The Last Howard Girl (Tudor Chronicles Book 3)

by Lesley Jepson

  Again her eyes filled as she whispered ‘I wanted to…. I wanted,’ she swallowed and sighed, ‘I wanted to lie with you properly Robbie. Before you left me, I wanted you properly.’ Her voice trailed away and she turned her head so the rest of the court in the chamber wouldn’t see her tears fall.

  ‘When I return to you, Bess. When I return I will show you all the love I have for you.’ He began kissing her fingertips, each one slowly and separately, and Elizabeth’s breath caught in her throat.

  ‘I shall show you, my love. I shall teach you.’ Another kiss on her fingertip and Elizabeth started to tremble.

  ‘I shall teach you slowly,’ Robbie put the tip of her index finger to his lips and licked the underside gently. Elizabeth’s eyelids fluttered closed as she kept her head turned away from the room.

  ‘Oh, Robbie,’ she breathed shakily, ‘come back soon.’

  She rose suddenly and turned towards the room again. ‘God go with you, Lord Robert,’ said Elizabeth loudly, and she held out the back of her hand for him to kiss formally.

  He kissed her hand, swept her a bow and then turned, leaving the room with sword jingling in the scabbard at his side, replacing the hat on his head as he went off to war.

  ***

  Dearest Cat

  I am pleased the delivery of your new daughter went safely, and smiled when Ralph told me you had called her Anne. I am sure she will be as beautiful as my Anne. Our Princess has left court and is living at Woodstock. She has taken two of her ladies, as well as Kat Ashley and Blanche Parry to look after her, so I am sure she will be safe.

  Ralph told me you have moved to Salzburg so Francis may use the resources at the University there and in Vienna for his Latin Dictionary. I must confess the thought of that makes my head spin, but I am sure it is just the thing to keep Francis busy while you are away. I miss you so much, and I wish you were back with us.

  The Queen has announced that she is again with child, and has ordered all the churches to say mass for a happier outcome than last time. The King Consort and the nobles are all still on campaign in France and the Low Countries. I am sure he is praying just as hard for a Prince.

  If Ralph has any more news of the Princess I will write, my lovely. All our children are well, happy and growing. We struggle to keep up with the shoes. I can make their clothes, or make them over, but I cannot make shoes. The cobbler grows rich at our expense. Not to worry. When you return you can help make him richer.

  Until then, my lovely friend. Much affection. Meg

  ***

  Bess, my love, it was a rout. The Battle of St Quentin was a resounding victory for England, and Philip says Henry and I will be well rewarded when we return. We are travelling swiftly through France now, so I do not have time to write more. I shall send Thomas ahead with this, to let you know I am safe and am coming home to you. We shall arrive in Calais within the week, and it is a short journey from there. My love, I shall be home with you soon. Stay strong. Until then, my only love, I am yours. R

  ***

  Francis, my dear friend

  As you have probably heard, as indeed all Europe has heard, we have lost Calais. After 200 years, our last stronghold in France is lost to us. The victorious force that won the battle at St Quentin was utterly defeated when the French attacked Calais, and many of our troops who survived the former lost their lives to the latter. The Queen was devastated, and has gone into confinement almost in mourning for the lost city. It has been said she wept and said it was the worst thing that has happened in her reign. I am afraid that I must disagree.

  Your work on a Latin Dictionary sounds very time consuming and difficult, but Lady Cat wrote and told Meg you are finding the work satisfying so I am glad for that, my friend.

  The dispirited troops came home from France after their loss, but the King Consort did not return. Cecil’s spies tell us that he has returned to Spain. The Queen hopes he will return in time for her confinement, but Cecil thinks he will stay away until he knows he has a son. The Queen’s last confinement is uppermost in everyone’s mind, and we have all been instructed to pray for her and her child. Of course, we obey.

  Until we see you again soon, I remain your friend

  Ralph

  ***

  The only thing Robert could think of when he landed at Dover was riding to Elizabeth at Woodstock. Thomas met him at the port with a swift mount, and with three hard days riding, he was suddenly galloping into the stable yard, throwing his reins to Thomas in his haste to dismount.

  He strode into the hall, pulling his gloves from his hands and removing his scabbard and sword, handing them to the steward hurriedly.

  ‘The Princess is in her presence chamber, my Lord.’ The steward bowed and swept his arm towards a closed door. Robert crossed the hall in a couple of long strides and opened the door softly. Elizabeth was quite alone, seated in the window and taking advantage of the light for her embroidery.

  In the sunlight slicing across her face, Robert could see the toll the past few months had wrought. He saw the pale skin, the dark shadows beneath her eyes and the sheen of salve on her lips as it fought valiantly to heal the damage her teeth had caused in his absence. Her head turned at the opening of the door and the sewing fell to the floor as she leapt out of the chair and flew across the room into his waiting arms.

  ‘Oh, my love. You’re home. You came back to me.’ Elizabeth could barely speak as Robert covered her face in kisses and she returned them in equal measure. His lips found hers and they shared a lengthy kiss. When they finally parted, Robert walked with his arm around her slender waist to the window, where he sat on her chair and pulled her into his lap. She burrowed her head into his shoulder and breathed him in, leather and horses and his own distinctive scent.

  ‘Henry died, Bess.’ His voice was so bleak with those three words tears came into Elizabeth’s eyes in sympathy.

  ‘Oh, Robbie,’ she whispered, ‘I’m so, so sorry.’

  ‘He survived the battle, Bess. He died at Calais when those French bastards attacked us. One minute he was there beside me, then there was a huge crash from a cannon ball, and he was just ….gone.’

  Robert closed his eyes, trying to control his own tears at the loss of his brother, his companion and best friend for as long as he could remember.

  ‘Oh, my love.’ Elizabeth moved and kissed Robert’s lips, trying to show how much sympathy she had for the loss of his brother. Robert kissed her back and they spent long moments tasting each other, nipping and nibbling as if they couldn’t get enough of the other’s mouth. Robert dragged his mouth away and held Elizabeth’s hands in his own, trying to quieten his breathing and his pounding heart. He wanted her so badly but this was neither the time nor the place.

  ‘And what of you, my love? Tucked away from court?’

  ‘I am living quietly, Robbie. I am pious and devout and quiet. Mary’s spies have nothing to report and Cecil sends me letters in cipher, that I make sure burn to ash after I have read them, telling me what his spies have learned at court.’

  ‘What might that be, Bess?’ Robert made an effort to keep his mind away from his brother and from Elizabeth’s slender body draped over his own, her hand working a clasp loose on his doublet so it could burrow its way under his shirt and rest on his skin. He closed his eyes and swallowed at the touch of her hand brushing against the light dusting of hair on his chest.

  ‘That the Queen is in confinement but there is still no child. That the midwives think her swollen body is from illness, not pregnancy. That she cries and writes to Philip to come home and he ignores her letters. And that my wait might soon be over.’ Elizabeth’s mouth was very near to his ear, and her breath ghosting over his skin was becoming more an
d more arousing. He turned and found her lips again, tasting the remains of the salve.

  ‘And then, my love?’

  ‘Then I shall be Queen, Robbie.’ Elizabeth’s voice became louder and stronger. She jumped up from his lap and looked him straight in the eye, slender hands clenched into fists by her sides.

  ‘And never again shall I wear black, or be forced to live where I don’t want to live, or be forced to pray how I don’t want to pray. And I shall not be ordered to take a husband for the sake of the country, to be ignored in decisions, to be reduced to a brood mare.’ Her chin rose and she took a deep breath.

  ‘I shall be THE Queen, and by God, Robbie, I shall rule.’

  The force and determination in her words sent a shiver up his spine, and as if seeing Elizabeth as a woman for the first time, he recognised an indomitable spirit inside her that he felt would serve the country well.

  Robert rose and took her hands, unclenching the fists she had made and entwining his fingers with hers. He bent his head and began kissing her lips, her eyelids, her jaw and down to the top of her high-necked black gown. Elizabeth sighed with pleasure and twisted her fingers in his hair, longer now since he had been away to war.

  ‘Robbie, oh, Robbie,’ her breath shuddered as she spoke, ‘we must go into the other room.’ He glanced round her presence chamber and saw a small door in the corner, almost hidden by a large hanging.

  He swept her up into his arms and carried her to the door, and she stretched out her arm and pushed the hanging to one side, twisting the latch and pressing the door inwards. She slid her feet to the floor and pulled him into her chamber, then closed the door and pushed the bolt across with a loud click. Turning, she hid her flaming cheeks in his leather jerkin and tried to calm her breathing as she tried to undo the rest of the clasps holding it closed.

  Robert put his hands at either side of her face and lifted it so she had to look into his eyes.

  ‘Are you sure, my love? Be very sure, because I want you so much, I doubt I can stop so easily again.’

  Elizabeth looked into his eyes and pushed the hair away from his face, then brought his forehead down to her own, whispering, ‘I am quite, quite sure, Robbie. I won’t want you to stop, I swear.’

  He picked her up and walked to the bed. He set her back on her feet and finished unclipping his leather jerkin, stripping it from his arms and then unfastening the laces on his shirt. Elizabeth, eyes huge, watched him silently. He managed to slide his feet out of his boots without stooping, and then he unfastened the belt at his waist and the sides of his breeches before clasping her in his arms and undoing the laces at the back of her gown.

  Elizabeth shrugged forwards, sliding her arms from the sleeves without unfastening them at the top, and pushed the gown to the floor, unfastening the ties of her petticoats and stepping out of them, now clad only in her gossamer thin shift and stockings.

  ‘Oh, Bess. You are glorious.’ Robbie took the small coif from Elizabeth’s head and shook out all her long copper hair from the jewelled net. She smiled up at him and swept her hands over his chest, sliding his shirt from his shoulders and down his arms until it joined her discarded garments on the floor.

  ‘As are you, my Lord.’ She smiled at him and stood on tiptoe for another kiss, then stepped back and lay down on the bed, pulling at Robert’s hand to make him join her. He lay down beside her and stroked her side through her shift, then pulled at the ribbon securing the shoulder, and swept it downwards, exposing her breast and covering her nipple with his mouth.

  Elizabeth gasped at the sensation his tongue was sending into her belly and thighs. Robbie unfastened the other shoulder and pushed the garment down to her waist; clasping her to his bare chest and feeling her prominent nipples brush his skin as he kissed her neck and throat.

  ‘Bess, you taste delicious,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘Let me see you properly.’ And he pulled her shift and stockings off, kissing his way down her belly while she squirmed and sighed.

  ‘Robbie,’ Elizabeth found her voice as he kissed her breasts again and stroked her thighs gently, ‘Robbie, listen to me.’ Robert heard the urgency in her voice and raised his head to look at her, as he continued to stroke and caress her.

  ‘I’m listening, my love.’

  ‘I cannot get with child, Robbie. This cannot make a child.’

  ‘I know, Bess. I promise I will be careful. I will not compromise your reputation. But, Bess, you will no longer be a maid. You will not be able to give your husband your virginity.’

  Elizabeth squeezed her eyes closed, then opened them and looked at Robert. ‘You are the husband I want, Robbie. I cannot care about anyone else. Only you.’

  Robbie bent his head and kissed her lips again, deeply and carefully, stroking down her belly and then parting her thighs and dipping his fingers into her core. She sighed and he moved across her gently, parting her thighs and sliding into her moist heat with as much care as he could. He was kissing her throat gently and whispering into her ear, telling her how beautiful she was and how much he wanted her.

  He found his rhythm, trying to go slowly and build her climax first – he knew he couldn’t spill his seed inside her, but after her panic last time they had tried to make love, he wanted her to find pleasure in the act and soothe her fears. Elizabeth met his thrusts with her own, and soon she was gasping his name as she shuddered and clenched round him. He felt his own climax building and withdrew from her body just in time, groaning and then chuckling as he emptied himself onto Elizabeth’s stomach.

  ‘I’m sorry, my love. We need to think ahead next time. I would not have your laundry maids gossiping about the state of your sheets.’ He picked up one of her lawn petticoats from the floor and then wiped her carefully, kissing and stroking as she alternately gasped and giggled at what he was doing to her.

  ‘I don’t care, Robbie. I have wanted you for so long, I don’t care about anything but you. That can go in the fire, I have plenty more.’ She nodded at the soiled fabric he had put on the nightstand at the side of the bed.

  ‘If it is to be burnt, my love, we may as well make sure it is well used.’ And with that he reclaimed her mouth and began to make love to her again.

  Chapter 19

  lizabeth walked in the garden at Woodstock, pretending to read her book but actually reliving the passion and heat of Robert’s visit in her mind. The ladies followed her at a discreet distance and she could hear them whispering to one another. Suddenly Elizabeth felt the thunder of hoofs vibrating the ground beneath her feet and she looked up to see a cloud of dust surrounding a small guard accompanying William Cecil.

  Elizabeth’s brows rose as Cecil, usually the most circumspect of men, threw himself from his horse and fell on his knees in front of her.

  ‘Majesty’

  Immediately, Elizabeth felt a prickle of anticipation across her skin, from her feet up to her hair. A flame lit inside her mind as she gazed at Cecil, his hat in his hand and head bowed. She took him by the shoulders and raised him to look into his eyes.

  ‘Majesty, Will?’ He nodded and bowed his head again as he spoke.

  ‘Indeed, Majesty. Queen Mary is dead of the growth in her stomach, and my spies rode hard to tell me the news so that I might bring it to you myself.’

  ‘Then I am Queen, Will? Mary named me as her heir and I am Queen?’

  ‘Yes, your Majesty. It took her a long time and a great many prayers, but at the last she could do no other than name you her rightful heir. The Council will no doubt be on their way to bring you the Great Seal of England.’

  Elizabeth’s head rose and she gazed around the parkland at Woodstock, breathing deeply and slowly, as if it had been a long time since she had dared to breathe at all.
She met Cecil’s eyes.

  ‘And I shall accept it, Will. I will say it is the work of God, and I shall say how marvellous it is,’ she smiled at him. ‘Walk with me.’

  Elizabeth walked further across the parkland towards a large shady oak tree and Cecil kept pace with her easily.

  ‘I shall need your advice, Will. You who have been ever faithful, I shall need your strength if I am to face the Council my sister has left me, filled with papists and spies and liars.’

  ‘Of course, Majesty. I am always your servant.’

  ‘Yes, Will, I know that, and I am grateful,’ she paused and thought carefully about her next words, ‘but if I am to rule this country, bring England back from the brink of a religious war, I shall need you and others to support me.’ Elizabeth stopped and looked directly into Cecil’s eyes.

  ‘My sister ceded this country to Rome, Will. Gifted it to that pretty pompous Spaniard. She undid all that my father and my brother worked for, all their hopes for an English church for English people.’

  Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed in fury at all that had happened to England under Mary’s rule, and her voice rose and hardened.

  ‘Well, by God, Will, we take it back. I shall not be dictated to by Rome. I am the Queen and I am my father’s daughter. I shall rule.’

  Cecil again fell to his knees and bowed his head, and Elizabeth put out her hand to lift him up. As she did so, she saw in the distance a greater cloud of dust. The Great Seal of England was being brought with as much haste as possible. Elizabeth smiled and brought Cecil to his feet and to her side as she stepped forward.

  ***

  The tap tap of Meg’s slippers echoed in the great hall as she hurried down the vast staircase and flung open the huge front door.

  ‘Cat, oh Cat! You are home at last. I have missed you so much.’ Meg threw her arms round her friend and hugged her tightly. Cat laughed and kissed Meg’s flushed cheeks as she hugged her back.