England, 1536. After nearly a decade of political and religious upheaval, Henry VIII has succeeded in ridding himself of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and has crowned as Queen of England his long-term mistress, Anne Boleyn. But despite the birth of a princess, Elizabeth, Anne has twice miscarried and been unable to provide Henry with a male heir. Mark Smeaton, page of Anne Boleyn, is secretly in love with her. In this aria, after stealing a miniature portrait of Anne Boleyn, he goes to her apartment when no one is there to return it and reflects on his love.