The note came to John alongside a basket of spring fruits sent by the Spanish envoy, Eva de Puebla. Most of his news of Court came through her these days, for, although Anne had never explicitly banned him from Court, or from having visitors, very few people thought it worth their while to visit him when he was so clearly persona non-grata with their young Queen. And there was no way John would ever consider returning to the English Court of his own volition. Not while that Welsh upstart swanned around preening and being accorded all the privileges that were John's by right. That would have been his, had that spineless Magdalene not fallen for Anne's false injured innocence and defied the Lord Almighty by sundering their marriage and pretending it had never existed.
At least, he'd thought
