The Boleyn Inheritance Part 20

And what d"s that mean? That she allows a woman to come into her chamber, the privy chamber, the best place in the land, because she can tell secrets of Katherine's childhood? What can have taken place in the girl's childhood that she cannot risk it being spoken? And can we trust Joan Bulmer to keep it quiet? At court? At a court such as this? When all the gossip is always centered on the queen herself? How am I to rule over this chamber when one of the girls at least has a secret so powerful hanging over the queen's head that she can claim admittance?

These are her friends and companions, and there is really no way to improve them; but I had hoped that the senior ladies who have been appointed to wait on her might set a more dignified tone, and make a little headway against the childish chaos that Katherine enjoys. The most n.o.ble lady of the chamber is Lady Margaret Douglas, only twenty-one years old, the king's own niece; but she is barely ever here. She simply vanishes from the queen's rooms for hours at a time, and her great friend Mary, d.u.c.h.ess of Richmond, who was married to Henry Fitzroy, g"s with her. G.o.d knows where. They are said to be great p"ts and great readers, which is no doubt to their credit. But who are they reading and rhyming with all the day? And why can I never find them? The rest of the queen's ladies are all Howard women: the queen's older sister, her aunt, her step-grandmother's daughter-in-law, a network of Howard kin including Catherine Carey, who has reappeared promptly enough to benefit from the rise of a Howard girl. These are women who care only for their own ambitions, and do nothing to help me manage the queen's rooms so that they at least appear as they should be.

But things are not as they should be. I am certain that Lady Margaret is meeting someone; she is a fool and a pa.s.sionate fool. She has crossed her royal uncle once already, and been punished for a flirtation that could have been far worse. She was married to Thomas Howard, one of our kin. He died in the Tower for his attempt to marry a Tudor, and she was sent to live at the nunnery of Syon until she begged the king's pardon and said she would marry only at his bidding. But now she is wandering out of the queen's rooms in the middle of the morning and d"sn't come back until she arrives with a rush to go into dinner with us, straightening her hood and giggling. I tell Katherine that she should watch her ladies and make sure that their conduct befits a royal court, but she is hunting or dancing or flirting herself with the young men of the court, and her behavior is as wild as anyone's, worse than most.

Perhaps I am overanxious. Perhaps the king would indeed forgive her anything; this summer he has been like a young man besottedly in love. He has taken her all round his favorite houses on the summer progress, and he has managed to hunt with her every day, up at dawn, dining in tented pavilions in the woods at midday, boating on the river in the afternoon, watching her shooting at the b.u.t.ts, or at a tennis tournament, or betting on the young men tilting at the quintain all the afternoon and then a late dinner and a long night of entertainment. Then he takes her to bed and the poor old man is up at dawn again the next day. He has smiled on her as she has twirled and laughed and been embraced by the most handsome young men at his court. He has staggered after her, always beaming, always delighted with her, limping for pain and stuffing himself at dinner. But tonight he is not coming to dinner, and they say he has a slight fever. I should think he is near to collapse from exhaustion. He has lived these last months like a young bridegroom when he is the age of a grandfather. Katherine gives him not a second thought and g"s into dinner alone, arm in arm with Agnes, Lady Margaret arriving in the nick of time to slip in behind her; but I see my lord duke is absent. He is waiting on the king. He, at least, will be anxious for his health. There is no benefit to us if the king is sick and Katherine is not with child.

Katherine, Hampton Court, October 1540 The king won't see me, and it's as if I have offended him, which is tremendously unfair because I have been an absolutely charming wife for months and months without stopping, two months at least, and never a cross word from me, though G.o.d knows I have reason. I know well enough that he has to come to my room at night and I endure it without saying a word; I even smile as if I desire him. But d"s he really have to stay? All night? And d"s he really have to smell so very badly? It is not just the stink of his leg, but he trumps like a herald at a joust, and though it makes me want to giggle, it's disgusting really. In the morning I throw my windows open to be rid of the stink of him, but it lingers in the bed linen and in the hangings. I can hardly bear it. Some days I think, I really think, I cannot bear another day of it.

But I have never complained of him, and he can have no complaint of me. So why will he not see me? They say that he has a fever and that he d"sn't want me to see him when he is unmanned. But I can't help but be afraid that he is tired of me. And if he is tired of me, no doubt he will say that I was married to someone else and my wedding will be put aside. I feel very discouraged by this, and though Agnes and Margaret say that he could never tire of me, that he adores me and anyone can see that, they weren't here when he put Queen Anne aside. That was done so easily and so smoothly that we hardly knew it was happening. Certainly, she didn't know it was happening. They don't realize how easy it is for the king to be rid of one of his queens.

I send a message to his rooms every morning, and they always send back and say that he is on the mend; and then I have a great fear that he is dying, which would not be surprising for he is so terribly old. And if he dies, what will happen to me? And do I keep the jewels and the gowns? And am I still queen even if he is dead? So I wait until the end of dinner and then beckon the king's greatest favorite, Thomas Culpepper, to step up to the top table; he comes to my side at once, so deferential and graceful, and I say very seriously, "You may sit down, Master Culpepper, " and he takes a stool beside me. I say, "Please tell me truly, how is the king? "

He looks at me with his honest blue eyes; he is desperately handsome, it has to be said, and he says: "The king has a fever, Your Grace, but it is from weariness, not the wound on his leg. You need not fear for him. He would be grieved if he caused you a moment's worry. He is overheated and exhausted, nothing more. "

This is so kind that I feel myself become quite sentimental. "I have worried, " I say a little tearfully. "I have been very anxious for him. "

"You need not be, " he says gently. "I would tell you if there was anything wrong. He will be up and about within days. I promise it. "

"My position * "

"Your position is impossible, " he exclaims suddenly. "You should be courting your first sweetheart, not trying to rule a court and shape your life to please a man as old as your grandfather. "

This is so unexpected from Thomas Culpepper, the perfect courtier, that I give a little gasp of surprise and I make the mistake of telling the truth, as he has done.

"Actually, I can only blame myself. I wanted to be queen. "

"Before you knew what it meant. "

"Yes. "

There is a silence. I am suddenly aware that we are before the whole of the court and that everyone is looking at us. "I may not talk to you like this, " I say awkwardly. "Everyone watches me. "

"I would serve you in any way I can, " he says quietly. "And the greatest service I can do for you now is to go right away from you. I don't want to make grist for the gossips. "

"I shall walk in the gardens at ten tomorrow, " I say. "You could come to me then. In my privy gardens. "

"Ten, " he agrees, and bows very low and g"s back to his table, and I turn and talk to Lady Margaret as if nothing in particular had happened.

She gives me a little smile. "He is a handsome young man, " she says. "But nothing compared to your brother Charles. "

I look down the hall to where Charles is dining with his friends. I have never thought of him as handsome, but then I hardly ever saw him until I came to court. He was sent away for his upbringing when he was a boy, and then I was sent to my step-grandmother. "What an odd thing to say, " I remark. "You surely cannot like Charles. "

"Good gracious, no! " she says, and she flushes up quite scarlet. "Everyone knows I'm not allowed even to think about a man. Ask anyone! The king would not allow it. "

"You do like him! " I say delightedly. "Lady Margaret, you sly thing! You are in love with my brother. "

She hides her face in her hands, and she peeps at me through the fingers. "Don't say a word, " she begs me.

"Oh, all right. But has he promised marriage? "

She nods shyly. "We are so much in love. I hope you will speak for us to the king? He is so strict! But we are so very much in love. "

I smile down the hall at my brother. "Well, I think that's lovely, " I say kindly. I so like being gracious to the king's niece. "And what a wonderful wedding we can plan. "

Anne, Richmond Palace, October 1540 I have had a letter from my brother, an utterly mad letter; it distresses me as much as it angers me. He complains of the king in the wildest of terms, and he commands me to return home, insist on my marriage, or never more be a sister to him. He offers me no advice as to how I am to insist on my marriage *clearly he d"s not even know that the king has remarried already *nor any help if I want to return home. I imagine, as he knew well enough when he gave me these impossible choices, that I am left with the single option of never more being a sister to him.

Little loss to me! When he left me here without a word, gave me an amba.s.sador who was almost unpaid, failed to send adequate proof of the renunciation of the Lorraine betrothal, he was no good brother to me then. He is no good brother now. Least of all is he my good brother when the Duke of Norfolk and half the Privy Council come thundering down to Richmond in a rage, since they have, of course, picked up his letter almost from the moment it left his hand, copied it, translated it, and read it before it ever came to me. Now they want to know if I think my brother will incite the Holy Roman Emperor to war against England and Henry on my behalf?

As calmly as I can, I point out to them that the Holy Roman Emperor is not likely to make war at my brother's behest and that (emphatically) I do not ask my brother to make war at my behest.

"I warn the king that I cannot rule my brother, " I say, speaking slowly and directly to the Duke of Norfolk. "William will do as he wishes. He d"s not take my advice. "

The duke looks doubtful. I turn to Richard Beard and speak in German. "Please point out to His Grace that if I could make my brother obey me, then I would have told him to send the doc.u.ment which showed that the betrothal to Lorraine was renounced, " I say.

He turns and translates, and the duke's dark eyes gleam at my mistake. "Except it was not renounced, " he reminds me.

I nod. "I forgot. "

He shows me a wintry smile. "I know you cannot command your brother, " he concedes.

I turn to Richard Beard again. "Please point out to His Grace that this letter from my brother actually proves that I have honored the king, since it makes clear that he has so little faith in me that he threatens me with being cut off from my family forever. " Richard Beard translates, and the duke's cold smile widens slightly.

"What he thinks and what he d"s, how he bl.u.s.ters and threatens me, is clearly not of my choosing, " I conclude.

Thank G.o.d. They may be the king's council, but they do not share his unreasonable terrors; they do not see plots where there are none *except when it suits them, of course. Only when it suits them to be rid of an enemy like Thomas Cromwell, or a rival like poor Lord Lisle, do they exaggerate the king's fears and a.s.sure him that they are real. The king is in perpetual anxiety about one conspiracy or another, and the council play on his fears like a master might tune a lute. Provided that I am neither threat nor rival to any one of them, they will not alert any royal fears about me. So the frail peace between the king and me is not broken by my brother's intemperate speech. I wonder, did he even stop for a moment to think if his letter would put me in such danger? Worse still, I wonder, did he intend to put me in such danger?

"Do you think your brother will make trouble for us? " Norfolk asks me simply.

I answer him in German. "Not for my sake, sir. He would do nothing for me. He has never done anything for my benefit, except to let me go. He might use me as the excuse, but I am not his cause. And even if he meant to make trouble, I doubt very much that the Holy Roman Emperor would go to war with the King of England over a fourth wife, when the king has already helped himself to his fifth. "

Richard Beard translates this, and both he and Norfolk have to hide their amus.e.m.e.nt. "I have your word then, " the duke says shortly.

I nod. "You do. And I never break my word. I shall make no trouble for the king. I wish to live here alone, in peace. "

He looks around. He is something of a connoisseur of beautiful buildings. He has built his own great house, and he has torn down some fine abbeys. "You are happy here? "

"I am, " I say, and I am telling the truth. "I am happy here. "

Jane Boleyn, Hampton Court, October 1540 I should have warned Lady Margaret Douglas not to meddle with a man who was certain to land her in trouble, but I was so absorbed with trying to keep Katherine Howard steady in her first days of marriage that I did not watch the ladies as I should have done. Besides, Lady Margaret is the king's own niece, daughter of his sister. Who would have thought that his hard, suspicious gaze would fall on her? In the first days of his marriage? When he told us all that for the first time in his long life he had found happiness? Why, in those honeymoon weeks, should I have thought that he would plot his own niece's arrest?

Because this is Henry *that is why. Because I have been in his court for long enough to know that things he may overlook when he is chasing a woman will be reckoned up the moment that he has her. Nothing distracts the king from his suspicious terrors for very long. As soon as he was up and out of bed from his fever he was looking around the court to see who had misbehaved in his absence. I was so desperate that he should not suspect the queen and her silly friends that I forgot to look to her ladies. In any case, Lady Margaret Douglas would never have listened to me, given her complete inability to see any sense at all. All the Tudors follow their hearts and make up their reasons after, and Lady Margaret is just like her mother before her, Queen Margaret of Scotland, who fell in love with a man with nothing to recommend him, and now her daughter has done the same. Only a few years ago Lady Margaret married Thomas Howard, my kinsman, in secret and had the pleasure of enjoying him for no more than days before the king discovered the couple and sent the young man to the Tower for his impertinence. He was dead within months, and she was in disgrace. Of course! Of course! Where is the surprise in this? You cannot have the king's niece marrying where she pleases and her fancy lighting on a Howard! You cannot have one of the greatest families in England, close to the throne on their own account, coming closer yet because a girl likes a dark glance and a merry smile and a certain devil-may-care approach to life. The king swore he would teach her the respect her position deserves, and for months she was a widow with a broken heart.

Well, it's mended now.

I knew that something was going on, and within weeks everyone knew of it, too. When the king took to his bed with his fever, the young couple gave up all attempts to conceal their love affair. Anyone with eyes could see that the king's niece was wholly in love with the queen's brother Charles.

Another Howard, of course, and a favorite: a member of the Privy Council and high in the family command. What did he think he would gain from such a betrothal? The Howards are ambitious, but even he must have considered that he might be overreaching himself. Good G.o.d, did he think he might get Scotland by this girl? Did he fancy himself as King Consort? And she? Why would she not see her own danger? And what is it about these Howards that is a magnet for the Tudors? You would think it was some kind of alchemy, like jam for wasps.

But I should have warned her that she would be discovered. It was a certainty. We live in a house of gla.s.s, as if the Venetian gla.s.s blowers of Murano had devised a special torment for us. In this court there is not a secret that can be kept; there is not a curtain that can conceal; there is not a wall that is not transparent. Everything is always discovered. Sooner or later, everyone knows everything. And as soon as it is known, everything splinters into a million jagged shards.

I went to my lord duke and found his barge ready to sail and he himself on the pier. "May I see you? "

"Trouble? " he asked. "I have to catch the tide. "

"It is Lady Margaret Douglas, " I say shortly. "She is in love with Charles Howard. "

"I know, " he says. "Are they married? "

Even I am shocked. "He is a dead man if they are. "

The thought of the queen's brother, his own nephew, dead for treason d"s not disturb him. But then, it is a familiar thought. "Unless the king, in honeymoon mood, is minded to forgive young love. "

"He might, " I concede.

"If Katherine were to put it to him? "

"He has refused her nothing so far, but all she has asked for has been jewels and ribbons, " I say. "Should she ask him if another member of her family can marry another of his? Won't he suspect? "

"Suspect what? " he asks blandly.

I look around us. The boatmen are too far away to hear; the servants are all in Norfolk livery. Even so, I step closer. "The king will suspect that we are planning to take the throne, " I say. "Look what happened to Henry Fitzroy when he was married to our Mary. Look what happened to our Thomas Howard when he was married to Lady Margaret. When these Tudor Howard marriages take place, a death follows thereafter. "

"But if he was in a generous mood " the duke starts.

"You have planned this. " I suddenly see.

He smiles. "Surely not, but I can see an advantage if it happens to come about. We hold so much of northern England, it would be such a pleasure to see a Howard on the throne of Scotland. A Howard heir to the Scots throne, a Howard grandson on the English throne. Worth a little risk, don't you think? Worth a little gamble to see if our girl can pull it off? "

I am silenced by his ambition. "The king will see this, " is reluctantly forced out of me by my own fear. "He is in love, but he is not blinded with love. And he is a most dangerous enemy, sir. You know this. He is at his worst when he thinks his inheritance is threatened. "

The duke nods. "Fortunately we have other Howard children if dear Charles is s.n.a.t.c.hed from us; and Lady Margaret is a fool who can be locked up at Syon Abbey for another year or two. At the very worst we do not lose much. "

"Is Katherine to try to save them? " I ask.

"Yes. It's worth a try, " he says carelessly. "It's a great gamble for a great prize, " and he steps up the gangplank into the waiting barge. I watch them cast off the ropes and I see the barge swing into the current. The rowers' oars are held upward, like lances, and at the command they lower them in one smooth sweep into the green water. The Norfolk standard at the stern ripples out, and the barge leaps forward as the oars bite. In a moment the duke has gone.

Katherine, Hampton Court, October 1540 Like a fool I am in the privy garden at half past nine. I cannot trust anybody with the secret that I am meeting Thomas Culpepper, so I send my ladies to my rooms ahead of me as soon as I hear the clock strike ten. Within a minute of their leaving, the door in the wall opens, and he comes in.

He walks like a young man. He d"s not drag his fat leg like the king. He walks on the b.a.l.l.s of his feet like a dancer, as if he is ready to run or to fight at a moment's notice. I find I am smiling in silence, and he comes to my side and looks at me, saying nothing. We look at each other for a long time, and for once I am not thinking what I should say, or even how I look. I just drink in the sight of him.

"Thomas, " I breathe, and his name is so sweet that my voice comes out all dreamy.

"Your Grace, " he says back.

Gently he takes my hand and raises it to his lips. At the last moment, as he touches his lips to my fingers, he looks at me with those piercing blue eyes and I can feel my knees go quite weak, just at this slight touch.

"Are you well? " he asks.

"Yes, " I say. "Oh, yes. Are you? "

He nods. We stand, as if the music has just stopped in a dance, facing each other, looking into each other's eyes.

"The king? " I ask. For a moment I had forgotten all about him.

"Better this morning, " he says. "The physician came and purged him last night, and he labored painfully for some hours, but now he has pa.s.sed a great motion and is better for it. "

I turn my head away at the very thought of it, and Thomas gives a little laugh. "I am sorry. I am too accustomed; all of us in his rooms are accustomed to talk in much detail about his health. I did not mean * "

"No, " I say. "I have to know all about it, too. "

"I suppose it is natural, once one reaches such a great age . "

"My grandmama is his age, and she d"s not talk about purges all the time, nor d"s she smell of the privy. "

He laughs again. "Well, I swear that if I ever get to forty, I shall drown myself. I couldn't bear to grow old and flatulent. "

I laugh now at the thought of this radiant young man growing old and flatulent. "You will be as fat as the king, " I predict. "And surrounded by adoring great-grandchildren and an old wife. "

"Oh, I don't expect to marry. "

"Don't you? "

"I can't imagine it. "

"Why ever not? "

He looks at me intently. "I am so much in love. I am too much in love. I can only think of one woman, and she is not free. "

I am breathless. "Can you? D"s she know? "

He smiles at me. "I don't know. D'you think I should tell her? "

The door behind me opens, and Lady Rochford is there. "Your Grace? "

"Here is Thomas Culpepper come to tell me that the king has been purged and is better for it, " I say brightly, my voice high and thin. I turn back to him; I dare not meet his eyes. "Will you ask His Grace if I may visit him today? "

He bows without looking at me. "I will ask him at once, " he says, and g"s quickly from the garden.

"What d'you know of Lady Margaret and your brother Charles? " Lady Rochford demands.

"Nothing, " I lie at once.

"Has she asked you to speak to the king for her? "

"Yes. "

"Are you going to? "