Needless to say, Wolf Hall‘s 600+ pages about life in the Tudor Court inspired a fair few fantasies.

There are gatherings of the great and the good at country houses across the land, with His Majesty as guest of honour. One imagines each of the noblemen bringing him a gift for the weekend – the fairest maiden from their estate. The girls would be lined up for the king’s inspection. He’d choose a favourite, and she’d protest: “Do not touch me, sir.” The royal order would follow a firm slap across her face: “Take her to my chamber, tie her over the end of my bed, and lay out a whip so I may punish her   – and teach her some respect and compliance.”

The book tells tale of the Duke of Suffolk with his ever-so-young new bride. Is it too much to imagine how the girl might have had to be taught obedience to her new husband in his stately home – especially if she’d tried to resist his advance?

And the novel dwells at length on issues of   oaths. My courtiers would have taken a rather more robust stance than Henry’s to attaining compliance: “You are to swear the oath on behalf of your entire family, sir. And if you do not, then they will all be whipped. So will you swear your allegiance? No? Which of these girls is your eldest daughter? Officers: seize her, take her to the whipping post in the marketplace and bring her back here once you’ve flogged her soundly.” (So much more effective than a mere ‘Off with his head’, methinks).

It’s still a good (nay, great) book, despite the missing scenes. But I hope that the inevitable TV or movie adaptation will fill in the gaps.