Summary

In “Nonsuch,” Cromwell hastens Henry toward remarriage. One heir isn’t enough; Henry needs to solidify his position, and to make alliances. But when the French Ambassador Castillon presents Henry with a range of possible brides, the meeting goes poorly. Henry doesn’t like any of the suggestions, and, nettled, Castillon tells him that rumor has it he kills his wives. Cromwell leaps to Henry’s defense, and Castillon accuses him of secretly supporting the Emperor in trying to interrupt Henry’s French marriage prospects. When Castillon has left, Henry half-jokes to Cromwell about this accusation; Cromwell replies, “‘What should I want with the Emperor, were he emperor of all the world? Your Majesty is the only prince. The mirror and the light of other kings’” (467). Henry likes this, but nevertheless warns Cromwell that he may have to insult him in public to persuade...