by Anne Carsley
James laughed wryly and bent to kiss first the soft lips, then the curving scar near them. “How did you get that?”
“I was running down the stairs to greet my father who was leaving to go on his own crusade and I fell. Answer my question, my lord James. It is my turn to hear truth now.”
The far-seeing look came into his gray eyes as he looked over her head into the distance. “I cannot be other than I am, Kate, but I think that we are bound together by a cord which has weathered much. Your understanding may be taxed at times.”
She put her hand in his. James could give no assurances, that she understood right well. The hawk could not be tamed but his mate was as he.
“When did I first love you, Katherine?” James smiled down at her. “Later than you, though I fear to admit it. Remember when you stood in your shift, your hair all down your back in the window of Lady Dorotea’s house and cried farewell as I rode to join Gloucester? I thought then, push it back as I might, that here was a woman who might truly stand beside me. A woman I was beginning to love. It began there.”
“I am wed to a poet.”
James put his arm around her, pulling her close so that he could look into the clear green eyes. For the first time in all their days together, there was complete openness between them. His voice grew deep and tender. As he spoke Katherine felt the hot tears film her eyes.
“I love you, Katherine, in many ways and I think I may have done so from when I hungered first for your body. And then I grew to know your mind and your courage. You risked much to free me from the specters of the past. When you lie in childbirth I will love you in that fashion and when we are old with our children about us, there will yet be discovery.”
Such was the true joining of Katherine Hartley and James Hunsdale.
Chapter 35
Loyalty’s Reward
James and Katherine returned to London shortly before Christmas and celebrated the festive season in their house there. She was still weak but was able to go out in the litter and walk around in the house. During the days of the season they saw a few close friends such as Roger and Sir Anselm; the widow from the next estate came to call as did several friends from court. It was a quiet time due to her confinement but they took strong delight in each other’s company.
January of the year 1484 came cold and wet but the spring promise was there or so Katherine insisted. She smelled the fresh cold air and her senses expanded as her body, although the child was not due until April. Roger joked about the possibility of twins. His wife was soon to join him and Katherine looked forward to becoming friends with her.
She and James moved in a world of their own but somewhere on the periphery she sensed a mounting worry in him and one day when they sat in the solar, she asked him about it.
“It is just that I have received no word from the King as to when I may take up my duties once more. I have explained the state of your health, but I have not been summoned to Parliament nor has he answered. He usually makes use of all who serve him. I cannot understand it.”
Katherine was willing enough to continue in their warm cycle of days, especially now that she was growing ungainly and liked to sit dreaming or gazing into the fire and talking to James of the inexhaustible interests they shared but she knew that no family matters could ever occupy him fully, he who had been at the very hub of great affairs of state.
“Can you not send another message? Perhaps the season has erased all thoughts of work from his mind.” James rubbed his brow thoughtfully. “Were it any other man I would agree with you, but Richard of Gloucester does not know the meaning of respite. I have seen him work through the night and exclaim with surprise at the dawn, yet continue as if he came fresh to it. There is more to this than is readily apparent.”
“Perhaps he merely seeks a new post for you.”
James shook his head and began to pace.
On a damp, chilly afternoon a week later they sat in the library and sparred over names for the child. It would be Katherine if it were a girl. James was adamant on that. If it were a boy, Katherine held for James Antony, but her husband vowed it would be Ethelred and he did not appear to be joking. She voiced her protest vehemently only to give way to laughter as James admitted he had but sought to provoke her temper, usually so calm these days.
There was a knock at the door suddenly and a man strode into the room before either Katherine or James could answer. Behind him the maidservant protested uselessly.
“Lord James, I am commanded by the King to bring you and your lady before him without delay. The matter is urgent.”
They stared at each other in consternation, then James said, “Surely he summons only me and not my wife; as you can see she should not travel. Go and take wine. I will hasten.”
The messenger spoke evenly. “Now, my lord and lady.”
“As the King commands.”
The servant brought James’ warm cloak and Katherine’s lighter one of emerald velvet and white fur which lay over the loose morning gown the same shade as her hair. She and James clasped hands briefly as the litter was brought for her. An armed guard followed before and after. James rode at her side. Katherine shivered with fear. Who knew the way of kings, particularly this one and only three months after a rebellion which might have cost him his throne. Memories of Antony stung her mind, then she lifted her head, determined to show nothing of what she felt. James was worried enough.
Their escort took them through the great halls of Westminster Palace which were hung with flags and priceless tapestries. Courtiers watched covertly and moved back as they passed. Clerks hurried about their duties while servants ran back and forth. Richard’s court was lavish and ornate but it was busy with none of the licentiousness that had marked his brother’s.
They were ushered into a small chamber with richly decorated walls, fresh rushes on the floor, and books lying atop a delicate table. Candles burned brilliantly and a lute stood near a stool. A fire burned in one corner. There was the smell of leather and the outdoors about the room that made Katherine remember James. With one accord the two moved to the fire and stood warming cold fingers.
Despite the air of homeliness, Katherine trembled and James raised her face to his. “Stop that. We have endured too much to fail now.”
Indignantly she said, “I am not afraid.”
The sound of the closing door made them whirl about. He was dressed in sober black velvet and there was little of the outward appearance to show what manner of man he was but the wiry body, the unmistakable air of authority and the commanding eyes gave full measure. Katherine saw that there were new lines in his face and his sternness was more pronounced.
“Your Grace.”
The King’s manner was reserved and his words clipped. “I wished you both to come here today because I want to hear the story of all that has befallen you. Lady Katherine, you will tell me again of your father and your time with him, the way of Rykos and his scheming, the involvement of the Woodville woman and the rites. James, I would hear of your participation from the first.” He gestured toward chairs. “Sit, have wine. Now we will begin.”
It seemed to Katherine that she would always remember those hours spent in the retelling of their tales. The King spoke little except to ask a pertinent question or to make a rare observation. Now and again James took up the telling. When their throats grew parched the King called for more wine and they drank the heady Bordeaux as if it were water. A noiseless servant came in to tend the fire and leave sweetmeats. They ate together and gradually Katherine forgot that the silent man before them held their destinies in his hands. Her clear voice took on a timbre and richness that made it ring. Her mobile face changed with the pace of the story. James added details from time to time but it was Katherine who made it all live again.
At last they were silent and the minutes slid by while the fire crackled and shadows moved on the walls. Then the King spoke, half musing. “These devil followers are of the old religion before Christianity. It is in
deed possible that they are in every village and city of England. We must be even more watchful.”
He turned to Katherine and the light eyes seemed to bore through her as he said, almost calculatingly, “Do you believe the tale about the involvement of my brother’s?”
Katherine sat very still for a few seconds, wondering what kind of answer he wanted. It was impossible to tell from the closed face. She spoke the simple truth.
“I believe the lady far too calculating to give herself totally to a cause. She used people, manipulated them constantly, told them what she wanted them to hear for her own ends. A witch? No, my lord. I think not.”
“She yet lingers in sanctuary. God is merciful.” The words fell like rolling pellets into the stillness.
James shifted in his chair and the King’s eyes rested on him.
“James, I had meant to summon you both earlier in the month but I have been greatly occupied.”
“Aye, sir, I am sure of that.”
“The upstart Tudor has sworn an oath to marry Elizabeth of York and unite their houses. This was done in Brittany on Christmas morning.”
The words were rendered without inflection and Katherine thought of what they must mean to the still man before them. Were the young princes then no longer considered?
James leaned forward. “Let him come and take her! We will be ready.”
“No.” The King spoke in a very soft voice but his words slapped them both as though a gauntlet had been flung. “James Hunsdale, you are released from my service. Take your wife and return to the North. Live there on your estates and rear your children. You have served me well in the past as one of my most trusted counsellors. I am grateful beyond the telling.”
He held up his hand for silence and turned to Katherine.
“Madam, you have both courage and beauty. You are a wife of whom any man would be proud.”
She stared at him, open mouthed, for once totally at a loss for words. James was aghast and his aplomb deserted him.
“Sir, anything that I have done was ever my pleasure and my duty. My sword, my talents, my life are yours to command.”
“As I have done. I release you now to live your own life in peace.”
“My life is here in your councils, in your army, at the heart of the realm.”
Katherine moved closer to James and put her hand in his. He caught it and continued, “If there is anything that has caused you displeasure, tell me.”
She looked the King full in the eye and said, “I thank Your Grace for your kind words to me and am honored by your opinion. I beg you, speak freely to us on this.”
Richard Plantagenet’s face softened then and was lit by the rare smile that few saw—it gave him a charm fully as compelling as that of his dead brother. Seeing it, Katherine could understand his ability to win such men as her husband to his side.
Now in a moment of warmth and honesty he said, “Such as you, my friends, are the very heart of this land. I, too, know how hard won love can be.” He paused and they thought of his fragile Queen and delicate son. “The King does not really matter so long as England is secure in those who love and care for her. Do you understand me now James? I know I can count on you if I have need.”
Katherine heard her own voice say softly, “For your words and your trust, we are forever in your debt, Your Grace.”
James answered, “We are grateful, sir. It shall be as you have commanded.”
A smile touched the stern face once more and transformed it.
“Have I not ever rested my faith in the North?” The King rose then and they with him. James smiled at Katherine and said, “When our son is born his name shall be Richard. Is it not so, wife?”
“There was never any other that he could be called.”
The slender fingers were extended to them as they knelt for the last time, then Richard said almost absently, “There will be an increase in your estates along the border, these given in recognition of your services to the Crown. Administer them wisely as I know you will.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
They turned to take their leave and the servant was already holding the door. He added suddenly, “I value your loyalty, James and Katherine, as my true wealth, for that is without price.”
They bowed from his presence and walked down the long cold hall. Sleepy guards and yawning servants made way for them for it seemed very late. Suddenly there was a clatter behind them and the servant who had assisted them in the King’s room came up to them. He held a packet under his arm.
“The King wishes you to have this. It is his gift to you both as a friend.”
Katherine took it and said, “His Grace overwhelms us.”
Further down the hall they stepped into the shadow of a convenient wall nook and unfolded the gift. It was a banner, the lion and unicorn rampant of Hunsdale in black and silver, mingled with the griffin of Hartley in green and white. The animals stood facing each other in perfect balance and resting on an orb. The background of the banner was the palest gold.
They stared at it for a long time, each in his own thoughts. Then James said, “I had not thought of such but it appears that we are truly united by the devices of our respective houses.”
Katherine looked down at the brilliant thing, surely the product of much thought and imagination.
“How kind of him in the midst of all his great concerns. What a strange man he is, James.”
“Very.” His voice was dry and Katherine knew the hurt went deep.
“It seems that we will come to London no more for a time. We are always being sent away to the North country.” She took the banner and folded it back into the packet.
“Does that distress you, Katherine?”
“You know that it does not. It is strange, however, that the King appears to value you so highly—all those protestations of gratitude—yet sends you from him and gives you no work to do, you who have been loyal. I do not understand!”
James turned her to him and placed both hands on her shoulders. The warm familiar scent of her rose up to him and for a quick breath he held to her sure comfort, the rock of her love which he was just beginning to know that he could trust.
“Dear love, he holds you as high.”
“But the meaning of it all?”
James knew that he must tell her the message he had read in those stern eyes and trust to her understanding. His work was ended but their life together was just beginning.
“This is the Plantagenet’s real gift to us, Katherine. He has set us free to live and seek our own happiness. Do you remember what you said once about not really caring who ruled so long as you and yours were safe? Safe from plunder and upheaval? Do you remember those words?”
“Aye, my lord.” She was puzzled.
“He, who values loyalty so highly and has received so little of it, has paid a debt few acknowledge.”
Katherine caught at something yet unvoiced. “When he calls you to battle, if the time comes when war or rebellion rises? You heard what he said about the Tudor...”
James put his face close to hers. “He will not call. That is our burden and our freedom.”
He kissed her then and the desire drifted in her veins as she drew closer to him, putting her arms around his neck while the hunger rose in them both.
James drew back and looked into the clear green eyes that met his so openly.
“Ah, wife, we must get you home to bed.”
The sober words belied the laughter that welled up between them as they went out into the light of the new day.
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