Jane and Guildford had both written, in a prayer book, messages of strength and support to Jane’s father, the Duke of Suffolk, who is awaiting his own execution. Guildford, who was a kindly young man, expressed his affection for his father in law.
Back at the Sidney’s house we listen to the account of the execution in horror.
“Imagine how he must feel reading that and knowing that his support for the rebels has brought about his own daughter’s death!” says Amy.
“Guildford may have forgiven Suffolk but I don’t think mother ever will,” says Mary.
“How is she today?”
“She cries incessantly. There’s no consoling her and she keeps to her chamber and eats nothing. She will make herself ill. Nothing is more certain.”
Henry walks into the chamber at this point and we’re all talking at once asking for news of John, Robert, Ambrose and Henry. Surely Mary will not have them all executed.
“There’s good news and bad,” he says. “The Spanish ambassador has intimated that Philip wouldn’t want the other brothers to be executed and this has stayed the Queen’s hand for now - she doesn’t wish to offend her future husband - but while this is good news it will mean that our family will have a debt of honour to Philip in the future.”
“Debt of honour?” says Amy.
“They may be required to fight for Spain and the Emperor when Queen Mary marries Philip.”
“Do you think she really will marry him after all this dissent?”
“Nothing more certain. She’s made up her mind. But right now there are more pressing matters such as the execution of the rebels. Gallows are being erected at all the gates into the city. At the earliest opportunity I want you all to go to Penshurst away from the horrors that will shortly visit London.”
But it isn’t easy to leave the city. As Mary had predicted, her mother’s made herself ill with grief over Guildford’s death and we’ll have to wait until she’s well enough to travel. Even worse she’s now convinced that the tragedy is all Robert’s fault.
“Why? Why does she blame Lord Robert,” I ask Mary when Amy’s busy elsewhere.
“Grief is making her demented. She believes that Robert didn’t do enough when father sent him to Norfolk to apprehend the fleeing Lady Mary and she says that, if Robert had captured Mary, we would now all be in different circumstances. In short, she holds him responsible for father’s death and now for Guildford’s.”
“Does Robert know this?”
“I don’t think so but Amy’s beginning to feel her wrath and believes it’s directed at her alone. She thinks it’s a personal matter.” Mary Sidney hesitates before continuing. “I don’t know quite how to say this, Katherine, but it may be better if you and Amy went to live elsewhere until mother is better and restored to her proper mind.”
“But where will we go? We’re practically paupers and cannot expect Mr Hyde to keep us indefinitely.”
“Amy’s maternal grandfather, Mr Scott, has a house at Camberwell, Southwark. Her uncle now lives there and Henry’s approached him about the possibility that you may take up residence there. Mr Scott, the younger, has agreed.” She sees the uncertain look on my face. “You will be away from the horrors that will shortly stalk the city but you’ll still be close enough to visit Robert if ….. if ……”
She means, if Robert survives the executions but her voice fades away as she cannot contemplate the deaths of any, or possibly all, of the remaining members of her family.
A week later we go down to the wharf to take the wherry across the Thames on the first stage of our short journey to Camberwell. Our small items of baggage have gone ahead over London Bridge.
“I do not know why we couldn’t have ridden over the bridge to Camberwell,” says Amy, as the oarsmen push the boat from the jetty.
As if in answer there’s a most horrible screaming from somewhere in the city and, looking up, we see an assortment of body parts and heads on pikes displayed on London Bridge. Queen Mary’s reprisals have only just begun.
Chapter Twelve
Camberwell
When we arrive at the house of the Scott family we’re pleasantly surprised. Though built in the old style it’s surrounded by pretty gardens and orchards and the family is as friendly as Amy’s cousins in the city were cold and unwelcoming. Mrs Picto and James are already here with the horses and mules and our two trunks of clothing. The animals have been stabled in a mews over the coldest winter months and Amy is delighted to see her little mare, Pavane, again. She fondles the horse’s grey mane and rubs her shoulders affectionately and Pavane makes the little snickering sound that horses reserve for the people they like.
“She was given to me by Robert just before our wedding,” Amy explains to her cousins and uncle, “And she’s always looked after me. She has perfect manners and is so gentle. Robert trained her himself.”
“How old is she, Lady Amy?” says Thomas, the youngest boy.
“Just five years old.”
“Can I ride her too?”
“Only if you’re very gentle!” says Amy, pretending to be very stern. And everyone laughs as Thomas claps his hands with excitement at the anticipated thrill.
Pavane is taken away by James and stabled with my horse, my solid reliable Bess, and the mules. We know that we’ll be happy in this warm hearted family as they show us proudly round their house and tell amusing tales of Amy’s grandfather who must have been quite a lively but kindly old gentleman.
Unfortunately, in the coming days, we find that we’re not completely isolated from the events in the city for, walking in the garden on the cold and sunny days of early March, we can still hear the blood curdling screams of tortured, dying men on the other side of the river. We take to spending long periods indoors.
The news is dire. All the rebellious Whitecoats have been hanged at the doors of their own houses. Other rebels are being butchered on a daily basis, their limbs displayed in every conceivable public place, Charing Cross, the gates to the city, all the crossroads and London Bridge. Even less fortunate are the men hanged in chains and left to die. Crows and rats are having a feast and the warmer weather of the approaching spring promises swarms of flies and the spread of disease. London will be the most unpleasant place to live in all England.
Henry Sidney comes to visit us with some important news that’s not entirely to Amy’s liking. Lady Elizabeth has been arrested on suspicion of participation in the Wyatt plot. At first Amy smiles and nods, “I thought as much. She’s totally untrustworthy. At last someone has seen through her.”
Henry gives her a sharp look and then imparts a piece of news that Amy finds most unwelcome. Elizabeth is being held in the Tower not far from Robert’s lodgings.
“Surely she’s not allowed to talk to the brothers?” asks Amy in a panic and Henry reassures her that Elizabeth is in fear of her life and suffering from ill health so she is most certainly not interested in social intercourse.
The good news is that Amy may once again visit Robert and that Henry Sidney is working with Prince Philip to secure the release of all of the brothers now that it has been established that they were not involved in the plot in any way.
And so it is that we find ourselves crossing the Thames on a cold April morning to disembark at the Tower wharf. Amy has not seen Robert since before Christmas so it’s a touching scene as they embrace and hold each other tightly as if they will never allow anyone to part them ever again. The Lieutenant Warden asks us if we would like to join him for dinner while Amy and Robert talk in private.
“So what news does Robert have?” I ask on the journey back across the Thames, as we wave farewell to Henry on the wharf. I’m careful not to mention Elizabeth’s name.
“He says the Tower’s been so crowded with prisoners for the past few weeks that the smell was unbearable but now so many of them have been tried and executed that it’s getting back to normal. He says that he and his brothers are allowed to walk out again and the first thing he did was to
walk down to the menagerie to see the porkie-pines.”
“The what?”
“Porkie-pines. He says they’re like giant hedgehogs and they like apples. He bought apples for them in the autumn but now there’s nothing for them until the harvest in September.”
“How strange. God made some very peculiar animals.”
“None as strange as mankind.”
There’s a pause and then Amy says, “He saw Elizabeth when she was brought into the Tower. He says she looked terrified and angry at the same time and she looked at the scaffold where Jane was executed as she walked past. He was very sorry to see her so.”
“Is she allowed the freedom to walk outside?”
“No, well not yet. She has very comfortable lodgings but they’ve put her in the apartments her mother used before she was executed.”
“How cruel.”
“Yes. Her life is in the balance. Each day she’s questioned about her part in the plot but even Wyatt himself has refused to implicate her and claims she’s innocent and knew nothing.”
“What do you think?”
“It’s hard to say. After all, Wyatt intended to depose Mary and put Elizabeth on the throne. She probably knew something but Robert believes that Mary will think again before executing her. Elizabeth still has many allies and a huge following among the evangelicals so there could be another uprising if her life is threatened. Anyway enough about Elizabeth! She’s no longer important because – you will not believe this, Kate! – when Robert is released from the Tower, we are going to live in Norfolk. We’ll have our own manor house in the countryside close to my family and away from all the plotting of the court.”
I can’t believe my ears when I hear this. Robert was tried for treason after his brothers but found guilty and attainted nevertheless. As a result of this attainder Robert now has no fortune of his own and no property anywhere. In effect, he and Amy are penniless and we’re all dependent on the charity of their relatives in order to live. Where will they obtain the money to buy a manor house?
Amy reads my mind and says, “Robert says that he would make a pact with the devil in order to revive our fortunes. Oh don’t look like that, Kate. He’s merely jesting. He means that soon Queen Mary will marry her Spanish prince and he will be Prince Philip’s loyal servant until we’re restored in blood to the Dudley lands and titles.”
I nod sagely as if I understand all but, deep down, it makes no sense. First there is the small matter of religion. Robert is from an evangelical family while Mary and Philip are committed Catholics so why would they wish to have Robert to work for them? What makes Robert think that he and his brothers will have a role to play?
Unless ….. unless – I can hardly believe this but I’ve heard it said – Philip intends to draw England into his ambitions in Europe and use our young men to fight his wars for him. What’s gone on between Henry Sidney, the Spaniards and the Dudley brothers? And does the Queen know of Philip’s plans? Indeed, is this the reason why Prince Philip, a young man, is marrying her, a woman most people would admit is now too old to have children. Is this the real reason for the marriage?
And Robert himself, can he be deceiving Amy into believing that he’ll soon settle down? To me it sounds as if he’s even more calculating than he ever was and the life of a Lord of the Manor in Norfolk will never suit his soaring ambitions - even if he survives the Tower.
My thoughts are interrupted by Amy’s cheerful voice. “Robert says that when he’s released he’ll have revenge on those people who turned traitor to his father, Arundel and Pembroke and the like. He’s carving a motto on the wall of his prison. ‘O Mightie Lord to whom all vengeance doth belong.’ Oh look there’s Harry Scott waiting for us by the wharf.”
She waves wildly to her kinsman. That’s Amy, madly optimistic or in the depths of despair, but never in between!
Chapter Thirteen
Freedom and Poverty
Wyatt’s been executed and his boiled head placed on a spike on London Bridge, only for it to be stolen the following day. The executions continue but the Queen’s decided to be merciful and pardons some of the poorer rebels from Kent when they parade before her with ropes round their necks to beg for mercy.
The city of London has been a grisly sight with body parts festooned in every public place and the smell is stomach turning. Even seasoned soldiers are revolted and our family avoids the city at all costs. But by spring Queen Mary has other things to think about as she prepares for her forthcoming marriage to Prince Philip; she orders the gibbets to be taken down and the cleaning up to begin. Elizabeth’s been spared the executioner’s axe due to lack of evidence and is banished to house arrest far away from court at Woodstock near Oxford. Ironically it’s Mary’s change in the law that saves Elizabeth’s life; from now on, the Queen has decreed, no one will be convicted of treason on an accusation unless full proof can be found. Elizabeth’s been lucky again but the Queen is not fooled.
Queen Mary marries her prince in July 1554 at Winchester Cathedral far away from any London protesters. She now believes that all evangelicals are trouble causers, says Henry Sidney, on one of our visits to his London residence, and he’s having a difficult time at court concealing his beliefs. Strangely enough it’s Philip and the Spanish courtiers who are his friends and protectors. They’ve promised to do all they can to secure the release of the remaining Dudley brothers from the Tower.
There’s some other good news too. Mary Sidney is expecting the birth of her first child and Henry says, if the baby is a boy, he will name him Philip to show his gratitude to the family’s benefactor.
The summer passes slowly and uneventfully. Amy continues to visit Robert and enjoys a new peace of mind now that Elizabeth is far away. By the end of the summer there’s more joyful news; the Queen is apparently already pregnant and in her happiness, she’s been persuaded by Philip to release Robert and his brothers.
The Scott’s home becomes a flurry of activity as Amy’s little household prepares for the move to Penshurst Place where Mary Sidney and Lady Dudley, the former Duchess of Northumberland, are now residing. Henry’s going to bring his brothers-in-law to the family home in Kent where we’ll all be reunited and Amy can scarcely conceal her excitement.
“It’ll be wonderful for all our kin to be together again,” says Amy. “You know, Kate, I think that I won’t even mind his mother’s sharp tongue from now on!”
But there’s a tragedy looming. When Henry and the Dudley brothers arrive at Penshurst we have no real cause for celebration; first Ambrose has not yet been released and then we find that John, the oldest, has a fever caught from the bad air in the Tower and is very ill. His freedom turns out to be short lived and he dies a few weeks after his release. Lady Dudley’s hysterical in her grief. An air of gloom descends over Penshurst Place.
There’s further bad news for Amy as she hears that her beloved father has also died. Her half brother John Appleyard together with Sir John Robsart’s illegitimate son, Arthur Robsart, arrive in Kent to break the bad news to their sister and Amy is devastated with grief and guilt; she’s not seen her father since before Robert’s imprisonment, always intending to visit him when we were staying at Mr Hyde’s house in Throcking. “Poor father. Poor father,” sobs Amy, “I should have been with him when he died.”
John Appleyard explains to her, gently, that Sir John died suddenly and there was nothing anyone could do. His own mother, Lady Elizabeth, who’s also Amy’s mother, will inherit Syderstone and the vast Robsart estate in Norfolk to which Amy is the sole heir when her mother dies. I feel sorry for Arthur who’s now dependent on the charity of his deceased father’s family and can expect nothing for himself. This was, of course, Northumberland’s doing when the marriage settlement was thrashed out before Robert and Amy married. Poor Arthur stands by quietly while John explains the situation to Amy; he is fond of, but hardly close to, his natural sister.
On the other hand all the Appleyard children saw Amy as the baby of the fa
mily after their mother was remarried to John Robsart - and spoiled her considerably when she was small! The Appleyard house, Stanfield Hall, will become theirs and not Amy’s when their mother dies so there’s no rivalry between them and their half sister.
Christmas 1554 arrives and despite the birth of Mary Sidney’s child, a son named Philip, we’re all subdued for the second year running. Ambrose, tired and ill, is released from prison and joins his brothers just before Christmas and together they mourn the death of John. Robert and Ambrose are delighted with the new baby since they have no children of their own and there’s a wistful sadness as Ambrose remembers the deaths of his own baby daughter and then his first wife. Elizabeth Tailboys, his second wife, is a wealthy baroness in her own right and has been allowed by the Queen to retain her land and property in Lincolnshire, despite being married to a Dudley. But personal happiness in the form of a family has not yet been granted to the couple as, indeed, it has not to Amy and Robert.
We all adore young Philip and make plans for his future. His mother is a talented writer and poet so will the baby inherit his mother’s intellect, we wonder? Robert seems mesmerised by the little one and spends time holding his tiny hand and talking to him as if he can understand, much to everyone’s amusement. Lady Dudley, however, has become very frail and weak and is too ill to pay the new arrival any attention; she is still consumed with grief over the death of John but manages the strength to write to Prince Philip to thank him for delivering her sons from the Tower and to ask him to protect them in the event of her death. The result is that Ambrose and Robert are summoned to court again to take part in the festivities celebrating the twelve nights of Christmas, which may go on well into January! Amy is once more downcast at the prospect of another separation from Robert.
Prince Philip has planned an exhibition of jousting and fighting with canes, popular among the Spanish nobles at court, and intends to entertain the English courtiers over the Christmas holiday. This will be an opportunity to show off the athleticism and fighting skills of Philip’s own men but they have to have opponents to fight against. The two brothers are more than eager to take part, in the hope that they will restore the Dudley family fortunes by befriending the Spaniards. To Amy’s dismay they set out for London immediately.
The Manner of Amy's Death Page 9