Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Henry's recovery restores the public routine of dressing, rewards and royal appearances, with Culpeper helping him present himself as a strong king. Surrey receives the Order of the Garter, and Catherine receives a magnificent ring from her husband. The gifts sit beside an increasing expectation that the queen will produce another child. Henry also prepares to travel north, combining hunting with a progress intended to display his authority in places where rebellion is still remembered. Catherine tells him that her new life feels like a dream, but she has to admit that the signs she took for a pregnancy have not led to the news he wants.
The royal journey creates further opportunities for Catherine and Culpeper to meet in secret. Jane Rochford helps arrange access while the queen's attendants are kept waiting or excluded from the rooms they would normally enter. Their relationship becomes an affair, carried on under the protection of servants whose own safety now depends on silence. Henry offers forgiveness to northern subjects and enjoys the authority of his visit, unaware of what is happening within the household moving with him. At court, Chapuys encourages Mary's sense that she still has a place in the country's future. The episode leaves Catherine taking larger private risks as the public progress continues to celebrate the king and his young wife.