Jean Plaidy - [Queens of England 07]

by The Queen's Secret

  I started to think back over the years of my childhood, to my first meeting with Henry, to my life with him…the birth of my son. They were not unhappy days. But it was only when I knew Owen that I discovered what true happiness was. Few people find it as Owen and I had. What a tragedy that we should have had to hold it so carefully until it was finally snatched from us.

  The words of the abbess kept coming back to me. “You will lose your reason.” There were times when I was not sure whether I was in the past or the present. Sometimes in the night I would think I was in the Hôtel de St.-Paul, lying close to Michelle for warmth while Marie prayed at the bedside. I thought: I must be calm.

  The idea came to me that the only way in which I could live through the days was by writing it all down. Perhaps I should discover where I might have acted differently. Could this have been avoided? Was there a way in which Owen and I could have been together and there was no cruel parting? Was it just possible?

  It was true that I felt better. The abbess was pleased that I had this occupation. She could see that it helped me.

  Writing materials were supplied to me, and through the days I wrote. I became fascinated by the project, I think largely because for hours at a time I could lose myself in the past and shut out the desolate present.

  The summer had gone. I had no knowledge of what was happening to my family. I was sleeping a little better now…I did not dread the long nights as I had, for, having written of the past and in a manner lived it again, I felt a certain exhaustion at the end of the day which I welcomed.

  I would sometimes dream that I was happy again, that Edmund, Jasper or little Jacina was telling me what they had done that day, that little Owen was talking to me, in his quaint baby way. I cherished those dreams, for they brought a fleeting happiness into my dreary existence.

  It must be nearly Christmastime. I was trying not to think of last Christmas. I had covered so much paper with my writing. I was getting near the end. It was almost unbearable now because I was writing about my life with Owen and the children, and all kinds of little incidents came to my mind…too trivial to record but precious to me.

  One early morning I awoke in agony.

  I had allowed my grief to overwhelm me. I had not thought of the life I carried within me.

  My baby. Would they allow me to keep the child? They must. They could not part a mother from her newly born child. The abbess was no monster. If I could have my child with me, perhaps I could find some solace.

  But there was some time yet.

  It was two months before my child was due.

  They were at my bedside. I had been oblivious of all else but pain. I had even forgotten the loss of my husband and my children.

  There had been nothing but agony.

  “My child …” I murmured.

  I saw my dear confessor, Johan Boyers, and I thought: I am dreaming. But it was not so.

  “My lady …” he said.

  “Johan!”

  “I came when they sent for me.”

  “Johan…where is Owen?…Where are the children?”

  He shook his head. “You must rest.”

  “My baby …”

  He lowered his eyes. “The birth was premature …” he said gently.

  I murmured: “I see. Not content with ruining my life, they have killed my baby also.”

  He said: “The child still clings to life, but I think I should baptize her without delay. What name shall she be given?”

  I don’t know why I chose Margaret. It just came into my mind.

  “Margaret,” he repeated. “She shall be Margaret.”

  “Johan?”

  “Yes?”

  “You will not go away.”

  “I will come back to you later,” he said.

  I lay there, exhausted. So I was to be denied even the blessing of my newborn child.

  Johan Boyers brought great comfort to me during the days which followed.

  He said: “They sent for me when you were so ill.”

  “I must have been near death or they would not have done so.”

  “You were very ill…but you will recover.”

  “Shall I, Johan?”

  “The shock of everything…it brought on the birth…too soon …”

  “And I lost my child …”

  We were silent for a few moments. Then I said: “You were there, Johan…what happened?”

  “I can tell you that the children are well.”

  “With strangers?”

  “The abbess is a good woman. She will do all she can for them.”

  “They will want me. They will miss Owen. They will need Guillemote.”

  “Guillemote is trying to get to them. The abbess is a compassionate woman. Guillemote hopes that she will be able to get into the abbey…to look after the children as she has always done.”

  “Oh, God bless her!”

  “And Owen …”

  He was silent for a moment and I prompted him: “Please tell me. Tell me the truth.”

  “He is in Newgate.”

  “The jail?”

  He nodded.

  “On what charge?”

  “Treason…in marrying against the law.”

  “It was before the law was made.”

  “That will certainly help.”

  “Johan, you have done me so much good.”

  “Would you like to confess?”

  “What should I confess, Johan? I have sinned in these last months. I have railed against God for taking from me all that I cared for.”

  “Let us pray together.”

  “There is one thing, Johan. My first husband, the King, I did sin against him. He asked me to make sure that our son was not born at Windsor. Yet I allowed him to be born there.”

  “Why did you do this?”

  “I cannot say. It was some compulsion. I could have left Windsor before it was too late…but I did not. I stayed on. I cannot understand it now. Was it the prompting of the Devil?”

  He shook his head. “God meant the King to be born at Windsor. That is why it happened.”

  “Yes,” I said. “Let us pray together.”

  It was wonderful to have him with me. He was part of the old days.

  He did not go from the abbey until I was able to leave my bed.

  Christmas had passed and January was coming in, with wintry weather.

  I thought of the great fires we had had at Hatfield and Hadham, of Owen telling the children stories. They loved to hear of the Welsh mountains and the days of his ancestors.

  I felt the tears falling down my cheeks.

  I was very weak. I could not walk about my little room without feeling exhausted.

  The abbess was alarmed. She said she must get the physician to see me.

  I think people sometimes have a premonition that the end is near. I did, and it had a calming effect upon me. I knew this austere cell would not be my home for much longer. I knew now that I would never see Owen and my children again; and, oddly enough, I experienced a strange feeling of reconciliation because I could feel this world slipping away from me.

  When this year of 1437 came in, I believed I should never see the end of it; and I knew that was not a fancy; it was a revelation.

  I wondered that Henry had not come to see me. He would have done so, I was sure, but he was very much under the influence of his uncle Gloucester now. Gloucester was the heir presumptive to the throne. I trusted Henry would be well looked after. He would have come to me, I knew, if it had rested with him. He had always loved me, even though we had been so little together.

  They must have been worried about my health, for Johan Boyers was sent for again.

  His coming was a great joy to me—not only because he was a familiar face from my happy past but because he had good news for me.

  He waited until we were alone, then he said: “Owen is free.”

  “Free!”

  “He has escaped from Newgate.”

  “Oh…they will
catch him.”

  “He will not be caught. He will be too clever for them. He eluded the guards and got right away. He is in Wales, I believe. He got a message through to me for you.”

  “Oh, Johan…is this true?”

  “He says…he will be with you…as soon as it is possible. He said, ‘Tell the Queen that we shall be together again. It will be my greatest aim that this shall be so.’”

  I was silent. I was unaware that I was weeping until I tasted the salt tears on my lips.

  I shall never see Owen again. When he comes it will be too late.

  Everyone around me knows it. They are very kind and gentle.

  I was so shocked when I came to them. I became so weak…too weak to recover from the premature birth of my little girl.

  So…I am dying. I still have the strength to hold my pen. My spirits have lightened a little. I no longer have to look ahead to long years without Owen and the children. I shall be reunited with them one day. I know it.

  Today is New Year’s Day.

  I had a gift which gave me great pleasure because it was from my son. So Henry had not forgotten me. He would have come to my aid if he could, I always knew. And this was his way of saying so. He had sent me a gold tablet on which was a crucifix set with pearls and sapphires.

  My poor Henry! He is only fifteen years old. The tablet tells me that he would have helped me…if he could.

  I prayed then…deeply and sincerely…for him, my son. May his life be easy. May the burden of the crown sit lightly on his head.

  I am too tired to write more. It cannot be long now. I pray for Owen’s safety and for the happiness of my children and all those who have loved and served me well during my life, which is soon to end.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Aubrey, William Hickman Smith, National and Domestic History of England

  Batiffol, Louis, translated by Elsie Finnimore Buckley, National History of France

  Castries, Duc de, Lives of the Kings and Queens of France

  Church, Rev. A.J., Henry the Fifth

  Earle, Peter, Life and Times of Henry V

  Fabre, Lucien, translated by Gerald Hopkins, Joan of Arc

  Goodwin, T., History of the Reign of Henry the Fifth

  Green, John Richard, History of England

  Guizot, M., translated by Robert Black, History of France

  Hudson, William Henry, France

  Hume, David, History of England

  Lang, Andrew, The Maid of France

  Lindsay, Philip, King Henry the Fifth

  Mowat, R.B., Kings and Queens of England

  Oman, Charles, Political History of England

  Stenton, D.M., English Society in the Middle Ages

  Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sir Sidney Lee, Dictionary of National Biography

  Strickland, Agnes, Lives of the Queens of England

  Timbs, John, and Alexander Gunn, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales

  Vickers, K.H., Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

  Wade, John, British History

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  JEAN PLAIDY is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also known as Victoria Holt. Her novels have sold more than 14 million copies worldwide.

  The Queen’s Secret

  READING GROUP GUIDE

  ABOUT THIS GUIDE

  Katherine of Valois was born a princess, the daughter of King Charles VI of France, but her father was known to most of the nation as “Charles the Mad” by the time Katherine was old enough to know him. Given to unpredictable fits of insanity, the monarch was not a reliable parent. The young princess lived a secluded, unsteady life with her brothers and sisters, awaiting their father’s sane moments, suffering through his madness, watching their mother take up with their uncle, and wondering what the future would hold. Katherine’s fortunes appeared to be changing when she was married off at age nineteen to King Henry V of England. Within two years, she gave birth to an heir, but her happiness was fleeting—soon after the birth of her son, she lost her husband to an illness acquired in battle.

  Exiled from court, forbidden to return to France, and no longer allowed access to her child, Katherine’s every action was watched carefully; with Joan of Arc inciting the French to overthrow English rule, the Queen’s loyalty to England was a matter of intense suspicion. A relic of a former age, Katherine had brought her dowry and borne her heir, what use was she to England? The matter was quickly settled, she would live out her remaining years alone, far from the seat of power. But no one, even Katherine herself, could have anticipated that she would fall in love with and secretly marry one of her guardians, Owen Tudor—or that a generation later, their grandson would become the first king of the great Tudor dynasty.

  The questions in this guide are intended as a framework for your group’s discussion of The Queen’s Secret.

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  What were your thoughts on the opening of this novel? How did knowing where Katherine would eventually wind up frame your impressions as the plot proceeded? Why do you think the author set up the action this way?

  A refrain that Katherine often repeats throughout the novel is first voiced by her sister Isabelle on page 43:

  Who would be born royal? I often think, Katherine, how much happier we might be if we were just simple people. We should perhaps be able to lead our own lives.

  To what extent do you see this as truth, and to what extent do you think it is oversimplification on the part of Katherine and her sister? In what ways would their lives be easier if they were not royals, and how would they suffer differently? Is it fair for Katherine to make that wish, given all that she gains by virtue of her station in life? Would they necessarily be able to lead their lives in the way that they choose had they been born to a different postion?

  Consider the way that Katherine’s life experience parallels that of her sister. In what ways does the example and the advice of her beloved Isabelle drive Katherine to act? What lessons does she take to heart?

  Several times throughout the novel, prophecies are used as political devices. Where do you see prophecies quoted, and what purpose do they serve to those passing them along? Where do you think these prophecies come from, and do you think they hold any truth? Which characters are apt to ignore prophecies, and which take them seriously? Why do you think this is?

  Katherine is used wholly as a political pawn when she is married off to King Henry, but in the end, she really doesn’t seem to mind. Why is this? What about him, or her situation, makes her so trusting that this will be a positive development for her? What do you think would have happened to her if Henry hadn’t accepted the marriage?

  Where does Katherine get her ideas about love? What models does she have for the relationship between a husband and wife? Do you think that her expectations are realistic? Do you feel like they were fulfilled?

  There are a number of expatriats in The Queen’s Secret: Katherine herself, her mother Isabeau, James of Scotland, and others. Discuss the role of homeland and nationality as it plays out in the novel. Where does a person’s loyalty lie when they are far from home? Who sees their differentness as a source of pride, who sees it as a nonissue, and who turns it to his or her advantage? What are the benefits and the drawbacks to living in a country that is not one’s own?

  Discuss the role of a king, as you see it portrayed in this novel. What are the responsibilities of the monarch, and in what ways do the kings we see carry them out? What pitfalls are along the way? And what role, if any, should the queen play in his life? Katherine says at one point that she believes her father could have been a great king if her mother had not been there to lure him away from his duty. Do you see this as a valid point or just wishful thinking from a daughter who loves her father?

  Consider the character of Queen Isabeau. What effect do her actions have on her children and on the future of her country? In what ways does she use power well, and what miscalculations does she make? What lasting lessons
does she impart, purposefully or not, to her daughter Katherine? Were you surprised at any point by her?

  It is clear that Katherine loves her son Henry, but after she marries Owen Tudor and starts another family, she more or less leaves him alone, in large part out of fear of discovery. What were your feelings about the way Katherine handles motherhood? Did you think there was anything more she could do for Henry? Did you think she abandoned him too soon, choosing instead to worry for her other children? Or did she have a choice in the matter? Would you have done anything differently, were you in her shoes?

  What is it that Katherine sees in Owen that makes her fall so deeply in love that she’s willing to risk her life to be with him? And what is it about her that inspires him to do the same?

  Discuss the issues of secrets and trust in this novel. Which secrets are betrayed and trusts broken, and which are well kept? How do Katherine and Owen know whom they can trust to be part of their household and not betray them? Did you worry at any point that they had not chosen wisely?

  The life and death of Joan of Arc have an enormous impact on a number of characters in The Queen’s Secret. Why do you think this is? What does Joan mean to France, and what does she mean to Katherine? What did you think of this portrayal of her?

  Were you surprised by young Henry’s tacit approval of Gloucester’s arrest and imprisonment of his mother and Owen Tudor? Do you think he could have done anything to stop it? If so, why does he choose not to, and if not, why not?

  Henry VI, Katherine’s son, became a well-known ruler in his own right. From what you know of his later life and reign, what did you think of his portrayal in The Queen’s Secret? What events and personality traits are foreshadowed here that come to bear as Henry comes of age? From what you see in the novel, what kind of ruler would you imagine him to be, and how does this compare to what you know of his legacy?