though I knew she had brought herself to this point and taken George here too? That, though I would never forgive her for what she had done to us all, at the same time, I totally and wholly understood?
"Tell her what?" Catherine hovered, waiting to be released.
"Tell her that I think of her," I said simply. "All the time. Every day. The same as always. "
― Philippa Gregory , The Other Boleyn Girl (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #9)
39
" Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.'
After being blindfolded and kneeling at the block, she repeated several times:
To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesu receive my soul. "
― Philippa Gregory , The Other Boleyn Girl (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #9)