King Henry

Chapter 5 - Getting Prepared

"No, no, no," Thomas said loudly in frustration. "When entering a room, the woman always lets the man take the lead and walk in ahead of her. I can't believe you don't know this," he said with an exhale, looking frustrated.

"I'm sorry. I'm doing my best," Eleanor said, feeling her face flush with embarrassment. "Let's try again."

They left the room and walked back in with her behind him this time.

She looked at her Mother who was pretending to be the Queen and said, "Well met your highness," giving a curtsy.

"No, you never address a social superior first," Thomas cut in. "Wait for them to address you first before speaking," and then he led her over to a seat and she sat down in it.

"No! You don't sit down until the host sits," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You stay standing behind your chair until the host sits and motions for everyone else to be seated."

She nodded her head, standing back up. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

She waited for him to sit and motion to her and then she took a seat, looking at the food and silverware that had been set out in front of her for practice.

She reached out and picked up her fork and took a bite of her food very carefully.

"NO!" he shouted, making her jump and nearly spit out her food.

"What have I done wrong now? I was very careful! I didn't chew with my mouth open or spill food on myself."

He let out a frustrated exhale, laying his hand on his forehead and shaking it. Then he dropped his hand and looked at her.

"That's not the point. You don't start eating until after the host has started eating. Plus you used the wrong fork, your elbows are on the table AND you didn't lay your napkin across your lap before you started eating!"

She let out a sigh, feeling like a failure.

After another thirty minutes of being berated for every single thing she did wrong that he expected her to already know, she was starting to worry that maybe he was right. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a courtier. There was no way she was going to remember all this.

"Are you ready to give up yet? This is pointless," he grumbled, letting out a sigh.

She sat there thinking about it and realized she couldn't give up. This was the most important thing she would ever do and it would effect the whole rest of her life and her family's. She had to pull herself together. She took a deep breath in and let it out.

"No," she said, shaking her head, feeling her resolve strengthen. "I'm not giving up. What else should I do?"

He sighed again in frustration before saying, "Take smaller bites and wipe the sides of your mouth with your napkin, not your hand. Only speak when spoken to and if they ask you a question, ONLY tell them what they asked. Don't add extra information they don't need or want. Remember, it's rude to ramble."

She nodded her head and said, "Okay. I can do that."

Thomas ended up staying there for a couple more hours and by the time he left, Eleanor's head was spinning and she was exhausted. After he was gone, she got out a piece of paper and sat down at her desk, writing down everything he had told her. She was so afraid she would forget something important and embarrass herself.

"What are you doing?" her sister Margaret asked, coming into her room and lighting a candle, since it was starting to get dark outside.

Eleanor took a deep breath in and let it out. "I'm taking notes of everything Thomas taught me. There are SO many rules to being a courtier. I'm so worried I'll do something wrong and they'll kick me out and send me back home."