Elizabeth looked at Robert with confusion in her eyes.
‘Alone, Robbie? Cat would not approve of that. If I come, I must tell her where we are going.’
‘Bess, listen to me. I must speak with you freely, now, alone. Cat will think you with Edward and not worry. I swear you will come to no harm, that I shall protect you. Do you trust me, Bess?’
‘With my life, Robbie.’
‘Then come. My steward has saddled our horses, and I don’t intend to ride far. You will be quite safe.’ Robert took Elizabeth gently by the hand and led her firmly towards the gallery door that opened onto the stable yard.
Thomas stood silently, holding the bridles of Robbie’s stallion and the chestnut mare that Elizabeth rode. Robert helped Elizabeth into the saddle and arranged her skirt modestly. She had not dressed for riding, and had no gloves, but with a few folds and tucks to the gown she wore, Robert made sure her legs and ankles were covered.
‘We don’t need to ride far, Bess, or indeed, fast. We will walk the horses to the clearing where the lake begins. The horses can drink if they choose, and there is plenty of shade if it gets hot later in the morning.’ Robert’s words drifted to her ears in the stillness of the morning air, and she began to enjoy the gentle motion of her mare as they went deeper into the parkland towards the lake.
Elizabeth smiled as, within a quarter hour, they reached the clearing and she saw the sun glittering on the surface of the still water as if on glass. Robert dismounted and walked round to help Elizabeth. He took her in his arms and slid her down his body, smiling and kissing her gently as he unhooked the back of her gown from where it had caught on the stirrup.
‘Walk with me yonder, Bess. We can sit under the tree. The horses will be quite safe, and they can drink in the lake if they wish.’ He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and they walked together until they reached the shady tree. Robert removed his cape and laid it on the grass, then sat and pulled Elizabeth down beside him, keeping her hand in his and entwining his long fingers with her smaller ones. Elizabeth looked at him curiously as he started to speak, avoiding her eyes and still looking at her hand linked with his.
‘Edward is dying, Bess.’ He spoke gently and kept a tight hold on her hand as she tried to snatch it back at his words, and he stroked the back of it to calm her.
‘You know it’s true, my love. I wish with all my heart that it wasn’t, but we must be practical.’ He felt her relax a little at his side, and he continued softly. ‘My father has persuaded Edward to name Jane as his successor, Bess. And I am to ride this afternoon to secure Princess Mary and make sure there is no revolt to overthrow Edward’s decision.’
‘Why are you telling me this here, Robbie?’ Elizabeth’s voice sounded quite calm, although Robbie could feel her pulse quicken and he carried on soothing her hands with gentle stokes of his long delicate fingers. He turned his head and met her dark eyes with his own.
‘Because I want you safe. I want you to know what is happening without me having to guard my words. I want you to understand that I’m not leaving you because I want to, but to secure Mary so you will be safe.’
‘She is my sister, Robbie. She wouldn’t hurt me. Why would you think I won’t be safe?’
‘Because, my love, to Mary you are a heretic. And she has vowed that, when Edward dies and she is Queen, she will rid her kingdom of heretics.’
Elizabeth gasped in horror at his words. ‘Your father has spies in Mary’s household,’ she whispered. ‘That is why you know these things, because she has spoken these words before my brother has named his heir.’ Robert nodded silently.
‘My brothers and I are to ride to Hunston to secure the Princess, while my father declares for Jane upon Edward’s death. Once Jane is on the throne, you will be quite safe, and the country will be safe from Rome.’
‘But Edward yet lives, Robbie. Your father can’t declare for Jane until he dies.’ Her voice was thickening with tears at the thought of her poor little brother’s death.
‘He has hours, Bess. Not days. And selfishly, I wanted a moment alone with you, to say my goodbye properly.’
Robert cupped Elizabeth’s jaw with his hand and stroked her cheek softly with his thumb. He drew her closer and then bending his head, he kissed her lips gently. Elizabeth put her arms around his neck and gave herself up to his kiss, and he tightened his arm round her waist and pressed his mouth more firmly on hers.
He subtly pressed her backwards with his hold on her and the pressure of his lips until they were both lying together on the grass while the horses watched impassively, munching on the lush grass at the edge of the water. Robert moved his mouth downwards and kissed Elizabeth’s neck and shoulder, growing bolder at her sighs of pleasure. He took her lips again with his own, and reached down, grasping her gown and raising it slightly so he could stroke up her leg to the top of her stockings and beyond.
As his hand got higher on the flesh of her leg, and his kisses to her throat and the top of her breasts where they were exposed by her gown became more and more passionate, Elizabeth writhed in pleasure and her breath became to come in sharp gasps. Her hands tugged into Robert’s hair and he swept his hand upwards, knowing he would find her warm and moist and ready for him.
Elizabeth stiffened at once and pushed at his chest frantically.
‘No! Stop! You must stop! ’ Her voice was rising with hysteria and Robert withdrew his hand from beneath her skirt straight away. He looked at her face, white and strained, with her eyes closed tightly as her head twisted this way and that. She pushed harder at his chest and heaved him off.
‘I said stop, Tom!’ Elizabeth opened her eyes suddenly, looking at Robert as if she didn’t know him, then she covered her face with her hands and burst into noisy tears.
Robert was astonished at her outburst. It had seemed to him that she was enjoying being kissed and he had been gentle and loving. He hadn’t hurt her, or grasped at her flesh. He didn’t understand what had gone wrong.
‘Bess, what’s the matter?’ he asked softly. Elizabeth sobbed harder, choking and coughing in her distress. Robert started, gently and slowly stroking her arm, then her shoulders and then started rubbing her back, letting her rest her face on his chest as her sobs quietened and her breathing steadied.
‘What’s wrong, my love?’ he whispered when he was sure she could hear him.
‘I…I….I’m sorry, Robbie. I’m so sorry.’
‘Hush, my love. It isn’t important. You don’t need to be sorry.’
‘I wanted to, Robbie, truly I did. Your kisses made me feel like I was on fire inside, and my toes were curling as your hand went up my leg.’ Elizabeth’s voice was breaking and shuddering, and she buried her face further into his shoulder. Robert carried on rubbing her back and making soothing noises into her ear.
‘But then ….then your hand touched me …there…. and…..’ she dragged a deep breath into her lungs ‘and I was back at Hatfield, and it was Tom Seymour with his hands on me, trying to ….. and I couldn’t breathe and he wouldn’t stop….and he laughed at me and said everyone would blame me if I told.’ She raised her tear-stained face to meet his eyes ‘and everyone did, Robbie. Everyone but my Aunt Mary, and Cat and Meg. But Queen Kate went away and left me, and then she died without me having the chance to explain. But the look she gave me, Robbie. I know she blamed me.’
‘Hush, my love. No-one could blame you. You were a child, and he was almost forty, with a …..a difficult reputation. You mustn’t think it was your fault.’
Elizabeth looked up at him with tears welling over her lashes, and he bent his head slowly, so he didn’t startle her, and kissed her lips gently.
‘We must go back, my Bess. I have warned you, and I would have yo
u tell Lady Cat secretly what is happening, so she can make herself and her children safe.’
‘I’m sorry, Robbie.’ Elizabeth stood and brushed her skirts with her hands. ‘I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to send you on your way with a happy memory.’
‘Your kiss is the memory I most treasure, my love. And I have had those aplenty.’ He kissed her again before he helped her to mount her horse and he led the way back to the palace.
‘I shan’t dismount when we get back, Bess. I must ride to meet my brothers, then we are away to Hunston.’
‘I shall find Cat before I go to Edward, Robbie. I must give her plenty of time. But know that you go with my blessing, and my love.’
Chapter 12
lizabeth walked quickly into her presence chamber, and as she expected, Cat was sewing with her other ladies.
‘Cat, come to my chamber, if you please.’ Elizabeth stood at the door of her bed chamber while Cat made her needle safe and folded the garment she was stitching.
‘Princess?’ Cat was puzzled at the agitation in Elizabeth’s stance, in contrast to her level voice. No bells had tolled, so Cat knew the King yet lived.
‘Let us sit at the window, Cat.’ Elizabeth carefully closed the door behind them, twisting the lock and then pulling the heavy hanging across so no eyes or ears at the keyhole would know what they said.
‘Princess, you are frightening me.’ Cat’s bewildered tone made Elizabeth take her by the hand and lead her to the window seat, pressing Cat down so she sat comfortably. Elizabeth hitched her gown up so she could sit sideways on the wide padded ledge and face her cousin. She held on to Cat’s hands tightly and took a deep breath.
‘Cat, I want us to speak freely to one another here. I want no barriers to what we might say, or dissembling to care for hurt feelings. Do you agree?’ Cat, a puzzled look creasing her forehead, nodded and felt Elizabeth’s grasp of her fingers tighten.
‘I have just returned from a ride, quite alone, with Robbie.’ Cat gasped her horror.
‘No, Cat. It’s not what you think. I am as much a maid now as I was when I woke this morning. But I want to tell you what he said. What he wants me to tell you.’ Elizabeth stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts, then continued her tale.
‘The Duke is persuading Edward to declare Jane his heir. Robbie and his brothers have gone to Hunston to secure Mary before Edward dies and Jane is declared Queen.’ Cat took a breath to interrupt but Elizabeth shook her head.
‘No, Cat. You must listen. You must. The Duke’s spies have told him that, if Mary is Queen, she intends to rid her kingdom of heretics. That means you, and it means your family.’
‘But Princess,’ Cat began determinedly, ‘you are Protestant too. That means, to her, you are also a heretic.’
‘But I am her sister, Cat. I cannot think she would intentionally hurt me.’ Elizabeth stopped and swallowed. This was the hard part of the conversation for her, the reason she had spoken about hurt feelings. She pressed Cat’s fingers and carried on speaking.
‘But you are a Boleyn, as well as a Howard. Your mother was my mother’s sister, and my mother is the reason King Henry cast Mary’s mother aside.’ She stopped and searched Cat’s face before she spoke again. ‘And your father is our father!’
Cat took a sharp breath. This was never spoken about, not in word or deed was it ever acknowledged that King Henry was Cat’s father. Her mother had never confirmed it, although the gossip had survived for years and the plain truth could be seen in Cat herself, with her Tudor colouring and Henry’s eyes. Elizabeth carried on speaking.
‘You have little children, Cat. You must make them safe, with you and Francis. I don’t remember very much about my mother.’ Elizabeth’s dark eyes looked into Cat’s blue ones intently. Elizabeth never, ever spoke about her mother.
‘It is more a sense I have than any memory. If I suddenly smell lavender, I can feel ….something, a shadow, a… I don’t know what. If I hear a tinkling bell, I can almost see a silver ribbon, and I don’t know why. It just pops into my head. And I overwhelmingly see her shining, when I think about her.’ Tears were rolling down Elizabeth’s face but she took no notice.
‘Lady Anne always sparkled, Princess. And always smelt of lavender. And she loved you so much. You had a rattle with a tiny bell and silver ribbons.’ Cat smiled though her own tears, remembering.
‘Your children must grow up knowing their mother, Cat. You have to take them somewhere, beyond England perhaps, where they will grow and be safe.
‘But what about you, Princess? Who will make sure you are safe?’
Elizabeth instinctively sat up, straightening her spine and pushing her shoulders back. She lifted her chin and looked Cat directly in the eye.
‘I shall make myself safe, Cat. If Mary becomes Queen, I shall be the sister she wants me to be. I shall do whatever she wants me to do, I shall say whatever she wants me to say. She is middle aged already, and often ill. All I might have to do is wait. And perhaps show a little piety.’ Elizabeth crossed herself in the old way and then laughed.
‘Promise me, Cat. Promise me you will take your children to safety if the Duke’s plan fails. Robbie will get word to me if there is any danger, I know he will. While we still have time, you must tell Francis and Ralph, and make yourselves safe.’
‘Very well, Princess. If that is what you wish. But know that, if you ever become Queen, I shall be by your side, through everything.’
‘I shall rely on it, Cat.’ Elizabeth released Cat’s hands and threw her arms round her in a tight embrace. ‘I shall say my goodbye to you here, now. If peril comes, we might not see one another long enough for another farewell.’
‘Farewell to you too, my lovely. I will write when we are safe, in cipher if necessary. And thank you, my wonderful Princess, for giving us this warning.’ Cat composed herself after returning Elizabeth’s embrace and left the bed chamber to find Francis or Ralph in their office.
***
‘Ralph has been an absolute boon, Meg. But you must change your minds and come to Frankfurt with us. You need to be safe, too.’
‘You know I cannot, Cat. I am too near my time to travel anywhere.’ Meg, more enormous with this child than Cat had ever seen her, could barely stand.
Cat stood up and went to the table to get her friend a cup of ale, pressing it into her hand as she tried to find a comfortable seat in the largest chair in the room. Meg took the cool drink gratefully; her pregnancy was difficult this time, in the heat of the summer.
‘Ralph has written letters of introduction for you to all the people he knows along the way you will travel, Cat. Master Cromwell had many contacts in the textile community of Antwerp and beyond, and I’m sure they will make you welcome.’
Cat pulled a face. ‘I’m sure we will be safe, Meg. But the crossing to Antwerp will be so long. I’m so pleased it will be summer; the sea may be calmer.’ She gave a chuckle. ‘If there was a storm, some of the children might get washed overboard. Although, in Edward’s case…..’ she wriggled her eyebrows at Meg, who tried not to choke on her drink as she laughed. Edward was the current terror of the nursery and the despair of his nursemaids.
‘The language will be difficult too, Cat, but I’m sure Ralph’s friends will help. Their command of the English language is remarkable. When you settle in Germany, I’m sure it will get easier. German is easier than Flemish.’
‘I can remember a few phrases of conversation from when Kitty and I were in service with Lady Anne of Cleves,’ Cat smiled over her cup at the memory of how young they had been, and how excited, ‘as well as “Yes, no, please, thank you”. And I know how to smile and nod. I just wish you could come, with your brood.’
‘
We shall be safe at home, Cat. Ralph is going to retire from court service for a while and be with me here. We shall worship as we are bidden, go wherever we are supposed to, and hope for better times and for you and Francis to come back.’
‘When our Princess gets word from Robert Dudley, we shall leave straight away Meg. The passage on the ship is booked and paid for, and the cloth industry is so busy there is more than one ship departing on each tide. We will have few problems there.’
‘And your children’s things are all packed and ready for you. I have only had their essentials boxed up for you. The rest will wait for your return. At least it is summer, so the clothes they are taking are lighter. You will have to buy your winter things when you get there.’
‘At least we hadn’t got Tommy a position as squire quite yet, and Lettice hasn’t come to court. We only need call here on our way to the northern port and collect everything. And everyone.’ Cat snorted a laugh. ‘We will need large carts, Meg. And two carriages.’
‘Please write when you can, Cat. Let me know how the children are, and that you are safe.’
‘I will, my lovely. And you must write,’ Cat gestured to Meg’s swollen belly,’ and let me know whether it is a Mary or a Henry. Or a Dobbin?’
Meg spluttered into her drink, laughing and then rubbing the side of her belly at Cat’s inference that she might be pregnant with a small pony.
‘My letters will be in Ralph’s hand, Cat. But they will contain my words. Oh! That reminds me. Ralph left a copy of the book Francis is to use for a cipher for me to give you. Keep it safe, and if we need to write secrets, this is the book we must both use.’
Meg put her cup down carefully, and then hauled herself out of her chair, giving Cat a little rueful smile as she made sure she had her balance before taking a step. She walked over to the dresser and picked up a small book, then held it out to Cat, who got to her feet to take it from her friend and envelop her in a hug.
The Last Howard Girl (Tudor Chronicles Book 3) Page 7