Alienor could feel the tension in the dining hall and the falseness of the entourage's smiles with all her being. She knew that, by fate, she was in the centre of royal court intrigues and the struggle for the right to possess a tall, broad-shouldered, red-haired man, to whom England belonged, to share power with him. Brigid knew one thing: Catherine of Aragon's calm smile hid her pain and disappointment, and she watched in silence as her own beloved husband preferred the pretty face of the young favourite to hers. Unwillingly meeting her gaze with the Queen, Brigid flashed and smiled, and when Catherine smiled back at her, the girl thought with delight: "You and only you are our true Queen! May God bless you! I will pray to Him to return to you happiness and peace!".
Alienor smiled, thinking of how naive and innocent Brigid was, when she noticed how enthusiastically her friend was admiring the Queen. Miss Norton herself was betting on Anne Boleyn and looked with interest at her thin face: olive-coloured skin, dark, almost black eyes that could drown in them, dark hair barely visible from under a richly embroidered gold threaded French burgundy hood. Nothing special, the most ordinary appearance, she is not even in a match for Brigid … But there was something attractive in Miss Boleyn, something magical and inexplicable that fascinated the perceptive Alienor. After comparing the old Queen and the young favourite, the girl decided without much thought which of them should be supported, and which of them would stay with Henry in the end. No, not the daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand! Not that proud, stately Spanish princess!
"As soon as he is rid of his old wife, I will ask my father to send me to court, and let him make every effort to make me Anne's lady in waiting. There's no doubt about it: she'll sit on the throne. Sooner or later, Catherine will have to step aside. It's a pleasure to serve a Queen like the lovely Anne. It is a pity that Brigid's heart will be broken, but life is cruel, and he who is not afraid of high stakes wins," thought Alienor, and, deciding to play a little joke on her friend, whispered to her:
– Miss Boleyn will be a beautiful Queen. All of Europe will envy our king!
– That's not going to happen! Catherine, that's who was, is and will be Queen of England! – barely audible, with indignation in her breast, replied Brigid. – 'Alienor, I thought it would not be right if you talk to William about me and tell him of my love. I do not wish him to marry me out of compassion.