Summary

In “The Bleach Fields,” Cromwell receives an unexpected visit from a young Dutch woman: his daughter, she announces. Her name is Jenneke, and she is Cromwell’s child by Anselma, a woman he loved when he worked in Antwerp as a young man. He is shocked that Anselma never told him about his daughter, but less shocked to discover that plenty of people around him already knew. Jenneke is clearly his, resembling him in both looks and temperament. He welcomes her, and offers to find her a husband. But Jenneke is not sure she wants to stay.

The nobles quell the Pilgrims, but there’s still unrest in the countryside. Henry is in denial. When Cromwell goes to see him, he finds him childishly delighted by French merchants, who tempt him with rich color-shifting fabrics. Cromwell is certain that some of these merchants are...