‘Lord Robert. Tell me what has happened.’ Elizabeth’s voice had taken on a hard imperious tone and she looked Robert directly in the eye.
‘My wife is dead, Majesty. My cousin writes to tell me my wife is dead.’
Chapter 25
ven as Robert galloped into the night with Thomas at his side, he realised how convenient it was that the news had reached him while he was at Hampton Court. The stables there were the best appointed of all the palaces, and the mount he had chosen to take him to Cumnor Place was a particular favourite.
He had bought the animal from his usual reputable breeder with a view to training the stallion to the lists, but when fully grown, the horse had proven not to be heavy enough in the leg and broad enough across the rump to be able to carry a man in full armour. He was just the beast for a swift gallop though, fearless and sure-footed, and they made excellent time.
It was fully dark as they trotted into the stable yard, the night still and starry, but the yard was as bright as noon. Every sconce held a flaming torch, and every man milling about carried the same. Robert’s cousin Anthony greeted them as they dismounted.
‘My good Lord Robert. It pains me so to welcome you back in such tragic circumstances.’
‘Thank you, Anthony. I appreciate your prompt summons. But please, tell me what happened.’
They walked into the house and Anthony showed both Robert and Thomas into the front parlour. Robert took a seat but Thomas remained standing beside the door, hand on the hilt of his dagger.
‘We know not for certain, my Lord. I can tell you what I know. But before I start the story, might I offer you and your manservant some refreshment?’
Robert nodded, ‘We would be grateful for some bread and cheese, Anthony. And a tankard of cold milk from your still-room if you please.’ Robert could feel a veiled exhaustion behind his eyes; he had been so busy all day with the festivities that he hadn’t eaten since the morning, and he had left before the banquet. He wondered vaguely if Elizabeth were having a good time, then dragged his mind back to Anthony, just finishing giving orders to the maid. Beyond the door, he could hear muffled sobs, and he assumed these were from Anthony’s wife and perhaps Amy’s maidservant.
‘We found Lady Dudley dead at the bottom of the hall stairs, my Lord. We returned from the Maypole Fair in the village late in the afternoon, and there she was, as if asleep at the foot of the stairs.’
‘Where were the servants, Anthony? Was no-one with her? What about Nell?’
‘She insisted everyone went, my Lord. She would brook no refusal from anyone. Lady Dudley told us all that she wanted us to enjoy the Maypole Fair, but she didn’t feel well enough to go with us. Nell, I beg your pardon my Lord, Mistress Pincto wanted to stay with her, but your wife was adamant. From where we found her, my Lord, she may have been on the way to the chapel to pray.’
Robert inclined his head, and then a knock on the door announced the refreshments had arrived. Robert insisted Thomas have something to eat and drink, but Thomas insisted equally that he went into the hall while Robert continued his conversation. Robert allowed him the privacy he required to eat, and he made short work of the food his cousin offered him. When he had finished, he got to his feet.
‘I would see my wife now, cousin.’ Robert straightened his doublet as he stood, feeling a slight wave of embarrassment being dressed as he was, for a May Day banquet. The silver grey seemed inappropriate for the occasion, and he determined to send to his apartment for a change of clothes for the morning.
‘Of course, my Lord. After the magistrate left, we moved her to the stone chapel. It is cold in there, so she will be well enough until the tire women come in the morning.’
‘Thank you, Anthony. I couldn’t ask for a more caring custodian of my poor wife in such circumstances. Be assured you will receive my fervent appreciation of all you have done in due course.’
‘My Lord, you must think nothing of it. We thought a great deal of Lady Dudley. She was a welcome addition to our family here, and we shall miss her greatly.’ Sir Anthony led Robert, with Thomas closely following, down the stone steps from the grand front hall into the kitchen and then through a narrow passageway to a small chapel connected to the main house by a covered canopy.
‘The steps you have just traversed were where it happened, my Lord. We are not sure if she wanted to come in here to pray, or if she simply wanted a cold drink from the kitchen. I suppose that will remain a mystery.’ Sir Anthony turned the large brass ring set into the wooden door and swept it open with his arm.
‘Here she is, my Lord.’ Robert stood motionless on the threshold of the tiny chapel, seeing in the gloom the outline of a body laid on a simple wooden platform supported by a plain settle at either end. Dim tallow candles valiantly tried to dispel some of the shadows crowding the room but they offered insufficient light to make much of an impression on the darkness.
‘Thank you, Anthony. My manservant and I will stand vigil for her tonight,’ Robert gazed into the depths of gloom again, ‘and could I trouble you to send a squire to the palace, and ask Tom Sadler to send some appropriate clothes for me. These garments,’ he looked down, ‘do not offer the proper respect to such a Lady as my wife.’
‘Of course, Lord Robert. As you wish. I will pen a note myself. To Tom Sadler, you say? Consider it done, my Lord. They will be here by the morn, have no doubt.’
Robert nodded his thanks and stepped over the threshold of the chapel, Thomas at his heel. Sir Anthony, realising he had been dismissed, hurried away to wake a squire and send him with a note.
***
‘I regret how I treated her, Thomas.’ Robert faced his manservant across the body of his wife, laid out in her gown and hood, with her hands folded at her waist and a peaceful expression on her face, which in death wore a look of placid repose that it had seldom worn in life.
‘My Lord?’
‘She wanted a different life to that which I was able …. no, Thomas, to that which I was willing to provide. And yet I cannot deny that my life will be easier now she has gone.’
‘Indeed, my Lord. That is what I thought.’
Robert looked at Thomas levelly and narrowed his eyes. ‘You didn’t do this, Thomas.’ It was a statement, not a question. Thomas looked back at his master impassively.
‘No, my Lord.’ He took a breath, and Robert looked up sharply. ‘But it was I that …’
‘That what?’
‘That last time, my Lord. When she attacked you?’ Robert nodded. That last time was seared in his memory. ‘I took her to her room, and her maid Nell asked if I would go to the apothecary and bring a new batch of medicine.’ Robert continued to meet the steady gaze of the man before him as he continued his story, but couldn’t help the prickle of fear that had started to creep up his spine.
‘I asked him to make it stronger, my Lord, because from her behaviour towards you, the other mixture seemed no longer sufficient. He agreed, but told me the mixture he was providing would need thinning with water before it was administered.’ Thomas’ voice dropped to a hoarse whisper, ‘I may have neglected to make that clear.’
Robert sucked in a ragged breath and closed his eyes.
***
As dawn broke the night sky, Sir Anthony crept into the chapel and bent to whisper to Robert. ‘Your squire has sent your clothing, my Lord. Would you like to break your fast and change?’
‘Thank you, cousin. I shall change first, and then if you would arrange for some food for me and my manservant. I shall speak to the magistrate, then return to court to make arrangements to attend the inquest.’ Sir Anthony nodded his understanding and withdrew, leaving Robert to take his leave of Amy before the tire women arrived to perform the layi
ng-out of the dead.
Robert took hold of one of Amy’s hands and bent to kiss her forehead. ‘I’m so sorry that you didn’t have the life you hoped for, Amy. Good bye.’
Robert placed Amy’s hand gently back on top of the other, then turned and walked out of the chapel and back through the walkway to the kitchen. Sir Anthony was waiting to lead them up to the parlour where Robert could collect his more sombre attire. Thomas was at his shoulder.
***
‘Bess, I have to return. The magistrate will want to question me.’ Robert held Elizabeth’s hands in her presence chamber. They had gone to sit in the embrasure at the other end of the room, while Cat supervised the other ladies with their sewing and the musicians played softly.’
‘Question you, Robbie? Why in God’s name would they want to question you? You weren’t there,’ Elizabeth’s forehead creased in concern and she began to worry at her lip, ‘you were here, with me.’
‘There still needs to be a hearing, Bess. An inquest into her death. It isn’t a trial, my love, just an enquiry. And besides, everyone knows I was here with you. I have a hundred witnesses, two hundred, but even I have to obey the law, my love.’
‘As long as you are not away too long, Robbie. I need you by my side, and I shall tell the magistrate so, if I have to. The law is my law, Robbie,’ and she smiled and leaned forward to kiss him briefly before anyone saw.
***
‘Tell the jury, Mistress Pincto, how Lady Dudley was the last time you saw her.’ The magistrate gazed kindly at Nell Pincto to try and put her at ease.
‘She was ill, my Lord. She sent everyone away, even the servants, to the Maypole Fair. She said she wanted time alone to think and pray, and didn’t feel well enough to go to the Maypole.’ Nell Pincto started nervously, but her voice gained strength as she spoke, and Robert watched her carefully to see if she had any hesitation with her evidence; he saw none.
‘Was she often ill, Mistress?’
‘Yes, my Lord. Her illness made her weak, and her medicine could make her quite bewildered at times. She often used to have conversations with my Lord Dudley when he wasn’t there, or even her dead father.’
‘And why do you think she was found where she was, Mistress?’
‘She could have tripped on the hem of her gown, my Lord, or become dizzy at the top and fallen, or even perhaps fainted. If she had taken her medicine before she left her room, it often made her unsteady on her feet, often sleepy.’
‘Do you know if she had taken any, Mistress?’
‘I left her a dose ready in her mug, my Lord. Before I went out, in case she needed it when I wasn’t there. That had gone, my Lord, but I have no way of knowing what time it was that she swallowed it.’
The magistrate nodded again and then allowed Nell Pincto to sit down. He called Robert to speak.
‘My Lord, I must ask you if you benefit from your wife’s death?’
‘Not at all, sir. Her stepmother had inherited her father’s property and wouldn’t let Amy live there. She expected nothing from her father’s estate, and she brought no dowry when we married.’ Robert looked the magistrate directly in the eye as he spoke.
‘So, my Lord, as I see this, there was no benefit to you from her death. You weren’t here at all, and she was completely alone by her own design. It is possible for me to bring a verdict of suicide, my Lord, but that might prevent her from having a very Christian burial.’
‘As I have no more evidence for that verdict than I have for any other, I shall record Lady Dudley as having an accidental death by breaking her neck as a result of her fall. No blame should attach itself to your good name, or indeed hers.’
Robert bowed his thanks to the magistrate and withdrew from the inquest to return to court, Thomas at his shoulder.
Their ride back to court was less frantic than the night of the May Day banquet, and Robert rode steadily beside his manservant, lost in his own thoughts. Just before they arrived at the palace, Robert slowed his horse to a walk, and then to a standstill. The horse dropped his head and cropped the grass steadily. Thomas brought his horse to a halt beside him.
‘My Lord?’
‘Before we resume our lives, Thomas, I wanted to say something. Then we never need refer to it again, agreed?’
Thomas nodded briefly, his customary acquiescence.
‘We were fortunate, Thomas, that Amy fell when we were both so obviously elsewhere, and that she had insisted on being alone.’ Thomas gazed impassively at Robert, his ice blue eyes unblinking.
Robert reached across the gap between the horses and clasped Thomas’ bicep in a firm grip, ‘I am in your debt again, it seems.’
Thomas nodded once and then urged his horse forward with his heels. Robert waited half a second and then mentally shook himself, following his manservant at a gentle trot towards the palace yard.
Part 2
Chapter 26
lizabeth squirmed in delight as Robert’s lips worked their way up her belly, round her breasts and then up her throat, her neck and then his voice whispered in her ear, ‘Marry me, Bess.’
She sighed contentedly, stroking her own hands over Robert’s chest and shoulders, down to the hollow of his back and across the top of his buttocks, then she pulled her face away from his slightly so she could look into his smiling eyes, ‘Robbie, you know I cannot.’
Robert nuzzled her neck, his short beard tickling the skin on her collarbone and she sighed again. ‘I know nothing of the sort, Bess. There is no reason on earth why we can’t be married now.’ He moved away from her and propped his head on his hand, using the other to stroke her skin languidly, round her breasts and down her sides, over the curve of her waist to the flare of her hips and then down her flanks.
‘You do still love me, Bess?’ There was a genuine question in his eyes and Elizabeth turned on her side to look at him, away from the distraction of his hands caressing her skin.
‘You know I do, Robbie. You know that, in my heart, you are my husband. But I cannot marry you in the eyes of the people. Will Cecil still negotiates with other realms for my hand, so we might keep their protection should war come.’
‘But now I am free, there would be no scandal to our marriage. I have been a widower for more than two years, Bess. The proprieties have been observed, I was cleared of any wrongdoing by the inquest, so there is no stain on my character. There is no longer any impediment to us being together.’
Elizabeth sighed and shook her head sadly. ‘We have this, Robbie. I cannot give you more.’
Robert suddenly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling on his breeches and his boots and grabbing his shirt and doublet off the floor. He turned to Elizabeth, still laying on the bed but now covered by the thin linen sheet. He bowed.
‘I shall be needed in the stables, Majesty. I will take my leave of you now,’ and with that he stalked towards the connecting door to his own apartment, shrugging on his shirt and doublet and closing the door with a firm clunk that wasn’t quite a slam.
Elizabeth swallowed the tears clogging her throat, then sat up and pulled on her lawn night shift. She knew Cat would be unlocking the door in a few moments, bringing the start of the day with her. Elizabeth sighed and moved to the seat in front of her dresser, looking for the small pot of salve for her lips. She thought it might need to be in the pocket of her gown today, and she dabbed a little on her bottom lip as she heard Cat jingle the key in the lock to help her begin another day as Queen.
***
‘Anne, would you go to your father’s office and tell him that I have a fearsome headache this morning. He should lead the Council meeting and then present me with the alternatives this evening a
t supper.’ Elizabeth nodded at Anne Cecil, who tied Elizabeth’s petticoat strings, then curtseyed and hurried out of the bedchamber on her errand to her father Will.
‘Lissey, would you go down to the stable yard and find Lord Robert. Tell him about my headache, but ask him to have my horse saddled to go riding with him and two grooms at eleven of the clock. Tell him the fresh air will help my head.’ Lissey Sheffield put the slippers she was carrying in front of Elizabeth’s feet so the Queen could step into them easily, made her own curtsey and left to find her way to the stables.
‘Frances, once you have finished lacing the back of my riding habit, please go into the solar and set the younger ladies to work on their embroidery. Ask Kit Hastings to take the little maids of honour and have them translate a poem by Ovid. It doesn’t matter which one, it is the Latin practice that matters.’ She smiled at Frances and quirked her mouth; she knew the little ones would complain. ‘The musicians can practise the music for tonight, but softly. Cat, you can remain here and brush my hair. That will help my headache.’ Frances curtseyed and left the room, and Cat closed the chamber door and came back to Elizabeth, who was seated at her dresser.
‘What is wrong, Princess?’ Cat stroked the brush through Elizabeth’s hair and Elizabeth closed her eyes.
‘Robbie asked me to marry him again, Cat. And walked out in a huff when I said no.’
‘But you’ve explained, my lovely. You’ve told him over and over that you can’t marry him.’
‘But now he’s free, Cat, he thinks all obstacles have gone. He wants to marry me to give the country an heir.’ Cat faltered in her brushing, then carried on with the long strokes Elizabeth loved so much.
‘Does he know, Princess? Have you told him?’
‘He knows Tom assaulted me. I told him that years ago, when we were young. He doesn’t know about how he forced me, and hurt me. Only you know the truth of that.’
The Last Howard Girl (Tudor Chronicles Book 3) Page 17