Cicely's Sovereign Secret

by Sandra Heath Wilson

  ‘Short of confronting her now, and forcibly examining the contents of her purse, there is little I can do. It is unlikely the phial is still there, and even if it were, who would believe that beautiful, virtuous Elizabeth of York has been dosing me with Russian powder? She would accuse me of having the phial put there. I am saddled with her, Cicely, because to cast her off will mean losing the support of all the Yorkists who adhere to me because she restores your father’s blood to the throne.’

  ‘I do not know what to say, Henry, except that when we return to the hall now, you must not drink anything unless she herself is prepared to drink it.’ Cicely paused sadly. ‘I have not wanted to say any of this, because I do not want it to be true, Henry. She is my sister and I love her.’

  ‘It has cost you much to save me, has it not?’

  ‘Indecision was fleeting, Henry. You and I have shared too much, pleased each other too much and understood each other too much, although you are not always worthy,’ she added a little slyly.

  ‘I will make a note of that last remark in my special book.’

  ‘Which your courtiers begin to dread.’

  ‘Then they should not say things they do not wish me to hear.’

  ‘You employ your imp again?’

  He raised his eyebrows. ‘Would I do that?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So I would. I am unsound and incurably suspicious.’ He waited. ‘Madam, you are supposed to protest that I am wisdom personified and a paragon of every virtue.’

  ‘Even though you are not?’

  ‘Even then.’ He smiled again.

  There was a burst of cheering from the hall, and he glanced irritably towards the sound. ‘We should return to the hall. There will already be gossip, and I do not wish to offend my uncle still more. But, cariad, there is so much I still need to say to you, and that you, I think, need to say to me. I do not refer only to events tonight, you understand, but to other matters. Secrets that we should share, not keep from each other. And I mean my secrets too. Do not think it is to be an uneven discussion. Trust must be absolute. Absolute. Do you understand?’

  He had her attention so completely that all other sounds had died away. There was just the softness of his voice. He did know about Leo, she was surer than ever.

  Richard’s voice came back from the past. ‘But between us there must always be trust, complete and inviolate. I cannot settle for anything less.’

  ‘There is that trust, Uncle.’

  Henry came close and took her face in his hands, to caress her lips with his thumbs. ‘I go to Sheen in a day or so, for the rest of the month. You and I can meet at the same manor house as before. Are you in agreement?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do not be afraid, my love, for I do not mean to trick or trap you. I simply need to share everything. With you. Because in my heart, you are my only queen. Beth arall y gallaf ddweud? That means, “What more can I say?” ’

  She gazed at him. ‘Henry, I—’

  But he stopped her words with a kiss, a passionate, loving, needful kiss that threatened to graze her spirit with its sincerity. His arms moved swiftly around her, and she returned it. Being in his arms again was too good.

  In spite of his intention to return to the hall, it was several minutes more before they joined the revels again. But only kisses had been exchanged.

  The rest of the evening went well enough, although Bess’s face had remained thunderous. Henry, on the other hand, was affable and at his best. That night, in the small hours, when the royal guests had gone and Pasmer’s Place was quiet again, Lord and Lady Welles sat before the fire in the bedchamber. The warm air was scented by dried lavender flowers in a little rush basket in the hearth, and it was good to just sip warm milk after all the richness of the dinner.

  Now, alone with Jon at last, Cicely explained what had happened, and he was bitter about Bess.

  ‘But she did not succeed, Jon, nor did Annie succeed in her mischief. Now I can only hope that we succeed in keeping Leo away from Tal … and from Henry.’ She looked at him. ‘I am certain Henry knows of him.’

  ‘Until he says so, there is little to be gained by worrying over it.’

  ‘Easy to say.’

  He shook his head. ‘No, sweetheart, not easy. I am very fond of your boy.’ He looked a little sheepish. ‘I opened my big mouth at Esher. I would never put Leo at risk. You know that.’

  ‘I did not, but I do now. Such things were said that night, and I must apologize again for imposing it all on you.’

  ‘From all accounts, it was imposed on you first.’

  ‘I cannot bear the thought of keeping Leo from Henry and from Tal.’ She had told Jon what she and Jack overheard in the church. ‘But I think I can dissuade Tal from making any move upon Leo.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘By calling in the great debt he has owed to us since Esher, and which he has stressed to me since.’

  ‘You think it is that simple?’

  ‘I can but try.’

  ‘And now you believe Henry is about to tell you his great dark secret?’

  She met his gaze across the firelight. ‘I … pray so.’

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Before leaving for Sheen and her assignation with Henry, Cicely walked with Bess in the garden at Westminster Palace. It was the first time the sisters had met since the dinner, and anyone looking down from the palace windows would have thought the queen and Lady Welles were enjoying a little time together, but the truth was different. There was no enjoyment. Bess had summoned Cicely, and her reason was certainly not sweet and sisterly.

  It was a blustery morning, with low, scudding clouds and sharp ripples on the grey Thames. The daffodils bobbed and dipped. They had been in bloom that other day, five long years ago now, in April 1483, when Cicely had overheard her mother and half-brother plotting against Richard.

  ‘So, Cissy, what did you say to him?’ Bess’s voice was cold.

  ‘The king?’

  ‘You know to whom I refer.’ Bess halted, the soft honey fur trimming on her cloak and hood streaming in the wind. Her eyes—the same blue as the gown beneath her cloak—were remote and although she used Cicely’s pet name, there was little friendliness in it.

  ‘I do not understand, Bess.’ Cicely halted as well. How tired she was of having to convince others of her innocence and sincerity. It made such an accomplished liar of her, when lying was the last thing she wished to do. But a liar was what she had to be; what fate had decreed her to be. ‘Truly, Bess, I do not understand.’

  ‘So, when you and Henry disappeared at that cursed dinner, you did not speak of anything?’

  ‘We spoke of Annie and the écuyer Roland de Vielleville. You know it to be so, Bess, for I told you that evening.’ Cicely’s glance moved to the palace, and there was Margaret, looking down as she had in the past, when other private meetings had taken place.

  ‘It is what else you and Henry discussed that concerns me.’

  Cicely decided to show irritability. ‘We did not discuss anything else, Bess, and if you think that Henry and I were intimate, you are very mistaken.’

  ‘Oh, you may not have done “it”, but you both wanted to. I could see it in your eyes. You wind around him like a vine, and he has no wish at all to cut you away. Maybe he had some small vestige of conscience about me, but that has certainly gone now.’ Bess snapped her fingers to the air.

  ‘Bess, I was there that night of the banquet, when you told me you hated him. If he has now discarded any thought of reconciliation, you can hardly blame him.’

  ‘Always you defend him. I am your sister, but you never take my side.’ Bess was all bitter accusation.

  Cicely confronted her. ‘What did you put in his wine?’

  Bess stared at her, caught completely off guard, but then she recovered. ‘I did not put anything in his wine. How dare you even suggest it!’

  ‘I know what I saw, Bess. Perhaps the phial is still upon your person now.’

/>   Bess’s hand moved instinctively to the purse, telling Cicely it was indeed still there.

  ‘You did not discard the evidence? Such an oversight.’

  Bess’s response was to take the phial out and hurl it over the garden wall into the Thames. ‘There,’ she said triumphantly, ‘now prove anything.’

  ‘So, what was in it? The same as before? Russian powder? Oh, do not protest, for I am your closest sister, we spent our childhood together and were together until you married Henry. You hate him enough to kill him, and you have now attempted to do it twice.’

  ‘Can you prove it?’

  ‘I do not need to prove it. I know it to be so.’

  ‘And now, because of you, Henry believes this lie? How sweet of you to protect your lover. Do you intend to have him to yourself? To ride the royal prick until you—and it—are worn out?’

  ‘If I did, it would be infinitely more than you want of him, Bess. Did you really think I could be so close to you by that table and not see what you did? That I did not notice how you urged me to have his wine served, even though the taster had not arrived? The taster who, incidentally, has since been found dead in an alley. And did you then think I would let it all happen, so that Henry was poisoned before my eyes, in Jon’s house? Did you want Jon’s name to be synonymous with an attempt to kill his own nephew?’ Cicely looked evenly at her. ‘It seems to me that another uncle had such untrue charges levelled against him.’

  ‘Do you know how utterly mad you sound, Cissy?’

  ‘I know you know that Henry does not like almonds and cannot smell or taste them, I know how unsurprised you were when he was taken ill the first time, and how the indignation you show now is not at all convincing. Yes, I told Henry what I thought you had done.’

  ‘Could it be that you love my husband?’ Bess enquired coolly.

  ‘I enjoy his kisses, his caresses and his bed, whereas you … you throw away every chance to be happy in your marriage. You may be Queen of England, but you are also a fool.’

  ‘You dare to speak to me like this!’

  ‘Yes! If telling Henry means you have to stay your hand from now on, then I am glad. He is your king, your husband and the father of your son, as well as the two babies you have lost. You should have comforted each other, but you could not bring yourself to do it. You showed much more genuine emotion for Leo than your own lost children.’

  ‘Because Leo is Richard,’ Bess said quickly.

  ‘And he is mine, Bess. What do you think when you hold Prince Arthur? The truth now. What do you feel?’

  ‘That I hold Henry Tudor’s child, not my own.’

  ‘Oh, Bess! Arthur is your own flesh and blood, born of your body, of your travails. He is yours and he is Henry’s. In him the two of you are bound together. Please, Bess, stop doing these dreadful things. My sympathies are with Henry. He does not want you any more than you want him, but he would have tried to make your marriage less of a battlefield. Now it is time for you to see sense.’

  ‘I hate you, Cissy. I hate you for the joy you find in the act of love, and the way you steal men’s hearts, minds and bodies. And then keep them all. Henry loves you and always will. If he could install you in my place, he would do it gladly. Well, it is my joy that he cannot have you.’

  ‘You could have refused to marry him,’ Cicely said bluntly. ‘If you had refused, there was nothing he could do about it. By placing you in the care of his mother, it could even have been said he abducted you. All you had to do was say no. You could have roused the land to rebellion before Henry even had time to have himself crowned. Yorkists would have risen again, and Jack would surely have become king. But you chose to say yes to Henry Tudor. It was your decision.’

  ‘That is monstrous! Of course I had to marry him! To bring peace after all those years of war.’

  ‘You did not care about years of war, and decided to make the most of your moment of power. A knife was not held to your throat. And Henry could not have married me because I was already with child, so it was not my fault either. So why did you agree, Bess? Mm? You simply had a fancy to be Queen of England, even with the wrong king. So do not grizzle to me about your dreadful lot, or how much insult it does you when Henry visits your bed. It is all what you have made of it. Now, however, I think it is far too late.’ Cicely held her sister’s gaze. ‘So, why poison him now? What is your purpose, Bess? To do in 1488 what our mother could not manage in 1483?’

  For a long moment there was only the sound of the breeze in the trees, and the traffic on the Thames, and then Bess smiled coolly. ‘Now, there is a thought,’ she said quietly. ‘And in the meantime, Henry has to keep coming to my bed.’

  ‘Unfortunately for him, he has to fuck you to get more heirs. And you will be fruitful. You could be enjoying his attentions, as I do. You are a fool, Bess. Such a fool.’

  ‘How arrogantly sure of yourself you are, Cissy. My sister, the expert in all things carnal.’

  ‘Practice makes perfect, is that not what they say?’ Cicely stepped away quickly as Bess tried to strike her. Her glance moved to the window, and she saw Margaret’s astonished face draw back into the room.

  ‘Well, as you say, Henry must practise with me, not you,’ Bess said, lowering her hand slowly.

  ‘While you continue to practise with poison and other methods? Who helps you in your hatred, Bess?’ Cicely asked suddenly, intending to take Bess unawares.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, you were not at Esher, yet the wine there was mixed with poison at your command. Someone helps you. Who is it?’

  ‘So you can trot along to Henry and betray me still more? I think not, Lady Welles.’

  ‘The name Marshal means nothing to you?’

  Bess looked blank. ‘Marshal? Only the old Earls of Pembroke. Why?’

  ‘It is of no matter.’ Cicely was relieved, because it surely meant Tal was not involved in the poison. She adjusted her hood. ‘I think you and I have probably said all we need to each other. I am sorry I had to tell Henry, but if you had not done it, I would not have had anything to tell. Just know that if ever you need me—really need me—I will come to you. We will always be sisters.’

  ‘And just you know that my silence about Leo can no longer be guaranteed.’

  Cicely managed a cool smile. ‘I fear that Henry already knows.’

  Bess gathered her cloak closer as another gust of wind swept in from the Thames. ‘I will threaten to expose his sinful relationship with you. He will not take me lightly. After all, I am the queen, the beautiful, trusted, respected Bess of York. I would never be accused of telling an untruth. I have him where I want, Cicely. Under my pretty thumb.’

  ‘I would not count upon it.’

  Walking away alone, Cicely entered the palace to find Margaret waiting for her. It was a surprise, and yet not.

  Henry’s mother was earnest. ‘I must speak with you, Cicely.’

  ‘As you wish, my lady.’

  ‘Come, we can be comfortable and private in my apartment.’

  They walked through the palace, and Margaret received deep obeisance from all those they encountered. Cicely smiled. ‘How revered you are, my lady,’ she said, as they entered Margaret’s rich rooms. She turned for a lady-in-waiting to divest her of her hood and cloak, and then went to hold her hands out to the fire.

  ‘Feared, more probably,’ Margaret replied frankly, waving all the ladies and pages away and then pouring two small cups of mulled wine.

  When they were both comfortable, Margaret spoke again. ‘Cicely, Henry has told me what occurred at Pasmer’s Place. I must ask, have you sacrificed your sister for him? Is that why you and she quarrelled in the garden?’

  ‘Lady Margaret, I may have told the king about the poison, but Bess is still my sister, and I do not wish to discuss her. Please, I beg that you understand and are not offended.’

  ‘I respect your feelings, Cicely, but I must always do all I can to protect his throne, and above all, his life.�
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  Cicely nodded resignedly.

  ‘Your sister is an unhappy creature, that much cannot be denied, but she has attempted to murder Henry, and in a most cruel, pitiless way. He is not an angel, I have to concede, but for his queen to despise him so much …’

  ‘They should not be husband and wife, my lady, but they have to be. I do not think Bess will do anything more after this. She knows that Henry is aware of what she has done.’

  ‘And she hates you because you saved him?’

  Cicely lowered her glance. ‘Yes, I believe so.’

  ‘I imagine she seeks to be Queen Mother, and therefore powerful during Arthur’s minority?’

  The same theory yet again. ‘I do not know. Truly. My lady, if you only knew how much all of this grieves me.’

  Margaret smiled gently. ‘But I do, my dear. How wondrously fortune turns full circle. You, who loved King Richard with all your heart, can now feel the same for his conqueror.’

  Cicely’s expression did not change. Love Henry as she had loved Richard? As she now loved Jack? Never!

  ‘Perhaps it is time for me to tell you that I know your love for Richard was fleshly, and you have a son by him, called Leo Kymbe, whom you have sent into some new place of hiding, as yet unknown to me.’

  The words shook Cicely. ‘You … are wrong, about everything. Leo Kymbe is not my son, by Richard or anyone else.’

  ‘Yes, he is, my dear. I made it my business to see him recently, when he was here in London. I was advised that Tom Kymbe would take him up before him for a ride along Thames Street, so I watched him. He is in Richard’s image, and there is much of you in him as well. I am in no doubt whatever that you lay with your uncle and he gave you a child.’

  ‘Then to what terrible corner of Hell will you consign me for such an unnatural sin?’

  Margaret chuckled. ‘Oh, my dear, you once pointed out that I had met Richard and knew his immense charm. Well, it was true. If even I was drawn to him in such a way, how could you not be? Oh, I loathed him for interesting me, and I blamed him. But the waywardness was in me, not him.’

  Cicely was astonished. ‘What a revelation you are today, my lady.’