She took a sip of tea. "As humiliating as the annulment was, in the end it was one of the better things that's ever happened."
"I suppose that is the whole irony of it. I indeed loved being queen, I loved my ladies and I suppose I could even like Henry in a non romantic sort of way, but no I wouldn't have 'lived' as you've said. There was always a spy waiting for you to say the wrong thing, or the right thing and pull it out of context if that's what was wanted, arrest, assassination."
Anne listened as he said that he had cancer. "That is how I felt when I learned that the king was not pleased with me. One wrong word, a glance or a smile at the wrong person would send him in a rage. Sickness, age, and the fear of treason and being made a fool of had drove him to paranoia and madness."
"I didn't mention, because I didn't wish to offend. I'm too used to being around men who would fly into a rage if you point out their weakness."