Cromwell continues to ascend with the King seeing him on an almost daily basis but the old campaigner continues to keep an eye on a wide spectrum of activities. The politics of the court can be lethal with be-headings, burning at the stake for heritics and the prospect of the tower for those that get it wrong.
With Cromwell at the centre Mantel weaves in stories of Tyndale and his fight to get the bible into the hands of the masses in English, the strain with Rome and the demand from Henry for a divorce from Katherine as well as the financial state of the kingdom.
Cromwell knows that he is walking a dangerous line but seems to make the right allies and has a growing court of his own able to extend his hand and reach even when he is not there himself. As a literary character he is shaping up to be quite something.
More next week…
