Taming the Tempestuous Tudor

by Juliet Landon

  She did not need to look to know who spoke to her, for only last year she and he had spent many a stolen hour talking together before he had been warned off. She had liked him well enough at the time and had felt sad that he had been attracted to her access to money rather than to her friendship. ‘No, Master Hoby, I shall not. It would be best if you were to go.’

  ‘Go, my lady? Go where? This is where I reside, is it not?’

  ‘I know that you were not honest with me.’

  ‘Then believe me when I say I’ve missed you. Unbearably.’

  This was a conversation Etta did not intend to continue. Reaching out for Lord Somerville’s arm, she grasped it hard enough to alert him. Instantly, he understood the situation and with one steely glance and a tip of his head sent Master Hoby off, catching the tail-end of his impudent leer at Aphra as he went. He kept hold of Etta’s hand on his arm. ‘Don’t be concerned, sweetheart. There will be young bucks like that all over the court, pestering women. He’ll not come back if he values his hide.’

  ‘I hope you’re right, my lord,’ Etta said, seeing no reason to tell him that she and the young man were already acquainted.

  Having survived Her Majesty’s sarcasm, they waited for her to leave the Presence Chamber before moving slowly away, intending to say their farewells to Mrs Teerlinc. She had wanted to know how Etta fared. But a tap on his lordship’s arm, too insistent to be one of the jostling crowd, made him turn to see a young page in the Queen’s livery, intent on delivering a message. ‘Her Gracious Majesty, my lord, wishes...’ the page paused, then went on ‘...wishes Baron Somerville to attend her immediately. I am to conduct you to her, my lord.’

  ‘And me?’ said Etta. ‘Does that mean me, too?’

  ‘Only his lordship,’ said the page, straight-faced. ‘Please to follow me.’

  The bewilderment in Etta’s eyes could not be hidden. Laying a hand over hers, Somerville squeezed it, making her look at him. ‘I shall not be long, sweetheart. You go straight to Levina and stay there until I return. Help her to find the way, Aphra, will you?’

  ‘Of course, my lord. We’ll wait for you there.’

  Before Etta could protest again, he and the page were threading their way through courtiers to the double doors leading to the Queen’s Privy Chamber where only she and invited friends were allowed to go. ‘Smile,’ Aphra said without looking at her. ‘Keep smiling. Don’t let your thoughts show here, of all places.’ Linking her arm through Etta’s, she urged her forward, smiling and nodding, being to her cousin the support and comfort they had expected her to be. Etta, on the other hand, would have hammered on those doors until her husband appeared, to insist that Elizabeth wanted her, too. Crossing the courtyards, Aphra could speak more openly. ‘She’ll want to ask him about you, love. That’s what it’ll be about. You wait and see. He’ll not be there long. She’ll have her work to do.’

  ‘Yes, of course. Now, how do we get to Levina’s room?’

  Chapter Six

  Several hours later, and with no sign of his lordship, Etta decided they must leave the comfort of Levina’s room and return home alone. The dear lady had shared her food with them, as well as her precious time, and soon the light would be going.

  As though their intentions had been anticipated by his lordship, a message came from him to say that they should take the barge back to Puddle Wharf and return home. Apparently, he was unable to say how much longer the Queen would keep him, but by then Etta could work out for herself that his wife’s comfort was of no great concern to her. Nor was her safety for, as darkness fell, Aphra would be her only escort through the uphill streets from the jetty to Cheapside.

  Fortunately, it was not as dangerous for them as they’d feared when two of Lord Somerville’s bargemen walked with them right to the door. Etta gave full vent to her anger. ‘If I’d known we’d be traipsing through the filthy streets in the dark,’ she said, stamping her way upstairs, ‘I’d have worn my street clothes instead of this. What can he be thinking of to stay there so long?’

  ‘He would not have had much choice, Etta love,’ Aphra soothed. ‘Come on, now. Let Tilda help you to change, then we can eat.’

  The Queen’s court had not been what either of them had expected except, perhaps, for the richness, the luxurious halls and chambers, the display of wealth on the backs of everyone from pageboy to the Queen herself, scintillating with jewels. They had known something of that. But they had expected her to be interested in the appearance of a young relative, instead of which she had been more interested in the size of Etta’s ruff. That had been a mistake. They had thought that the Maids of Honour would all be fast friends, but one young lady had shown them otherwise with her arrogant manner. The appearance of Master Stephen Hoby had been unexpected, too, and not at all welcome. Apart from the genuine interest of Lord Robert Dudley, whose influence with the Queen was very great, the day could not be called an outstanding success, especially when the man she was relying on most for support had still not made an appearance when the time came for bed.

  It was Aphra who stayed up a little longer to talk with Master Leon of Padua who, if she were to admit it, was the one to whom she had most wanted to return to after this fiasco. Amongst all the leering richly clad courtiers she had seen that day, there was not one she would like to have spent time with. Those at court had talked incessantly about property and politics, while Master Leon’s conversation was more about the properties of plants, about healing rather than conflict. ‘Next time you go,’ he said, quietly, ‘I shall go with you.’

  ‘But will your absence not affect your work?’

  ‘Not at all. I think we might suggest taking Joseph, too. I don’t like the sound of those leering courtiers.’

  Aphra’s violet-tinged eyelids drooped modestly as she smiled.

  Reaching out a hand, Leon tenderly smoothed the pad of his thumb over the skin of her cheek. Just once. ‘Joseph and I will wait up for his lordship,’ he said. ‘You go to bed. It’s been a tiring day for you. Sleep well, mistress.’

  ‘Aphra,’ she said.

  He smiled at that. ‘Aphra...bella donna.’

  ‘That’s the name of a plant.’

  ‘So it is,’ he said. ‘In Italy, ladies use an extract of the berries in their eyes to enlarge the pupil.’

  ‘Do they? Why?’

  ‘They believe it makes them more beautiful, but you would never need to do that. Your pupils are already enlarged.’

  She gulped. ‘It’s the poor light,’ she said, rising to go.

  ‘Of course, madonna,’ he said. ‘Allow me to light you to the stairs.’

  * * *

  It was well past midnight when Lord Somerville arrived home to be greeted by the concerned faces of Leon and Joseph, having already learned from his barge master that his wife and her cousin were safe and sound. He was in no better temper than the women had been earlier. ‘Don’t ask me what that was all about,’ he said, throwing his cloak in Joseph’s direction, ‘because I have no damned idea. I’m sure she could have waited for a more convenient occasion to ask me about Antwerp. You’d think she was about to go there.’

  ‘Have you eaten, my lord?’ said Joseph.

  ‘After a fashion. In between answers. I’m starving.’

  ‘Be seated, my lord. Food’s all ready.’

  * * *

  Later, Etta sat up as he entered the bedchamber, squeaking the floorboards and casting a dim glow over the bed with the candle flame, a bed that showed every sign of being storm-tossed by sleeplessness. Her eyes were wide open and accusing, her lips compressed against her many grievances.

  Placing his candle on the table, he came to sit on the bed with a sigh that sent the flame dancing sideways. ‘That wasn’t meant to happen, sweetheart. Was it?’

  ‘What did she want you for?’ Etta drew her knees up u
nder her chin.

  ‘I’ve been wondering that all the way home. We talked. She asked me about the shop. About the manor. About Antwerp. About me and Levina as children.’

  ‘About me?’

  He shook his head. ‘Not...directly. No.’

  ‘Well then, indirectly?’

  ‘No. We ate a kind of supper, enough to feed a flea, then played primero and I lost twenty sovereigns to her. Yes, I know,’ he said, defending himself, ‘but everyone has to let her win, especially at first. Don’t worry. I’ll get it back.’

  ‘That’s more than our cook’s annual wage, my lord,’ she said, angrily. ‘I suppose you danced, too?’

  ‘Oh, a bit.’

  ‘A bit!’ she said sharply. ‘Yes, I can imagine. You’ll be high on her list of new admirers, then. Does she expect you to return to court?’

  Another sigh. ‘Yes, it looks like it.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, untying the points on his doublet.

  ‘Then I shall come, too. Will she see me tomorrow?’

  He stood up, sloughing off the doublet, irritated by the inquisition. ‘I don’t know...well, yes, she’s sure to. We’ll take Leon and Joseph this time, so that...’

  ‘So that if we’re left to fend for ourselves again...’

  ‘You didn’t have to fend for yourselves. Didn’t Levina look after you?’

  ‘That’s not why I went to court, my lord. I went...’ Dropping her head on to her knees, she hid her face inside a heavy fall of red hair.

  ‘Don’t weep, Etta,’ he said. ‘It’s only a small hitch. We’ll find a way.’

  Her head came up, her face showing no sign of tears, only a furious determination in her eyes that put a stop to his sympathy. ‘I shall find my own way, my lord, since you’ll be at her beck and call from now on. She may discourage wives all she likes, but I shall be an exception. If that Lady Catherine can get to see her, then so can I. And I’m more of a Tudor than she is. Has she forbidden me from attending, after accepting my gift?’

  Hauling his shirt over his head, he threw it aside, stripped off his hose and came naked to the bed. ‘Move over, woman. No, she has not forbidden you because she probably thinks you’ve got the message. And I’m not going to forbid you, either, because I suspect you’d find a way of disobeying me. Wouldn’t you?’

  ‘Yes. I would.’

  ‘Right. So we’ll have another try tomorrow.’

  ‘You’ll take me with you?’

  ‘Well, I’m certainly not going to leave you here to spend all my money at the goldsmith’s.’

  She slipped down the bed with her back to him, yawning loudly. ‘Which is what I’d do, of course.’

  ‘So what happened to our truce?’ he said. But there was no reply and he could only suppose that the cold shoulder had returned.

  * * *

  Etta’s decision to have little to do with Lady Catherine Grey was taken out of her hands on the following day by none other than Queen Elizabeth herself, when the royal command for Lord Somerville to attend her directly did not include his hopeful wife. Wearing a ruff of greater proportions than Etta’s of the previous day, the Queen instructed the Maid of Honour she so much disliked, Lady Catherine, to escort Lady Somerville back to the water gate, where their barge was tied up, not knowing that, this time, Joseph and Leon were waiting in one of the sunny gardens with Aphra in the hope that Etta would re-join them with better news. The Queen had not deigned to speak to her directly and there had been nothing Somerville could do but squeeze Etta’s hand, to smile, and to tell her he’d join her soon, which neither of them believed.

  It had taken the Queen’s favourite, Lord Robert, no time at all to see that his position was being challenged by Somerville, an equally attractive man whose recent title afforded him some clout in society. It was a game to Elizabeth, but a serious matter to himself, who immediately decided that the lovely Lady Somerville would make an excellent alternative companion, looking so much like the woman he loved. So as Lady Catherine unwillingly obeyed the Queen with a glare of hostility, he took a pace backwards, bowed to the hem of the royal skirts, then sidled away to take his position at Etta’s side.

  Robert Dudley’s brother Guildford had married Lady Catherine’s sister Jane. Both of them had been executed. But Etta’s two escorts were in-laws with very different feelings towards their Queen and, as they set off towards the garden to collect Aphra and the two men, Etta could almost hear the cogitations clicking away inside their heads like clockwork until Lord Robert broke the ice. ‘Lady Catherine, I think you may safely return to Her Majesty now. I will take Lady Somerville and her friends down to the water gate myself.’

  Lady Catherine pursed her lips in doubt. ‘I had hoped,’ she said, ‘to ask Lady Somerville about her wedding.’

  ‘What can you possibly wish to know about that?’ said Etta, sharply.

  ‘You married without the Queen’s permission, I understand.’ When Etta made no reply, she continued to probe. ‘Well, your husband didn’t even invite his sister, did he? So I assume it must have been arranged rather quickly, without...’

  Lord Robert frowned at his sister-in-law. ‘What exactly are you implying, Lady Catherine? And what does it have to do with you? Are you thinking of marrying again? Because if so, you’d better be more than careful how you go about it.’

  ‘Again?’ Etta said. ‘You are widowed, Lady Catherine?’

  ‘I am not widowed, no,’ she replied, clearly unsettled by the way the questions had been turned on her. ‘I was married at fifteen, when my beloved sister married Lord Robert’s brother, but we were obliged to divorce. That’s all.’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear it,’ Etta said. ‘My own marriage to Lord Somerville was not a grand affair because we both preferred a simple ceremony. My lord bought a special licence.’

  ‘So no calling of the banns?’

  ‘No, but one has to swear that there were no previous agreements, just the same.’

  ‘A simple ceremony indeed. What a shame.’

  Etta’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, suspecting that she had said too much to this unlikeable woman. ‘Why is it a shame? We saw no shame in it.’

  Turning away, Lady Catherine shrugged her shoulders. ‘No friends or relatives there? No feasting? No dressing up? With all your husband’s wealth, too. I am surprised.’ Walking away, she gave Etta no chance to respond, even though what she had said found a sensitive chord deep inside that hurt Etta because she knew it was the truth. All those wonderful things that help to celebrate a marriage had been wilfully left out, just to make the point that her hand had been forced. And now she had passed this private information to a woman whose dislike was almost tangible.

  ‘That was not very clever of me, was it?’ she murmured to Lord Robert. ‘What happened to her husband after the divorce? Is he glad to be free?’

  He held out a hand for her to place hers there. ‘No, they pleaded non-consummation so that the marriage could simply be annulled instead, but they were not successful. They see each other regularly here at court. If she has it in mind to remarry, though, she’ll have to tread carefully, because Her Majesty is very unlikely to allow it.’

  ‘Could that be why she’s asking me about banns and special licences?’

  ‘Either that, or she hopes to make some kind of mischief, my lady. If you take my advice, you’ll not give her any more ammunition.’

  ‘I would be most grateful for your advice, my lord.’

  ‘On how to handle my waspish sister-in-law?’

  ‘No, I don’t care a fig about that. You see, as the Queen’s half-sister, I came to court hoping to observe her and I cannot make any headway unless she allows me to be in her company. So far, she has hardly spoken to me and now she sends me home, and I’m not sure enough of royal protocol t
o know whether that is a banishment or simply her way of saying not today thank you. I wish she had not gone off with my husband,’ Etta added, plaintively. ‘He knows more about these things than I do.’

  Lord Robert stopped, looking round for a bench where they might sit together. ‘Come over here with me, my lady. We need to clear this up.’

  ‘I wish somebody would,’ she said, sitting beside him.

  He angled his body towards her, bending his head close to hers, feeling a thrill of masculine pleasure in her vulnerability. ‘Well now, for one thing, if our dear lady had banished you, you would not be asking me for confirmation. So far, she has never left anyone in doubt about whether to return to court or not, even though she has been Queen for so short a time. She would not have cared how you departed, much less sent a woman to escort you, and she would not be openly vindictive towards the new wife of a man she has just honoured with a title.’ He placed a hand over hers, purposely not elaborating on the subject of the Queen’s male friends. ‘Oh, don’t worry, my lady. It won’t last. She’s being inundated with suitors from all parts at the moment and this is simply her way of showing them how desirable she is.’

  ‘Yes, I see. But how may I get to speak with her if she won’t even look at me?’

  ‘She has looked at you, but perhaps she finds it too difficult to accept another of her father’s daughters at the moment. There are others, you know, though I don’t suppose any of them are as lovely as yourself. But you must have noticed how few men bring their wives here?’

  ‘Yours too, my lord? Is she obliged to stay at home?’

  His cheeks tightened as he looked away, disturbed by the truth, but wondering how to soften it with a half-truth. ‘Amy? Yes, she is not welcomed by the Queen, but she’d not last two days in this hive of...I mean, in this place.’

  ‘I shall,’ Etta said. ‘I shall not give up unless she forbids me to show my face.’