‘And good day to you also, sir,’ I responded. ‘I believe I speak with Master Geoffrey Vintner, do I not?’ It was a guess. Meg’s firstborn had been a son named after his grandfather and, allowing for the difference in age, the similarity of this lad to the Geoffrey Vintner I had known was startling; sturdy build, dark hair, brown eyes and an expression that offered open friendliness.
He shrugged and smiled. ‘You have the advantage of me. Perhaps you knew my grandfather. People say that I resemble him.’
‘You certainly do,’ I agreed. ‘Is your mother at home? She will vouch for me and perhaps even let me bring my horse into your yard. My name is Jasper Tudor.’
Geoffrey’s eyes widened to the size of wild plums. ‘Lord Jasper! I know that name and I will take your horse myself.’ He stepped into the street and took the reins. ‘Follow me, my lord.’
The gate to the alley that accessed the rear of the house was open and he led the palfrey down it to the courtyard at the back. Through a side window I glimpsed a room furnished with writing desks, at which sat several clerks busy with quill and ink. In the yard a girl sat on a bench, working vigorously at a churn and a woman in an apron, her hair hidden by a housewife’s coif, was taking washing off a clothesline.
‘You have a guest, Mother,’ said my leader. ‘I think you will be pleased to see him.’
The woman dumped the final item of washing in her basket. As she approached me, tucking the last pegs into her apron pocket, recognition struck and her face broke into a dimpled smile. ‘Jasper! Oh Jasper, I knew you would come soon!’
Geoffrey and the horse disappeared through an open stable door in the range of outbuildings that lined the yard and I could not resist throwing my arms around my sister, an embrace she returned with enthusiasm and a girlish giggle. ‘It has been too long, Meg, I know,’ I said, drawing back to gaze down at her fondly. ‘But at last I can walk the streets of London again without fear of arrest.’
She took my hands in hers and did a little dance of joy. ‘Yes! Yes! It is wonderful. Come in and we will share a jug of something.’ Turning to the girl, who had dutifully continued with her churning she said, ‘As soon as the butter turns put it in the dairy and follow us in, Catherine – and bring the washing. We will light the fire and hear all Lord Jasper’s news.’
The large chamber on the first floor was the beating heart of the house; the hall where nearly twenty years ago Margaret and William Vintner had held their wedding feast and Mette and I had watched Edmund present his cloth of gold wedding gift and almost disclose the truth of Meg’s birth. Under the line of casement windows overlooking the street two girls sat sewing and looked up as we entered. One was about the same age as Geoffrey and the other was younger, probably of Elin’s years, eleven or twelve.
‘Mildred, Alys, this is Lord Jasper, a friend of the family, who we must make welcome. Leave your work and come and greet him.’ Meg waved the girls forward and watched proudly as they made their curtsies. Both wore protective aprons over unbleached linen kirtles and white caps over their hair. ‘Jasper this is William’s niece Mildred and the little one is Alys, our youngest.’
The older girl kept her gaze modestly downcast but the younger one subjected me to a candid inspection with eyes of bright sapphire blue. I returned their curtsies with a solemn bow. ‘God’s greeting to you both,’ I said.
Under Meg’s supervision the fire was lit, wine and wafers brought, chairs and benches arranged; she made the promise of a meal later and her firstborn offered me a seat near the fire.
The girl appeared who had been churning the butter. ‘This is Catherine, Jasper, whom you met as a small child. I do not think you will remember each other.’ This girl was the prettiest of them all, a sweet-faced, pink-cheeked angel, straight from the pages of an illuminated Book of Hours.
I was plied with the refreshments, which I consumed with alacrity. My sister sat beside me and sipped at the good red Bordeaux wine.
I raised my cup appreciatively. ‘The other branch of the Vintner family are still importing wine from Gascony then, despite England losing it to France?’
‘Indeed they are – busier than ever. Mildy has been living with us for a year now,’ she revealed, as her niece refilled my cup. ‘Her father is away a great deal. Do you remember her mother and namesake, William’s half sister? Unhappily she died quite suddenly last year of a throat quinsy. Mildy was her youngest child, the only one left at home. We are going to find her a good husband, is that not so, sweetheart?’
Mildy blushed and nodded. She offered me more wafers.
‘They are excellent and I have consumed more than I should already,’ I said politely. There was a question I needed to ask and I put it to the whole room. ‘May I ask, did any of you watch the king’s procession to the abbey for the re-crowning ceremony?’ Everyone stared blankly at me. It seemed there had been no news spread in the city about the event, a task Warwick had undertaken to organize. No wonder the crowd had been minimal. Warwick prided himself on his ability to spread information and I feared his failure in this matter was an indication of his indifference to my brother’s cause. For him glory lay in France, where his daughter Anne had now married Prince Édouard and was, he hoped, the future Queen of England.
To steer the conversation elsewhere, I offered my belated condolences for the passing of the children’s grandmother Mette, which were accepted with downcast eyes – then all were gazing at me once more. I said, ‘I seem to remember an infant called Jem. Was it short for Jeremiah?’
‘Ah yes, Jem is at sea with his cousin Gilbert, Mildy’s brother. We think he will make a sailor. It would be good to have a ship’s captain in the family now that trade has picked up with the Low Countries.’
I made no comment on this. A declaration of war with Burgundy was part of the agreement Warwick had made with King Louis in return for his ships and men. The ‘Spider’ wanted to destroy a treaty Edward had made with the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany. Such a war would once more bring a halt to trade with Flanders and seriously affect London Merchant Venturers like Gilbert Vintner, who so far had backed Warwick. It was going to take some serious palm greasing on the earl’s part to keep them sweet. No wonder he had been anxious to collect revenue from his northern estates.
At dusk William climbed the stair from his legal office and the whole household gathered around a long trestle set before the fire, including Martin the legal apprentice, Dolly the housemaid and Jake, who they called the gong boy, suitably scrubbed up from his weekly tasks of mucking out the stables, byres and latrines. I was impressed with the easy relationship evident between the family and their servants; there was no lack of respect given to William and Meg but they encouraged conversation between all occupants of the house. I had come to appreciate such a refectory system during my wandering days in Europe, when most meals on the road had been taken at communal tables in inns and monastery hostels.
My brother Edmund would never have agreed with me but I could not help thinking that of all Queen Catherine’s children, fate had dealt Meg the best hand, one where the Wheel of Fortune, whilst it doubtless turned, had nevertheless delivered her less dramatic spins than it had afforded her brothers. And although I should be celebrating Henry’s re-crowning, I was acutely aware that the Wheel could yet turn again. Under the guise of countering some spilt salt, I swiftly crossed myself and kissed the reliquary that always hung around my neck, sending up a silent prayer to my patron, St Thomas Becket.
‘You seem distracted, Jasper,’ murmured Meg, covering my other hand with hers and leaning nearer to keep her words from the others. ‘You must have much on your mind now you are the King’s Lieutenant. I am doubly grateful that you spared the time to visit us.’
‘It is I who am grateful. It does my heart good to see you all.’ I turned my wrist and gave her hand a squeeze. ‘I have spent years apart from family and friends. It is a joy to find that their love and loyalty have not wavered in my absence.’
After the meal t
he adults withdrew to the private chamber off the hall, which the late Geoffrey Vintner had called his library. An impressive number of heavy leather-bound volumes still lay stacked on the shelving he had installed to hold them. A brazier had been lit to warm the room and Meg carefully plunged a red-hot poker into a jug of mead to pour as a digestive. Now nearing his fortieth year like me, William had cultivated a fashionable beard, closely trimmed and forked. This and his shrewd grey eyes gave him an air of wisdom and dependability. Seeing him and my sister sitting side by side, she looking as I had heard so like our mother, I was struck by the closeness of our family connection and an urge to seek their advice. As yet they were unaware of the existence of my own children and it seemed obvious that it was time to take them into my confidence.
I raised my cup to them. ‘Good health to your close-knit household,’ I said. ‘Thank you for showing me the rewards of hard work, good discipline and shared love.’
William acknowledged my toast and sipped his drink. ‘I think we should add God’s will to the mix, my lord. None of it is due to our actions alone.’
I nodded. ‘You are right but God does not always reward the worthy. Dame Fortune has a hand in it, I think.’
‘She has certainly had a hand in your life, Jasper, and not all for the good,’ observed Meg. ‘Might she now, at last, grant you the joy of a family?’
‘I have a confession to make. I am already father to two daughters.’
William and Meg exchanged a knowing glance.
I went on. ‘I hasten to add that although neither God nor the king has sanctioned our union, their mother and I have somehow maintained a relationship, despite a lengthy enforced separation. She and our girls are at present living only two miles away in Stepney Green.’ I fortified my courage with another gulp of the warm mead while allowing this news to sink in. ‘Secrecy runs in our family, as you know, Meg, and now I need you to keep this information to yourselves. I hope I can rely on you for this.’
‘Of course you can.’ Meg spoke for them both, it was clear. ‘We of all people can assure you of that. But tell us more of these nieces, Jasper, and of their mother. I would love to meet them.’
I shook my head and sighed. ‘I think that would not be wise. It would jeopardize both your position and mine if the children were told of their cousins. They are too young yet to be sworn to secrecy and I have never revealed to Jane that I have a living sister. I have been unable to gain permission to marry from my brother the king and circumstances are such now that it will not be possible. Without his permission marriage would offer no security and more likely result in scorn and ignominy. If Jane were of the nobility it might be different but she is the daughter of a Welsh farmer.’
‘Was our father not the son of a Welsh yeoman? Yet you were taken into royal favour eventually,’ Meg pointed out.
‘Yes, because Henry needed brothers who could fight his corner, which I still do. The king is a changed man. He has become reclusive and his mind and memory are not reliable. That is why the Earl of Warwick and I have undertaken to rule in his name. Of course this situation is only temporary. The future lies with his son Prince Édouard, who has been reared and influenced by Queen Marguerite. Who knows what will happen when they come to England for she is a strong and determined lady and not one it would be wise to offend.’
‘And your marriage to a commoner would offend her?’
I detected a note of reproach in Meg’s voice. ‘I do not know. It has not been tested but primarily I have a duty to my brother. He is vulnerable and he needs my advice and presence at court. Secondly, he was reared to believe in the king’s right to approve the marriages of his nobles and he would never condone my union with a commoner. Jane understands – at least I hope she does.’
‘I wonder if that is so …’ Meg’s murmured response was overridden by William’s surprisingly emphatic one.
‘Whether she does or not, you are right not to marry her. No good came of King Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. It has split the nobility even more drastically than it was divided before he usurped the throne and even worse, it has alienated the ordinary citizens. He had seemed a golden-haired, victorious young Galahad when he became king, but he lost all respect when he allowed his lust to override his reason and made a commoner his queen. Many no longer considered him worthy of their loyalty or fit to wear the crown. You might lose the support of your tenants and followers Lord Jasper, if they heard that you took your leman for your wife.’
For a few moments I frowned at William, a commoner who had married a queen’s daughter, albeit a secret one. ‘Do you speak as a lawyer when you say that?’ I asked.
‘Yes I do. Marriage is more than just words said before witnesses. It is a legal matter and I have drawn up many a contract for couples who understand its importance in binding our society together. It is as important as the vow a vassal makes to his lord or to his king. Love may come after marriage but it is a hazardous foundation for it.’
‘Did we not marry for love, William?’ Indignation spiked Meg’s interjection.
He leaned from his chair to take her hand, smiling fondly. ‘Oh yes, we did, but we had known from childhood that we would and our parents and all our friends and neighbours also knew and approved. Nevertheless I would still say that our marriage is based on more than love. Shared values, mutual respect, loyal friendship – and, thanks be to God, the joy of rearing our children.’
His wife shot him a wicked sideways glance with those devastating blue eyes of hers. ‘Are you not forgetting a little something called the marriage debt, husband?’
He gave her a comical look of horror, snatched his hand back and smacked the palm to his forehead. ‘How could I forget that? Lust is a terrible thing, Lord Jasper, but at least in marriage it is legal!’
I had to laugh with them but my laughter was edged with guilt.
It was getting late when I collected Evan and my small retinue at the local inn and we set off for Stepney Green but while the men were laughing and joking after their drinking-session, I rode a little ahead of them, taciturn and lost in my thoughts. Witnessing my sister’s family life had led me to consider my own. I did not want Elin and Joan to suffer for being illegitimate but more than ever I knew that marriage was not possible with Jane. A way had to be found to solve these two apparently irreconcilable problems and William’s polemic on love and marriage had started a hare running in my mind.
46
Jane
Le Garlek, Stepney Green, London
‘ELIN IS NOT YET twelve, Jasper!’ I exclaimed in alarm. ‘You of all people know that is much too young for a girl to marry.’
‘I am not suggesting marriage right now, Jane, merely that we consider the possibility of a betrothal.’ Jasper was using his coaxing, persuasive voice. The one he knew usually won me round in the end. ‘Church teaching recognizes that Elin is of an age when many a maid begins to experience the stirrings of desire. She may not know exactly what it is she feels but to me it is obvious that Elin has a great liking for Will Gardiner, and if you are so friendly with his mother it may be sensible for you to discuss, woman to woman, the possibility of a betrothal. He is an only son, likely to inherit his father’s business and properties. I am now in a position to provide her with a tempting dowry and his father would almost certainly see the advantage of a close connection to the king’s half brother. She would have a good life as the wife of a Merchant Venturer – a secure home and the kind of household she is familiar with. It is not an unthinkable idea.’
I pulled my chamber robe more tightly around me and contemplated the notion of bartering with Philippa Gardiner over my daughter’s future. It struck me as being unpleasantly similar to the prospect of a farmer arranging the mating of a prime gilt pig. ‘Not unthinkable to you, clearly,’ I remarked tartly, ‘but then she is not the baby you fed from your breast or the child you nursed through ague and belly-ache. She may be a little madam at the moment but she is my little madam and I love he
r.’
We were ready for bed but this subject was making me too tense to lie in it. Jasper moved up behind me and put his arms around my rigid shoulders. ‘But having reared her through those perilous years, Jane, is it not an act of love to give thought to her future? I am sure she begins to do so herself, or if not yet then very soon she will. Is that not why she contradicts you and kicks against the traces? In noble houses girls are often sent away at Elin’s age to live with their betrothed husband’s family, while they are still young enough to adapt easily to the ways of a new life. Perhaps you could suggest a trial to Mistress Gardiner? A short stay when they can all discover whether they get on together. You never know, she may already be on the look-out for a suitable bride for her only son. It is as important for a merchant’s family to find a good match as it is for landed gentry and you must agree that by any reckoning Elin is a good match.’
‘While you are away in Pembroke I will think on it,’ I agreed grudgingly, moving out of his embrace and picking up my hairbrush. ‘When will you take Harri back to Lady Margaret?’
‘Tomorrow afternoon. Would you like to come with us?’
I pulled hard at a tangle in my hair and cast him a sharp glance. ‘Has she mentioned repaying the thirty crown loan?’
He shook his head. ‘No, and when I asked her she said it was not a loan but a gift. She knows it is your care of Harri that has made him the delightful, well-mannered boy that he is. Evan can stay here with the children and we will be back before dark.’
I nodded, still distracted over Elin. ‘Then I will come,’ I said, putting down the brush and hauling back the bedcovers.
* * *
The sight of Lady Margaret kissing Jasper in the deserted churchyard at Bettys Newydd had left a scar on my memory. However, three years later I had become confident of Jasper’s love for me, and the silk gown and beautiful jewellery he had given me since our coming to London meant I was less intimidated by confronting her refinement and the sumptuousness of her home. Moreover as we all talked together, Harri made it clear to her how important I was to him and the conversation flowed freely. To my surprise, when we parted she expressed a desire to visit me at Stepney Green when we were both next in London. Even the parting with Harri was less poignant than I had expected because it had been agreed that he should join us for Christmas.
First of the Tudors Page 38