Chapter Ten
Though Anne was impatient to make progress, she did not want to push too hard, so she forced herself to wait. In the meantime she amused herself. At court there was a musician called Mark Smeaton. He was a pretty boy and had a beautiful voice, which he accompanied on a lute. Anne loved to listen to him and cultivated him, soon becoming sufficiently intimate that he would agree to play for her on her own. The two spent several happy afternoons (it was summer now) in a bower lost at the bottom of the palace gardens where no one ever went. Inevitably one thing led to another. To Anne’s surprise Mark was not experienced with women; she supposed that any good-looking man must not be short of opportunities, but Mark was rather shy. This increased his attraction for Anne. She took a
