by Jean Plaidy
‘I greatly desire to see it.’
The courtier bowed, and then, drawing himself to his full height, he declaimed: ‘Her Grace Queen Katharine wishes to see the arbour of gold.’
A curtain which had been drawn across one end of the hall was then pulled back to disclose a pavilion in the form of an arbour. This was composed of pillars about which artificial flowers made of silk and satin climbed naturalistically. There were roses, hawthorn and eglantine, and the pillars had been decorated with ornaments of pure gold.
This arbour was carried by stout bearers and placed close to the Queen’s throne. She saw that in it were six of the most lovely girls, and that their dresses were of white and green satin which appeared to be covered with gold embroidery; but as they came closer she realised that what she had thought was embroidery were two letters entwined – the familiar H and K. She stared in admiration, for it was indeed a pretty sight, and as she did so six men dressed in purple satin which, like the gowns of the girls, was adorned with the entwined letters, sprang forth to stand three on either side of the arbour.
Each of these knights had his name on his doublet in letters of real gold; and there was one among them who stood out, distinguished by his height and golden beauty; and across his doublet were written the words Sir Loyal Heart.
The ordinary people who revelled in these antics of the Court had pressed into the hall and now cheered loudly, calling ‘God bless His Grace! God bless the Queen!’
Henry stood before her, his face expressing his complete joy.
Katharine applauded with her ladies, and the King clapped his hands – a signal for the ladies to step from the arbour.
Each of the six ladies was taken as a partner by one of the six men.
‘Make a space for us to dance!’ commanded Sir Loyal Heart. And the bearers wheeled the arbour back through the forest to the end of the hall where the people who had crowded into the Palace from the streets stood agog watching all this splendour.
‘Come,’ cried the King to the musicians, and the music began.
Henry danced as he loved to dance. He must leap higher than any; he must cavort with greater verve. Katharine watching him thought: He seems even younger now than he did the day we married.
‘Faster! Faster!’ he commanded. ‘Who tires? What you, Knevet?’ The glance he threw at Sir Thomas Knevet was scornful. ‘Again, again,’ he commanded the musicians, and the dance continued.
So intent were all on the dancing of the gay young King that they did not notice what was happening at the other end of the hall.
One man, a shipmaster whose trade had brought him to the port of London, murmured: ‘But look at the trimmings on this arbour. These ornaments are real gold!’
He put up his hand to touch one, but another hand had reached it before him. A gold ornament was taken from the arbour, and several crowded round to look at it.
In a few moments many of the spectators had plucked a gold ornament from the arbour; and those at the back, who saw what was happening, determined not to be left out, pressed forward and in the space of a few minutes that arbour was denuded of all the gold ornaments which had made it such a thing of beauty.
Meanwhile the King danced on, smiling at the ladies, now and then glancing in the Queen’s direction. Was she watching? Was she marvelling?
Katharine was ready every time his eyes met hers; and she had managed to infuse that look of wonder into her expression which he constantly demanded.
At last the music stopped, and Henry stood smiling benignly at the company.
‘You see,’ he announced, ‘that the dresses of the performers are covered in gold letters. These form my own initial and that of the one who is most dear to me. I now invite the ladies to come and help themselves to these entwined letters and I trust they will treasure them and when their time comes to marry they will endeavour to live in perfect harmony and follow the example set by their Queen and . . . Sir Loyal Heart.’
The ladies rushed forward. There were many, Katharine noticed, to gaze coquettishly at the King, and then she was grateful to him for his loyalty and ashamed of her criticisms. He is but a boy, she told herself; a boy who wishes to be good.
There was a sudden shout from the back of the hall, where the once golden arbour had been transformed into a few sticks of wood. The populace who, as custom demanded, were permitted to see their King at his meals, at his dancing and games, rushed forward.
The ladies had been invited to strip the King of his ornaments; well, so they should; and the men would help them in the game.
There was a startled cry of surprise from the dancers as they found themselves surrounded. The King himself was in the hands of half a dozen laughing men and women, but in their eyes there was something more than laughter. They had looked on at the luxury of Westminster and had compared it with their own homes; they had seen men and women whose garments were covered in glittering jewels and gold ornaments, one of which would keep them in luxury for a very long time.
This was their King and their beloved King, but the mob stood together against its rulers and when the call came it was invariably ready. But this was merely a masque; and the people had caught the spirit of the masque. They would not have harmed their handsome King; but they wanted his jewels.
Listening to the cries of protest of his friends, being aware of the people – who smelt none too fresh – pressing close to him, Henry ceased to be a pleasure-loving boy. He was a man at once – shrewd and cunning. He knew no fear; he had always felt himself to be capable of dealing with any situation and, because it had been his pleasure to go among his people as often as possible, he was able to understand them; and of all the noblemen and women in that hall there was none more calm, more wise than the King.
There was no sign of anger in those blue eyes which could so easily grow stormy at a courtier’s careless word. They were purposely full of laughter. He had played his own game; now he must play the people’s game; but he did not forget that he was still the central player.
He smiled into the eyes of a pretty young seamstress who had snatched a gold button from his doublet.
‘May it continue to make your pretty eyes shine,’ he said.
She was startled, flushed scarlet, then she turned and ran.
They had stripped him of all his jewels; they had torn his cloak from his shoulders so that he was wearing nothing but his doublet and his drawers. He laughed aloud being aware that his courtiers were being more roughly handled than he was himself while they were being stripped of their valuables. Moreover he saw too that the guards had rushed into the hall, halberds raised, and were doing their duty. They had taken several of the people and were hustling them into a corner of the hall, from where they were loudly abusing the guards.
Henry glancing quickly round the company saw that the dishevelled ladies looked bewildered and that Sir Thomas Knevet who had climbed up one of the pillars was clinging there stark naked. Sir Thomas had protested so vigorously that the mob had denuded him not only of his jewels but of all his clothes.
Looking at Knevet clinging to the pillar Henry burst into sudden loud laughter; it was the signal. Clearly the King intended to treat the affair as part of the masque and everyone was expected to do the same. Those of the people who had been muttering now joined in the laughter. ‘God Save the King!’ they cried, and they meant it. He had not disappointed them. He was a true sportsman and they had nothing to fear from such a king.
He was shouting to his courtiers: ‘Why do you look so glum? My people have helped themselves to largesse. Let us leave the matter at that, for I confess to a hunger which must be appeased, and I am thirsty too.’
The people were not loth to be hustled from the hall grasping the spoils they had snatched. The sound of their laughter came floating back to the hall. They were delighted. They loved their King. Now when he rode through the streets they would cheer him more loudly than ever.
Katharine, who had watched the incident with rising hor
ror, had been much astonished by the attitude of the King. She had expected him to roar his anger, to summon the guard, to have the people punished; yet she, whose eyes had not left him, had seen no sign of anger in the bright flushed face.
He was not merely a boy, she realised now. He was a King. And his crown was more dear to him than all the jewels in the world; he was more than a feckless boy, because he knew that he kept that crown by the will of the people. He would rage against his courtiers; he would without hesitation send them to the block; but when he came face to face with the mob he would have nothing for them but smiling tolerance.
Then she did not know this man she had married as she had believed she did, and the knowledge that this was so filled her with faint misgivings.
He was at her side, mischievous in his doublet and drawers.
‘Come, Kate,’ he said. ‘I starve. Let us lead the way to the banquet that awaits us.’
He took her hand and led her into his own chamber where the feast awaited them; and seated at the place of honour at that table with Katharine on his right hand, he was very merry as he surveyed his courtiers in their tattered garments; nor would he allow any to leave the banquet except Sir Thomas Knevet who, he said, for dear decency’s sake must find himself some garments.
‘My friends,’ said Henry, ‘your losses are largesse to the commonalty. That is an end of the matter. Now to work!’
The Countess of Devonshire came unceremoniously to the Queen’s apartment. Katharine received her husband’s favourite aunt graciously but she was quick to see that the Countess was alarmed.
‘It is the Prince, Your Grace,’ she burst out. ‘He has had an uneasy night and seems to find breathing difficult.’
Katharine was filled with apprehension.
‘I must go to him at once,’ she said.
The Countess looked relieved. ‘I have called the physicians to look at him. They think his Royal Highness has caught a chill, and may be better in a few days.’
‘Then I will not tell the King . . . as yet.’
The Countess hesitated; then she said: ‘It might be well that the King is told, Your Grace. He will wish to see his son.’
Katharine felt sick with fear. So the child was worse than they pretended. They were trying to spare her, to break bad news gently.
‘I will tell the King,’ she said quietly, ‘and I am sure he will wish to make all speed with me to Richmond.’
It could not be true; Henry would not believe it. This could not happen to him. The son, of whom he had been so proud, little Henry his namesake, his heir – dead! The child had lived exactly fifty-two days.
He stood, his face puckered, his legs apart, looking at the Queen. The courtiers had left them together, believing that one could comfort the other and thus make their grief more bearable.
Katharine said nothing; she sat in the window seat looking out over the river, her body drooping, her face drawn. She looked like an old woman. Her eyes were red, her face blotched, for she had shed many bitter tears.
‘We should have taken greater care of him,’ she whispered.
‘He had every care,’ growled Henry.
‘He caught a chill at the christening. He was robust until then.’
Henry did not answer. It had been a splendid christening, with the Archbishop of Canterbury officiating and the Earl of Surrey and the Countess of Devonshire standing as sponsors; he had enjoyed every minute of it. He remembered thinking, as he watched the baby being carried to the font, that this was one of the happiest moments of his life. He had thanked God for His grace.
And now . . . the baby was dead.
He felt the anger bubbling within him. That this should happen to him! What he wanted more than anything in the world, he told himself, was a son – strong and healthy like himself – a boy whom he could watch grow up and teach to be a king.
He felt bewildered because Fate had dared take from him his greatest prize.
‘It was well that he was christened, since he is now dead,’ he said sullenly.
She could not be comforted. She longed for children; she needed them even as he did.
He thought how old she looked, and he felt angry with her because he wanted to feel angry with someone. He had been so grateful to her because she had given him a son; and now he was no longer grateful.
Katharine glancing up suddenly saw his eyes upon her – small, narrowed, cruel.
She thought: Dear God. Holy Mother, does he then blame me?
And her sorrow was tinged with an apprehension so faint that it was gone before she realised fully what it meant.
Even as he gazed at her his expression softened. He said: ‘This is a bitter blow, Kate. But I am no greybeard and you are young yet. We’ll have more children, you see. We’ll have a son this time next year. That’s the way to chase away our sorrow, eh?’
‘Oh Henry,’ she cried and held out her hand.
He took it.
‘You are so good to me,’ she told him. ‘I only live to please you.’
He kissed her hand. He was too young, too sure of himself, to believe that ill luck awaited him. This was an unfortunate accident. They would have more sons; so many that the loss of this one would cease to matter.
Chapter II
THE KING’S INDISCRETION
The King sat in the window seat strumming his lute and trying out a song of his own composition; there was a dreamy expression in his eyes and he did not see the courtyard below; he was picturing himself in the great hall, calling for his lute and surprising all present with the excellence of his song.
They would say: ‘But who is the composer? We must bring him to Court. There are few who can give us such music.’
He would put his head on one side. ‘I do not think it would be an impossible task to bring this fellow to Court. In fact I have a certain suspicion that he is with us now.’
They would look at each other in surprise. ‘But, Sire, if such genius were among us surely we could not be so blind as to be unaware of it. We pray Your Grace, summon him to your presence and command him to continue to delight us.’
‘I doubt he would obey my command. He is a rash fellow.’
‘Not obey the command of the King!’
Then he would laugh and say: ‘Now I will play you one of my own songs . . .’ And he would play and sing the very same song.
They would look at each other in amazement – but not too much surprise. They must not run the risk of implying that they did not believe him capable of writing such music. They would quickly allow their bewilderment to fade and then it would be: ‘But how foolish of us. We should have known that none but Your Grace could give us such a song.’
In a little while the song would be sung throughout the Court. The women would sing it, wistfully, and with yearning in their eyes and voices. There were many women who looked at him with longing now. He knew he had but to beckon and they would be ready for anything he should suggest whether it was a quick tumble in a secluded garden or the honour of being the recognised mistress of a King.
His mouth was prim. He intended to be virtuous.
He sang quietly under his breath:
‘The best I sue,
The worst eschew:
My mind shall be
Virtue to use;
Vice to refuse
I shall use me.’
He would sing that song, and as he did so he would look at those wantons who tried to lure him into sin.
Of course, he told himself often, I am a King, and the rules which are made for other men are not for Kings. But I love my wife and she is devoted to me. She will bear me children in time, and to them and to my people will I set an example. None shall say of me: There was a lecher. It shall be said: There goes the King who is strong, not only in battle, not only in state councils, but in virtue.
So his little mouth was prim as he sat playing his lute and practising the song with which, later that day, he would surprise the Court.
And watc
hing at the window he saw her. She was neither tall nor short, and she was very beautiful. She looked up and saw him, and she dropped a curtsey. There was invitation in the way she lifted her skirts and lowered her eyes. He knew her. Her name was Anne and she was Buckingham’s younger sister who had recently married her second husband. Images of Anne Stafford with her two husbands came into his mind. The primness left his mouth which had slackened a little.
He bowed his head in acknowledgement of her curtsey and his fingers idly strummed the lute, for he had momentarily forgotten the song.
Anne Stafford went on her way, but before she had taken more than a few steps she turned to look again at the window.
This time she smiled. Henry’s lips seemed to be frozen; he did not acknowledge the smile but after she had disappeared he went on thinking of her.
He found that one of the grooms of the bedchamber was standing beside him. He started and wondered how long the man had been there.
‘So ’tis you, Compton,’ he said.
‘’Tis I, Your Grace,’ answered Sir William Compton. ‘Come to see if you have work for me to do.’
Henry strummed on the lute. ‘What work should I have for which I should not call you?’
‘I but seek excuses to speak awhile with Your Grace.’
Henry smiled. There were times when he liked to live informally among his friends; and Sir William Compton, a handsome man some ten years older than himself, amused him. He had been Henry’s page when he was Prince of Wales and they had shared many confidences. When he had become King, Henry had given Compton rapid promotion. He was now chief gentleman of the bedchamber, as well as Groom of the Stole and Constable of Sudeley and Gloucester castles.
‘Well, speak on,’ said Henry.
‘I was watching Lady Huntingdon pass below. She’s a forward wench.’
‘And why did you think that?’
‘By the glance she threw at Your Grace. If ever I saw invitation it was there.’