A bit from book IV...

A lot of 'views' recently, but not a lot of actual book. So, here's a snippet of a conversation between Guy Fletcher and Elizabeth...

“Guy Fletcher… I hope God finds a way for you to be happy. I cannot see it for me. There were endless hours, Guy, where I sat with him, reading, writing, arguing, and I did not know that I was at peace. I did not know that I had never known peace until him, and I did not know that what I felt was peace. When they - Cranmer and his ilk - talk about God, and they talk about the still, small voice… That’s it. Like a soothing hand on yours.”
Fletcher nods at her, but says nothing. He blinks repeatedly. 
She carries on, “When he went away, then I understood. Then I realised that I had come to need him. To love him. I was in the Tower, Guy. They thought to charge me with treason. And I thought only of him. But I could not speak to him. And then…”
“Then he returned. I know.” 
“You are the kindest person, Guy Fletcher.” She puts her hand on his. “I pray for you.” At this, the tears that Fletcher has been fighting begin to flow, but he does not speak. “But I did not say that which now fills my heart, my mind, to the exclusion of almost all else. He must hear it from my lips.”
“I shall bring him back to you once again.” Fletcher has mastered himself for the moment. 
“I thank you. You are truly noble, whatever your birth.”
“Madam.” Fletcher bows. Then, as though the words are bursting forth from him, rather than chosen, he speaks again. “Were I of noble birth I should speak my mind more frequently, not feeling that I should be ignored or that by opening my mouth I am transgressing. Have you ever sat in a room with someone and not been able to address them simply because of an accident of birth? I doubt it, in your case. You are protected by your birth, and even at your most vulnerable you still have Strelley and Longshawe and a household full of servants and tutors working for your safety. I am silenced by who I am.”