This Ravished Rose

by Anne Carsley

James let go the breath he had been holding and sank to a nearby bench. Great gusts of laughter purged him of suspicion and pain. It momentarily banished the image of a fair, lying face that never left him. Lord Parton, affronted and losing some of his fear, hurried away to seek some of his friends who were at least civilized.

  Katherine sat next to an old woman in one of the dirtier shacks and tried to explain that bathing would help the open sores on her body. Several children watched with a mixture of curiosity and scorn while the two men-at-arms who traveled with Katherine lounged near the door where the air kept the smell at bay. Suddenly a voice cut across her fourth explanation.

  “You set no good example yourself, Katherine. I vow I can smell you from here.” James stood in the doorway, the sun glinting behind him, his face unreadable.

  Katherine was conscious of her smudged face and grimy brown gown, of the sour odor of her armpits and sweaty hair. She rose to face him, words surging to her parched lips.

  He ignored her and turned to the guards who now stood alertly by.

  “Give these people bread, cheese and ale. Tell them more is forthcoming if they do as the lady asks.”

  Katherine snapped, “Why did you bribe them? I wish them to learn ways to make their lot more bearable, to understand what I have taught.”

  “You forget that hungry people do not care to learn but only seek to fill their bellies. Do this first, then instruct. Which reminds me, how did you come by such actions? I rather thought you would be out buying jewels in honor of your new status as wife to the counsellor of the King.”

  The words were free of rancor and his eyes were warm. Katherine was honest. “The time grew heavy, I am such that I must be occupied. Sir Anselm taught me much and I wished to put it to use. I thought to give largess but have come to see that education is what is needed. Food and care for the bodily needs, of course, but then . . . James, you have the ear of the King, such projects as I have begun might be started throughout the entire city, did he but agree. Would you ask him?”

  He laughed, “The court even now speculates at your activities and I am queried as to my wife. What would King Richard say were I to approach him with this?”

  “Then I will ask myself, if you will not.”

  He burst out laughing. Katherine looked down at herself and joined him. They laughed together there in the burning summer light in the worst stew of London, he magnificent in his court apparel and she in her crumpled gown. Then, as the laughter died, the flickering lights came into his eyes and the fire leaped between them.

  A small inn was several streets away. At the commands of James, several rooms with interlocking doors were made available. Tubs of warm scented water were ordered as well as wine, food, and a cool, clean bedgown. Guards were posted at the doors and orders given that they not be disturbed.

  There in the dark room in the light of many candles, James bathed Katherine as though he were her maidservant. His hands lingered over the full pink tipped breasts, one faintly scarred from Rykos’ knife.

  “You have suffered, Kate,” he sighed. His face was grim. Then his hands moved down the long curve of her back and over the swelling buttocks to her tapering legs. He soaped her hair, getting it in her eyes, whereupon she caught up suds and threw them at him. She rose in the tub, then, and he seized her around her slender waist, burying his face in her breasts. The world faded for them as passion rose. Again and again during that afternoon, night and all the next day they took each other until exhaustion claimed them and they sank into a tangle of brown and white limbs, drenched by their own sweat, desire slaked at last. When they roused to eat and drink, they talked in rushes of words as if there could never be enough time, yet Katherine could not later remember what they said. Tenderness came to both in the end, so that they touched each other in gentleness. Then James whispered in her ear erotic passages from the “Song of Solomon” in Latin and was vastly amused to have his verses capped without the drop of a phrase. In that taking their child was conceived.

  Late in the evening, James turned to Katherine and put both hands on her face, then kissed her long and deep.

  “We must go, lady mine. The interlude must end.”

  She wanted to cry, throw her arms around the firm body her lips and hands had worshipped, to throw aside reality. But she knew him better than that.

  “Aye, my lord.”

  He did not seek her again nor did they speak of the shared enchantment. James returned to the business at court, Katherine to her books and treatments of the people. She knew that her efforts were helped by James for the materials were increased and food and drink arrived daily. She tried to thank him but met the quick of his eyebrow, a brief smile and tossed comment.

  “Try to remember your position, Madam. I do not wish to be spoken of in the streets and at the court. It is not fitting.”

  Not fitting! This to she whom he had kissed until she flared into passion, whose every inch his lips and hands had known. It was as always with any attempt to reach out; he repulsed her. Yet she could hot refuse him, her blood turned to water at his glance. Katherine vowed she would be as cool as he. It was enough that they shared a passion few could know. But that wisdom that would never let Katherine lie to herself told her that it was not enough and never would be. She was more than hot blood and desire, she was a proud woman who could not live by flesh alone.

  In the quiet days of late August James worked as hard as he ever had. London was quiet although there was much speculation regarding the ex-queen and her children who remained in Sanctuary. The young princes were seen less and less now and rumor, always rife, had it that they feared for their lives. The Tower was a royal residence, what better place to keep those who had once been thought to be of the blood royal? It was good sense to have them out of the limelight. The city which had ever been loyal to Edward was giving its allegiance to Richard, whose strong hand guided the realm.

  Soon Katherine knew that she was to have a child. At her first certainty she sent a message to James who had just come in from the courts of appeal after a long day and was very weary. He came, annoyed and hungry to face his wife who seemed to have all the vitality he lacked. Her eyes shone with triumph and the light shone in her loosened hair.

  “What is it that could not wait? I must return early to the court.”

  Katherine told herself that she was used to his manner by now. She came close to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He jerked away abruptly.

  “Did you hear me? I have neither the time nor the inclination. Pray, control yourself, Madam.”

  All the tenderness left Katherine at his words and she whirled on him as if she were the tigress he had once called her. “Have you time to know that in the spring I shall bear your dearly sought heir? I acquaint you with this fact and remind you of our bargain. I will hold you to it!”

  James looked at her appraisingly. “You had too much at stake, I know that I am the father. I keep my bargain, Madam. Once the male heir is produced I will seek your bed no more and you may live apart so long as my name is done no discredit. You will be cautious with your lovers, of course. Live quietly now and hold the babe in your body.”

  Katherine lifted her head and her words were flat. “Your will is as mine in this, my lord.”

  Measure for measure, thought James, as he bowed and left her. Had he turned back suddenly he would have seen the proud woman of a few seconds ago standing with her fist in her mouth as she struggled to hold back the tears she longed to pour out.

  A message came several weeks later on a shimmering morning while Katherine walked by the river. The air was touched with the faintest chill now but late flowers blazed and the trees still wore summer’s green. She heard a clatter of hooves and a trumpet call but thought little of it until a maid came to summon her.

  In the library a harried young captain stood, feathered cap in hand, with several of the younger counsellors. James, who had been preparing to depart for the court as usual, sat at his ease in the wide chair. At
her entrance he looked and smiled, his eyes were warm and his face was alight.

  “The King sends his greetings, Katherine. His son was recently invested as Prince of Wales at the York Minster with great ceremony. The citizens, he reports, were pleased. I think it was rather more than that; they and the foreign visitors were delighted. I am summoned to join him, to give account to him of all that has been accomplished since he departed.”

  “I am glad for you, my lord.” Katherine was pleased at his obvious delight at being called to the side of the King he honored.

  “I must go, Katherine. God guard you and the babe.”

  She looked at his clean profile and, in the midst of the company, her insides churned to water. He knew as he always knew, and his eyes grew dark.

  “Farewell.” She watched him stride from the room, followed by the King’s men who were eager to return to so successful a progress.

  She had been moody and nauseated with the pregnancy. Her body rejected all nourishment, hot possets had been useless and her head had ached constantly. Her eyes had grown sunken in her head. Of late, however, she had bloomed again. Her bust swelled and her gowns clung to her narrow waist. Her hair shone again with all the old luster.

  Sir Anselm called often, they talked of medicine and philosophy and the gossip of the court although there was little of that now that Richard traveled.

  “There will be precious little when he returns, either. He was ever a moral man.”

  Remembering the open capriciousness of Edward, Katherine was amused. She said now, “I must tell you, my friend, when the child is born I intend to seek a divorce.”

  “Why in God’s name? It is well nigh impossible and your name will come into disrepute.”

  “I cannot live this way any longer.” It was the simple truth. Dearly as she loved James she could not fight the phantoms that kept them apart and she would not live the demeaning sort of life that he expected. It was with resignation and a kind of peace that she added, “My decision is taken, whatever the cost.”

  With that decision came a measure of happiness. The agony of spirit which had been hers during most of the time of her relationship with James was mercifully stilled. Her voice, never very good, rose now in spirited ballads. She talked of household matters with Lucy and helped her clean out spots in the house never touched with mop before. Roger played at the game of courtly love with her and fierce were the decisions taken there as well as the penalties. He was very close to her in these days and saw the ripening maturity. Katherine told him what she had decided and knew that when the time came, he would stand her faithful friend in church and court.

  In this autumnal time of waiting, Katherine knew herself at last. She had come to the end of attempts to wrest from life that which she could not have. She would beg the crumbs of love from no man’s table. Her destiny would be her own. What form it would take she did not know, but she would be ready.

  Katherine savored the richness of friendship more than ever in these days. The prickly child of the castle and convent, the watchful girl of the moors, the passionate wife of James Hunsdale, she who had sought revenge, was now in her own right Katherine Hartley once more.

  There were no messages from James but Katherine did not expect any. She was left to do her duty and she would do it to the best of her ability. September drew to a close.

  Chapter 31

  The Snare

  Katherine awoke one morning to loud knocking on the door of her bedroom. The maid was twittering between blows,

  “A messenger from the King, Lady Katherine. He will speak only with you. It is most urgent.”

  Minutes later Katherine stood in the lower hall holding a cup of warm ale and extending another to the messenger who wore the livery of the white bear.

  “My message is of mouth only. You are bidden to come to the Lord James without delay. He lies ill at Tinden village where lately the King passed. He seemed well day before yesterday but was taken with a fit and now is as stone. Some few of the retinue remain with him but it was deemed urgent to send for you. Such was the command of King Richard. Such is our need for haste that you may bring only one servant with you. All else will be supplied.”

  He paused for breath and Katherine wanted to shake him.

  “Had he been ill?”

  “Nay, lady. We must go.”

  Katherine hesitated no longer but told Lucy Welmon what had happened and asked her to inform the rest of the household when they woke for there was no need to disturb them at this hour. Then she called for her hooded cloak and was standing on the steps when the horse was brought round.

  The maidservant cried, “Lady, you must have a litter. What of the babe?”

  “Hush, I am well enough. My lord may be in more danger each hour that I delay.”

  The messenger, one man-at-arms, and the maidservant with Katherine swept away in a clatter of hooves toward the north country where lately James had ridden off in such delight. Fog rose from the ground and there was a chill in the air. The leaves on the trees were just turning golden and the branches lifted against the milky sky. Katherine prayed that her lord would see another such day.

  They paused once to rest beside a stream and drink from the flasks they carried. Bread and cheese were the only food. It was dark when they rushed through a little wood and up to a small house made of stone. Nearby the greater forest loomed black.

  Katherine said, “Is my husband not in a village? Why do we stop here?”

  The messenger leaned from his mount. “This is a way station where you may refresh yourself. You must not arrive exhausted.”

  The man-at-arms took the bridle of the maidservant’s horse and led it a little apart. Katherine turned and called, “Hold, we continue the journey.”

  “Nay, Madam. You will abide here.” The remembered voice spoke from the door of the house. Katherine jerked back around and gazed into the jubilant eyes of Alexis Rykos. Even as she sat dumbstruck, he waved a hand and the messenger rode off into the trees where her maid had already been taken. Several stolid peasants from the look of them took up positions around the house. Another pulled her from the saddle and set her in front of Rykos.

  “Well met, Lady Katherine. How have you been since our last encounter?” The light conversational tone belied the glittering eyes and nervous fingers.

  She faced him boldly. “James, where is he? What have you done to him?”

  Rykos took her arm and propelled her into a chair in the room which was hung with tapestries and boasted a brilliant rug on the floor. A huge hearth blazed, giving warmth to every corner. Above it hung I he curved cross she had seen several times before. He poured wine into an embossed cup and extended it to her. Angrily she slapped it from his hand.

  “I asked you a question!”

  “Your manners have not improved with your exalted state, Lady Katherine. As you have just guessed, ibis was a trick to lure you here. Doubtless the Lord James pursues his diligent course in the King’s train. A state he will not long enjoy, for soon he will receive a message saying that you sought to join the progress for love of him, fell ill and are in danger of losing the child. You call out for him constantly. So fear not, you will soon see him, though neither of you will take pleasure in the meeting.”

  “He will not believe you.”

  “Will he not? You have been watched for months. We know of his feelings for you and yours for him.”

  So it was that from the lips of a madman Katherine found that the world believed she and James loved each other. It was ironic that none really knew.

  “You are mad. What do you want? What have you wanted of me?”

  Rykos began to laugh until he shook all over his body and the peals of it rang out. Katherine covered her ears with both hands, willing it to stop.

  “In good time you will know the extent of your perfidy. I shall take delight in telling you all. But, now, now, I intend to have what is long overdue.”

  He was upon her in that breath, pulling at her bo
dice, thrusting greedily at her thighs, pushing her to the floor. His heavy body lay thickly on hers. He penetrated her in a hateful travesty. It went on forever as his tongue went deep into her mouth, almost strangling her. She could not move except for her flailing hands which could do no damage to his back or face. Finally she ceased to fight and twist for this seemed to excite him the more. Only his own weariness made him cease and even then he did not rise from her. Sweat and an acrid odor came from his bulk and the grease on his slick black hair made her want to vomit.

  Past all horror, Katherine could yet whisper with the last of her strength, “You know that I am with child and have been for these two months and more. This will kill it.”

  Rykos rose up off her and onto one elbow. He stared down at the strained wet face and swore, “You, the child, and your husband will all die, but not yet. That I promise you.”

  She spat in his face. He slapped her back and forth until her ears were ringing. Then he began to claw at her breasts, sucking the one which bore the scar. Katherine could not summon the merciful darkness but was forced to lie under her tormentor until he chose to rise.

  He tore the remains of her clothes from her, clamped a felon’s iron tightly around her neck and secured the chain to a ring in the wall. An old cloak was tossed to her, then Rykos stumbled to a couch in an alcove. Soon his snores reverberated through the room. Katherine turned over to he face down on the rug. She buried both hands in the softness and offered up prayers to the Christian God for courage to endure until, in some manner, she might be able to kill Alexis Rykos with her own hands.

  The barbarism of the night was not repeated. Katherine was given a dress of coarse homespun, bread and ale, and was taken outside on the chain at rare intervals. She did not speak to Rykos nor he to her. Later in the morning he bound and gagged her with the impersonality of a jailer. The bonds were uncomfortable but not painful and, after he left, she lay all day with only her thoughts. Late in the evening he released her but retained the chain. Nor was she disturbed in the night. Katherine took heart from this and rested so as to gather all her strength. Her body still retained the child and it must live.