The Mirror and the Light

A young woman approaches Cromwell, claiming to be his daughter. She remembers his affair with a woman when he lived in Antwerp and acknowledges that the woman, Jenneke, resembles him. While he is happy to know of her existence, he feels that his ability to celebrate such revelations has passed: “He thinks, why did you not come early? Time was when I was a different sort of man. Time was, I would bound into my own house and run upstairs singing” (345). She notes that he appears to be a wealthy and powerful man, and this makes her happy. He offers to make a match for her that will keep her safe and financially secure. She refuses his offer; she believes the end times are near.

King Henry tries to establish peace with the rebels. He intends to hold Jane’s coronation in the north and to allow the “northern church [to] have its say in how we worship God” (349). The king has been unhappy because of the war—particularly its financial cost—and Jane’s inability to get pregnant. He buys expensive garments from traveling French merchants to cheer him up. The price is negotiated by Cromwell.

Before Jenneke returns to Antwerp, she relays the story of how William Tyndale—the English scholar who was exiled and then executed for translating the Bible into English—died.