Moving as quickly and as quietly as we could, we made haste to the summerhouse where Anne flopped exhausted onto a settee, shocked and traumatised at what she had just witnessed.
‘They were making a baby, can you believe it Toby? They were making a baby, and they are not even married.’
I was slightly surprised by her innocence, then realised that unlike me she had lived a sheltered life, protected from the real world by her parents, and therefore not understanding that what she thought was shocking was actually perfectly normal… though in this case perhaps a little unusual. Clearly distressed and upset, she sat with her head in her hands and began to cry. I tried to comfort her by putting a hand round her shoulder.
‘What they were doing was perfectly normal Anne, they are just two young people in love.’
‘But what if she gets pregnant?’
‘It doesn’t always happen, and if it does, Prince Charles will deal with it. In any case, it’s none of our business.’
Anne may have been shocked by what she had witnessed, but I was not. Prince Charles had the reputation of being a philanderer. I once overheard Veronica telling George that she believed the man who tried to kill him on Ludgate Hill was the father of a young woman whom the prince had dishonoured.
Anne eventually calmed down, but when she looked at me her eyes were red and sad, I wanted to hug her but at the time I was too shy, and so I just held out my hand to her. ‘It’s late and I think we should go back to the palace,’ I said.
She took hold of my hand and we walked slowly back in silence.
***
I saw very little of the prince during the months of October and November, he was busy travelling Europe accompanied by his brother-in-law William, seeking support for his army of liberation.
Thomas stayed at Noordeinde to give his injury time to recover, to deal with Charles’s affairs in his absence, and to maintain pressure on me to keep up with my education.
No motive or credible reason had been found as to why my life was targeted on board the prince’s ship, or who could be responsible, and Thomas having pledged to protect me with his life did not want to leave me alone on my own.
Meanwhile, the civil war back home rumbled along causing hardship and misery to all who were unfortunate enough to get caught up in its chaos and disorder.
Despite the troubles in England, the summer of 1648 spent in The Hague was one of the happiest of my life.
Thomas allowed me to drop Theology and Mathematics. Theology because I could see no point in learning something I had no enthusiasm for, and Mathematics because it was a subject I was taught as a child by Veronica to a level Thomas thought adequate. In return I agreed to add Spanish and History to my curriculum… to study four hours a day, two in the morning and two in the evening, and to spend more time on English, French and Latin.
The rest of the day I was free to do as I pleased: to work, to go riding with Louis or explore the palace gardens with Anne. Sometimes the three of us would go riding together, although Anne never wanted to go anywhere near the lake.
I had my dance with Princess Mary, and also danced with some of her ladies-in-waiting who took turns in asking me. One of them was called Anne Hyde who was also a friend of Anne Huxley, who I did eventually dance with… in fact she was the only person I felt really comfortable dancing with.
Anne and I often took our books to the secret garden and sat in quiet solitude studying together until the long shadows of early evening reminded us that we were hungry.
The palace gardens were extensive and often surprised us with hidden gems of nature and wildlife.
The graceful undulating landscaping was tended by a small army of gardeners, resulting in the most beautiful flowerbeds… ponds of colourful fish, fountains, marble statues and manicured lawns with lanes of topiary hedges, and trees… lots of trees.
But also the lake which was the one place we never returned to. It was as like a mental block in Anne’s mind, a place erased from her memory, a place to avoid. She found it hard to even talk about Prince Charles, and the name Lucy Walter had become persona non grata.
Not knowing about the summerhouse affair, Louis was confused by Anne’s aversion to the lake. Everyone liked to be by water and trotting around the lake on his favourite charger in the summer with the sun shining on the still water was one of the joys of life, how could anyone not want to be there? Louis and Anne were my closest friends, so I decided he should know the reason for Anne’s uncharacteristic behaviour.
He swore on oath not to repeat a word, and I explained in graphic detail the cause of Anne’s abhorrence of the lake and boathouse.
***
We were well into September when events over which I had no control changed the direction of my life once again. In England, King Charles had been arrested, accused of being a tyrant, a traitor, a murderer and public enemy to the good of the nation. By the time we were told the news, he was at Windsor Castle. But he had been arrested in August and taken firstly to the Isle of Wight, then from there to Holmby House in Northampton and finally to Windsor Castle.
Thomas Hudson and I were with the prince at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague when the Royal courier delivered the dreadful news of his father’s arrest. His first thought was for his sister Princess Mary, who he found in her private rooms with husband William. Two of the prince’s other siblings, Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Elizabeth were still being held by Parliamentary forces at an unknown location in England. His brother James, Duke of York, and his sister, Henrietta, were still with their mother at her home in Paris.
It seemed a lifetime ago, and yet it was only four months since I had sailed down the Thames on what to me was to be an exciting voyage of discovery. It was a voyage to take me to faraway places, some I had never even heard of, but also into danger.
I was only ten years old at the time but in the next twelve months I grew up very quickly. I become a man when really I was still only a boy.
However, and despite everything, I never regretted one moment of my new exciting life as a ward of court. Of course I missed my friends back home in England, especially Madam Veronica, but I had new friends now, precious friends that I would never forget, friends for life.
It was also a period in my life where every day my education became an exciting new challenge.
The same could not be said for the hundreds of royal guards and officers who had sailed from England with us… bored and idling their time away in a camp on the outskirts of Rotterdam, just waiting to be called into action.
Countless had already deserted, some of them homesick had found their way back to England, while others had found the comfort of the local women too alluring to resist, and had settled down to a life of domesticity in Holland.
Being nobility was not a remedy for homesickness, and with the war now over, a handful of Charles’s Noble Lords decided to take a chance and return to their homes in England… taking with them their retainer and their own cadre of men-at-arms: a decision they were later to regret as many who had opposed Cromwell during the war paid later with their lives.
My education was going well, I was spending more time studying on my own, learning from books or assignments pre-set by Thomas, this meant that my studies were not fixed to any particular time of day, and as I have always thought my mind to be most lucid first thing in the morning, I rose early and revised on my own while everywhere was quiet and peaceful, then after a hearty breakfast I always headed for the stables.
***
‘Where do you want me to start?’ I asked Louis as I hung up my coat.
‘You can start mucking out that end stall if you like.’
I hooked the door back and wheeled a barrow into the stall, parked it and took a rake from the wall.
I felt sure he must know about the seizure of King Charles… everyone was talking about it, but I told him just the same.
> ‘I suppose you know that the war in England over, and that the king has been arrested.’
‘Yes I do… how do you feel about that Toby?’
‘Odd really,’ I said. ‘I’m sad and happy. Sad that the king has been arrested but happy because it could mean I will probably be staying here longer. I love it here at Noordeinde and I don’t really want to be going to war. It’s a bittersweet feeling… does that make sense to you Louis?’
‘I know what you mean, and I sort of feel the same,’ he said. ‘I don’t know your king but I’m sorry he is stuck in a stinking prison… what do you think will happen to him?’
‘Nobody really knows, but personally I think he will be held a prisoner in the Tower of London. He won’t be the first monarch to be imprisoned there. Thomas Hudson thinks he may be exiled to France and spend the rest of his life in Paris with his wife Queen Henrietta.’
‘Well I honestly hope things work out for him Toby… but enough of King Charles, he is not the only important news item being whispered about round the palace. Have you heard about Lucy Walter?’ he asked as he dropped a bale of hay outside my stall. ‘Anne Huxley was right all along… she has got herself pregnant, and the reason you haven’t seen her is because she is in Rotterdam. I have been told that when her time comes, she will be spending her confinement there where her parents have a home, and where they intend to live until it is safe to return to Wales.’
I was shocked by Louis’s news but not too surprised. Anne thinks they are in love but it’s not the kind of love I am familiar with. I love Madam Veronica but the men who visit her house are not in love, they are just lustful and depraved and I think the prince is a little like them… I have seen how he looks at women and how he talks to them and it sometimes disgusts me… though I would not want him to know that.
‘Is she in Rotterdam now?’ I asked as I wheeled the barrow full of old bedding out of the stall.
‘As it happens, at the moment she is here at Noordeinde, but only for a quick visit to see the Princess Mary. She is then going to Paris to see your Queen Henrietta with her parents.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Princess Mary’s ladies always know what’s going on, they gossip, and I am particularly friendly with one of them, but don’t worry, it’s not Anne.’
‘Anne is too young for you, and why should I be worried? She’s just a friend.’
He looked at me and laughed but didn’t answer my question… feeling a little embarrassed I wheeled the barrow outside and tipped the contents on the dunghill ready to be moved to the farms. When I returned Louis called: ‘Lucy Walter is claiming to be married to your prince, and he has neither admitted nor denied it, so you can draw your own conclusion from that.’
‘If that is true, the baby will be the second in line to the throne.’
‘What throne?’ asked Louis. ‘At the moment you don’t have a monarch or a throne.’
Anne walked into the stables carrying her books.
‘I thought I would find you here, have you heard the news about Lucy Walter?’
‘Louis has just told me, so you were right all along, you said she would get pregnant.’
‘What do you think will happen to her?’
‘I’m not sure but I think Charles will do the right thing by her. If it’s a boy he will probably be given a title.’
‘Do you think they are married? She is saying that they are.’
‘I doubt it… but you never know.’
‘Now that the war is over will you be going back to England?’
‘It depends what happens to the King. If they harm him I fear Prince Charles will want to return to England with an army and fight Oliver Cromwell all over again.’
‘But you will not have to go will you Toby, you’re too young?’
‘I think he will be going to Paris first,’ Louis said to Anne. ‘I have been asked to have five or six horses ready to travel by the weekend.’
‘Louis is right. Thomas thinks Prince Charles is worried about his mother and wants to visit her in Paris, and if he goes with him I will probably have to go too.’
‘No matter,’ said Anne. ‘I am also going to France at the weekend with my parents.’
Louis was stood listening with his hands on his hips. ‘What for?’ he asked.
‘I have no idea,’ she said as she turned on her heels and headed for the door.
‘I’m off to study… you know where you can find me.’
‘I think you had better shuffle off after your girlfriend,’ Louis jested.
‘I don’t have a girlfriend and I have important work to do here before I go chasing after her.’
***
I sat in silence watching Thomas checking my work, occasionally nodding and sometimes grinning to himself which is usually a good thing. Finally he pushed my work to one side and looked directly at me.
‘How have I done today?’
‘I will be going to Paris at the weekend with Charles, he wants to see his mother and he has suggested we travel on horseback as taking carriages would add two days to the journey. It’s a long way and we will probably have to spend three days in the saddle; you can stay here if you wish or you can come along for the ride.’
‘I will come with you. How is my work?’
‘I am pleased you want to come with us, I think it will be a good experience for you, and in answer to your question… apart from your spelling mistakes I am reasonably satisfied with your work. But now I think it is time I gave you something a little more challenging.’
‘Challenging?’
‘Yes challenging. I want you to do one of my jobs. I want you to keep a record of our trip to Paris. I want you to be the royal chronicler and keep a record of the whole journey… there and back. When we return we will go over your work together. How do you feel about that?’
‘Do you make a record of every journey or is this just an exercise for my benefit?’
‘You’re right… I would not generally record a family visit, not unless something unusual happens, I just think it is time you attempted something a little more taxing… something a little more interesting.’
‘I enjoy a challenge so I accept.’
‘Good, so now I will give you a couple of useful tips. The way I have always done it is by recording items as headings, or even just single words. That way I can be reasonably sure not to forget anything important when later I transcribed it into the report. Certain features or elements that are more complex you may have to record in full. Do you think you will be able to manage that?’
I was excited at the chance to prove myself, though slightly worried that I might mess up.
‘I will do my best,’ I said.
‘That’s all I ask.’
This was an important day for me. Not only because on that day I was given a proper job. It was the day I started to keep a record of my own adventures. It was the day I started my own personal journal.
Thomas had fully recovered from the injury to his foot but was left with a slight limp, a limp that I suspect would remain with him for the rest of his life.
I had never been to Paris, only heard about it, and seen paintings. And I had never rode a horse for more than half a day at a time before, certainly not at a gallop, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. Nevertheless I was excited and anxious to find out.
I picked out a hunter from the stables but Louis shook his head and said, ‘You would be much better on a smaller horse… I suggest you take the Palomino you rode yesterday.’
Surrendering to his greater knowledge, I took his advice and later before retiring for the night, I ambled down to the stables to spend a few minutes talking and stroking the horse that would be my equine companion for the next few days.
Queen Henrietta Maria
It was early in the morning and still dark as we r
ode out of the gates of Noordeinde Palace, and through the silent streets of The Hague into the countryside. I was the youngest of six which included three of Charles’s most trusted knights.
After a few hours we stopped by a stream to rest the horses and stretch our legs.
The sky was a blanket of grey and there was a slight drizzle which, though good for the horses, was rather unpleasant for their riders.
Thomas seemed restless and kept looking back.
‘Is something bothering you?’ asked Charles.
‘It’s probably nothing but I have a strange feeling we are being followed.’
‘I’ll double back a mile or so and check,’ suggested one of Charles’s knights.
He was gone an hour, and when he returned he said he had seen two horsemen, but they were a mile away travelling in the opposite direction.
‘I think considering all that happened to us on the ship, I must be getting a little paranoid,’ said Thomas. ‘Let’s move on, it’s a long way to our overnight stop in Brussels.’
The sky was ashen, and it continued to drizzle all the way to the tavern which was to be our overnight stop. The weather then changed for the worst, with heavy rain and thick black clouds shutting out any chance of light from the moon.
We were given a meal of mutton stew and sweet pastry. I was tired and so after eating I retired to my bed, leaving the others talking and laughing about Thomas’s phantom horsemen.
After a quick breakfast we walked together to the stables where our horses were already tacked up and ready to go. It was still fairly early and we had a long way to travel if we were to reach Reims before dark.
***
We had covered less than a mile and were galloping round a bend in the road when my saddle slipped. I fell heavily landing on my left shoulder, then rolling over hit my head against a tree. I was dazed and winded but conscious, my head was spinning, my shoulder was tender and I was spitting blood from a broken tooth.
I sat up feeling rather stupid. I was the youngest member of the party and thought I had let Thomas down.
While Prince Charles and Thomas attended to my injuries, the guards recovered my horse and discovered that the saddle was split by the fall, and that the strap had been cut through leaving only a thread holding it together.
Courtier in the Royal House of Stuart Page 6