by David Field
‘You would wish to return to Hatfield?’
‘Perhaps Hatfield, or somewhere similar. That way, any prince of Europe that might be considering me as a bride would see me in more gracious surroundings. Would you not agree?’
Mary smiled for the first time in weeks. ‘If I permit your absence from my side in order for you to re-establish yourself at Hatfield, you will consider some suitor suggested by Philip?’
‘Of course I would consider such, but hopefully the final word on the matter would be mine?’
‘Of course, of course,’ Mary assured her gushingly. ‘I shall lose no time in sending word to my husband that together we may begin planning a betrothal that will strengthen the family ties between Tudor and Habsburg and do you lose no time in transferring to Hatfield.’
Elizabeth walked out into the late autumn sunshine through the front porch of Oatlands Palace with a smile on her face for the first time she could remember and once the coach deposited her at the gate of her hunting lodge place of confinement she hurried inside and sent for Blanche Parry.
‘Begin preparing all my garments for travel back to Hatfield,’ she instructed Blanche with an excited chortle. ‘And find that dreadful young man Thomas, then send him in search of Cecil. God is beginning to smile upon us again!’
‘I suspect a trap of some sort,’ Cecil told them thoughtfully as they sat watching servants carrying armfuls of clothing out of the bedchamber, through the reception room and out to the coach. ‘The Queen has kept you under her nose for over two years now — why would she suddenly relent and allow you your freedom, far away from where she can keep your activities under close observation?’
‘She seems greatly affected by her failed pregnancy,’ Elizabeth told him. ‘She is also much concerned regarding Philip’s absence from her side when she most needs him. He is said to be about to go to war with France, taking English soldiers with him. I think she has become distracted by recent events and she also grows lonely. She surely took great comfort from my regular visits and this is her reward.’
Cecil shook his head. ‘That is not her disposition. When she feels in some way threatened, as she always seems to be so far as you are concerned, she withdraws within herself and plots. I fear that by releasing you to live your own life as you wish, she is testing your loyalty. Whether she wishes to be reassured that you pose no danger to her, or whether she is seeking confirmation of her sad belief that you will use your new-found freedom to undermine her grip on the throne, you will need to be most circumspect. No visitors who might be regarded as suspect, no ill-advised relationships and no lavish overspending. I suspect that there is something other than sisterly generosity in the Queen’s agreement that the Lady Elizabeth may return to Hatfield and if she has made arrangements for her actions to be spied upon and reported back to someone in Westminster, then we may have need of Thomas’s devious talents in discovering who that might be. At least Norfolk is no longer with us and I hear that Gardiner is fading fast, but there may be others anxious to ingratiate themselves with the Queen.’
‘I should perhaps mention one other matter,’ Elizabeth told them all. ‘My sister seems to be of the belief that she can tempt Philip back to her side by arranging a marriage for me.’
Cecil was deep in thought before he offered advice. ‘If the worst should be realised and they actually find some king who will constitute a marriage prospect for you, then such a match may well require the consent of Parliament. Even if it does not, I shall try to persuade them that it does, although this will increase my unpopularity with the Queen.’
‘You have incurred her displeasure?’ Elizabeth asked in alarm. ‘You are one of the few remaining men I can trust in any position of influence in this rotten nation, and should you be removed from office, where would I be?’
Cecil smiled reassuringly. ‘Only the people of Lincolnshire can remove me from the Commons, but I have no doubt that this would gladden Mary’s heart. I recently persuaded the Members to vote against Mary’s proposal to confiscate the estates of those Protestants who fled abroad at the first indication of her intention to force Roman practices back into our churches, and in her revenge she ordered me to attend the burning of Cranmer, whenever that may take place. I hope that will be the full extent of her retribution against me and that I will then be free to argue against any proposed marriage to which you are not fully committed in your heart.’
‘I hope she doesn’t deprive you of your office as my Surveyor of Estates,’ Elizabeth replied with a frown. ‘She knows you to be well disposed towards me and she could strike at us both at the same time if she stripped you of office.’
‘I doubt she would find anyone more dedicated or efficient to carry out what, to others, might seem to be a tedious task with inadequate reward. On the contrary, she has recently ordered me to conduct the most meticulous audit of every estate that is a charge on the public purse. It will require me to be on the road for at least six months, which is another good reason why I need Thomas to be available to sniff out anything underhand. But at least, while touring the nation, I can sound out opinion regarding Mary’s popularity with the people. A people who remain suspicious of the influence of Spain, who are desperate following the poor harvests we have endured, who are terrified of the unending burnings and who will now be aware that there is no new heir to the throne. If my instincts do not play me false, you are increasingly becoming their great hope for the future. Offer them religious tolerance, an improvement in the weather and closer ties with the cloth trade in Flanders and they will cheer you to the echo at your coronation.’
‘Is that not precisely the same unguarded talk that you warned me against?’ Elizabeth asked.
Cecil nodded. ‘From you, yes. From me, a loyal servant of England? Perhaps not.’
‘Do be careful, Cecil!’ Elizabeth urged him, ‘for I know not what I would do without you by my side.’
‘Then you must learn, dear Lady,’ Cecil reminded her, ‘since I am about to begin a tour of the nation, while you return in triumph to Hatfield.’
XV
‘Robert Dudley, my Lady,’ the Steward announced and Elizabeth rose with a smile from her needlepoint and placed it on her side table before stepping lightly across the carpet and embracing her visitor.
‘Dear Robert, it’s so good to see you again, and alive, what’s more! The last time we met we were both in the Tower, fearful of losing our heads and now here we are, happily reunited at Hatfield. Quite like old times.’ She turned to the serving boy in the corner of the chamber. ‘Piers, please serve our honoured guest with wine, then you may withdraw.’
The boy did as instructed and when Elizabeth shook her head in response to his gesture with the wine jug, he slipped silently towards the door.
Robert took a sip of wine, put down the goblet and smiled. ‘My thanks for the friendly welcome. Were the weather more clement, I would have proposed a ride through the park, just as we used to do. I have lost none of my enthusiasm for the chase and you, by the look of you, are still slim enough to canter for several hours without challenging the horse too much.’
‘Do you not get opportunity to ride on your own estate?’
‘When I am there, certainly, but I have lately been with the King, planning a foray across to the Low Countries, where there has been some unrest due to French influence.’
‘You refer to Philip of Spain?’ Elizabeth asked with just a hint of disapproval.
Dudley nodded. ‘Indeed. He and I have become good friends since he was instrumental in my release from the Tower, at your request he tells me. That is one of the reasons why I am here, to thank you for your great service to me. The other is that since I am likely to be abroad for some time, in circumstances in which I may meet with some peril, I thought it best to make my farewells, whether they be final or not.’
‘Dear Robert, do not talk of such gloomy prospects, when I am but recently restored to happy contentment here at Hatfield.’
‘The frosty o
lder sister let you out of the nursery, you mean?’
Elizabeth placed two fingers on his lips in a gesture for him to be silent, which Robert removed gently, then kissed her hand before pulling her gently towards him. She resisted, pulled back with a flustered expression and extracted her hand from his grasp.
‘Robert, you must not do such things, now that you are married.’
‘Whether I must not or no, I cannot forget those afternoons down in the lower coppice, when we would dismount from our horses and I would kiss more than your hand.’
‘Robert, stop it!’ Elizabeth protested with beetroot cheeks. ‘And while you are about it, speak more kindly of my sister and our Queen.’
‘Why should I, when she does not speak kindly of me, or so I hear? That is what Philip tells me — that were it not for his friendship I might find myself under interrogation for suspect loyalties. And if it comes to that, I should perhaps not repeat what he sometimes says regarding our Queen.’
‘No indeed, Robert, you must not, since I too am the object of her suspicions. In truth I doubt that she trusts anyone, and Philip’s continued absence does nothing to improve her temper.’
‘He shrinks from the marital bed,’ Robert said, ‘and so would I. He has not said so in overt terms, but it is obvious from the way his face pales when someone makes reference to her health. I have heard it rumoured that even when he is in her bed, he regards it as his loyal duty to do the husbandly deed.’
‘Robert, enough, I pray you!’ Elizabeth protested. ‘It is not seemly for me to hear such things of my sister, particularly since she is also my Queen. Talk to me instead of why you journey to the Low Countries.’
‘Because Philip asked me to be his companion and adviser in respect of two matters. The first is to ensure that the town defences of Bruges and Antwerp are in good order, since he daily expects an incursion from the French who are amassing troops on his borders. The second is that he seeks a husband for you and wishes that I be at his elbow to say yea or nay to anyone he might have in mind. He seems to be of the belief that I would know your tastes.’
‘And why might that be, wicked Robert? I hope upon hope that you said nought of our indiscretions when we were both too young to know our responsibilities in God’s sight?’
‘Of course not, since Philip is hoping to offer you as a pure maid to some totally unworthy member of his extensive family who could never pleasure you the way I could.’
‘Enough, Robert!’ Elizabeth protested as she tried to suppress the trembling in case it became visible. ‘Perhaps I will have some wine,’ she added as she moved towards the table, only to be held back by Robert’s hand on her arm.
‘Just remember, when you are unhappily tied to some cloth-cocked old man, where you may be guaranteed to find true pleasure.’
‘Shall I ring for attendants to have you physically removed?’ Elizabeth challenged him, before opting not to pour any wine in case her shaking hand gave her away by spilling some. ‘It would seem to me that your departure across the sea will be appropriate for all concerned — including your unsuspecting wife.’
She heaved a sigh of relief as, an hour later, she watched his horse cantering briskly down the drive towards the front gates. She had regained control of her breathing, but doubted if the memories would ever grant her peace of either mind or body. They were both better suited if he remained abroad, she concluded.
Two months later her composure was again shattered when she received a despatch bearing the royal seal. It demanded her immediate return to London on suspicion of treason.
‘You deny plotting with a Dudley traitor?’ the Queen thundered down at a kneeling Elizabeth, who had not yet been invited to resume a standing position. They were in the Queen’s Audience Chamber at Richmond Palace, and this was a different Mary from the feeble invalid that Elizabeth had visited regularly the previous year. There was colour back in her cheeks, although it appeared to be the redness of rage and she was sitting bolt upright in her throne chair, leaning forward slightly to emphasise her dominance of the conversation.
‘I do not deny,’ Elizabeth replied in her best placatory voice, ‘that Robert Dudley visited me at Hatfield. We are old friends, as you will recall from our nursery days, and we were both for a time imprisoned in the Tower as the result of the lies of others. What could have been more natural than for him to visit me again in happier circumstances?’
‘You do not deny that you kissed?’
‘He kissed my hand, certainly, as do many to whom I extend it.’
‘He spoke of forsaking his wife for you?’
‘In no way — he spoke instead of your husband’s intention of finding a husband for me. Robert Dudley is no traitor, sister — he has journeyed abroad with your husband in order to ensure that England does not forfeit any trade links with the Low Countries.’
‘You are of course aware that my husband has now become the King of Spain, thereby making me its Queen?’ Mary asked.
Elizabeth nodded. ‘I rejoice for you, sister. I am told that he was crowned in Brussels, after his father — our cousin — abdicated his Spanish throne.’
‘He is my cousin, not yours!’ Mary corrected her sharply. ‘Your cousins are to be found in that moral swamp once presided over by Thomas Howard and I doubt that his son Thomas is any better, given his Protestant leanings. Talking of cousins with treasonous hearts, is it not the case that when Robert Dudley visited you at Hatfield, it was to secure your support for a rebellion being organised in France by his distant cousin Henry Dudley?’
‘I know not to what you refer, sister,’ Elizabeth replied with a sinking heart, ‘but Robert Dudley spoke nought to me of any rebellion.’
‘As if you did not know already,’ Mary continued in an icy voice, ‘the traitor Northumberland, who was executed for his attempt to usurp my throne with his upstart daughter-in-law Jane Grey, had a cousin called Henry Dudley, who must therefore be related in the third degree to your admirer Robert Dudley. This ungrateful Henry Dudley, who I released from the Tower at the same time as Robert, took himself off to France, where he ingratiated himself with King Henry, whose son the Dauphin will of course shortly marry the Stuart girl Mary.’
‘Robert Dudley is riding with your husband to oppose the increasing French influence in the Low Countries and —’
‘Silence! I had not finished. Fortunately we have a means of reading despatches from that dreadful Ambassador Noailles and from them we have learned of a plot by this Henry Dudley to invade England from the Isle of Wight. We have rounded up most of those unwise enough to become involved on this side of the Channel and they are currently receiving dedicated attention from our interrogators within the Tower. From them we learn that the ultimate intention of this coterie of traitors was to place you on the throne and exile me to Spain, where at least I would have Philip by my side. Now, can you kneel there and swear on your immortal soul that you knew nothing of this? That the purpose of Robert Dudley’s visit to you was not in order to keep you advised of the progress of this wicked plot?’
‘I swear, sister! I swear! Dear God in Heaven I swear!’ Elizabeth’s body shook in terror and despair. ‘Please do not send me back to the Tower, or I swear before God that I will die and will haunt you for the rest of your days!’
Mary’s breathing returned to normal as she glared down at Elizabeth. ‘That was a wicked threat to make towards one’s own sister.’
‘More wicked that accusing her of yet more deeds of which she is innocent and has so sworn on her eternal soul? I cannot help it if those who are evilly disposed towards you see me as a figurehead for their pathetic attacks on your throne. How much more likely is another such uprising should you consign me again to the Tower? Better that you let me be your friend and that I reveal to you immediately any approach that may be made to me.’
Mary’s face expressed her surprise. ‘You begin to sound like a true daughter of Tudor. You would undertake to perform this function, as my personal spy?’
‘I had in mind sending you back under the supervision of Henry Bedingfield,’ Mary told her, ‘but if you swear on your soul that you will faithfully report to me any attempt on the part of anyone — anyone, mark you, even your beloved Robert Dudley — to involve you in further plots, then I see no reason why you may not return to Hatfield. At least while you are there, I will know where to find you should you prove disloyal.’
‘I so swear, sister, and thank you from the bottom of my sorely troubled heart for placing your trust in me at long last. I know that I disappoint you in many ways, as both a subject and a sister, but I will prove my love for you in both capacities. Might I enquire when we may both look forward to your husband’s return — you for the joy of his company and me for news of any husband of my own?’
‘He was last heard of in Brussels,’ Mary told her, ‘and in his latest letter he made mention of his cousin the Duke of Savoy, whose name is Emmanuel. When he is ready to set sail back home I shall receive word from Calais and will pass the information by messenger to you at Hatfield.’
‘Thank you, dearest sister. And now my knees grow sore, so if...’
‘Yes, yes, of course. My apologies for my rude behaviour, but these days one has to be guarded in everything one does.’
‘Indeed, sister, as I have come to learn all too well. I shall not disappoint you.’
‘See that you do not. And now lose no time in returning to Hatfield. You may perhaps wish to break your journey at Kings Langley and I shall order that those who escorted you down here be responsible for your safe return.’
Elizabeth rose to her feet, bowed and began to leave. Then, on a whim, she turned and walked hastily back across the chamber to kneel at Mary’s feet, grasp her hand and whisper ‘Dearest sister’, before making a sedate exit. Outside the chamber door, moving smartly down the corridor heading for the stables where her escort might be found, she allowed herself a grim smile and whispered, almost under her breath.