The Scarlet Peacock

by Field, David

  ‘I – well, yes, of course. Please!’ Mary replied with a wide smile of relief and gratitude, and before sunset that day a messenger had ridden hard out of Paris north to Calais, bearing not only a brief but stern instruction to Gilles de la Pommeraie from Francis but also a hastily-scribbled missive from Mary to her brother, which had been read by French eyes long before it was committed to the messenger’s saddlebag. It was this letter that was now being read by Thomas, as his head hastily sorted through the best options.

  The letter bore all the hallmarks of having been written in a blind panic by a frightened young girl, and left little to be imagined regarding her deepest desire.

  ‘I beseech your grace that you will keep all the promises that you promised me when I took my leave of you by the waterside. Sir, your grace knoweth well that I did marry for your pleasure at this time and now I trust you will suffer me to marry as me liketh for to do. Wherefore I beseech your grace for to be a good lord and brother unto me. Should you not, it is my intention to take upon my person the vestments of a bride of Christ in some nunnery where never no man shall know joy of me.’

  ‘Well, Thomas?’ Henry asked, ‘was ever a man so torn? I would that Mary marry into the House of Habsburg, as was my first intent until you persuaded me otherwise, and that would surely be of considerable value to the nation in its need to protect his Holiness from French aggression. It would also, as I am constantly reminded on those occasions when I keep the royal marriage bed, please Queen Katherine. And yet it is true that as a loving brother I made promise that Mary might make her second marriage with her own chosen partner, who I know to be my lifelong companion and good friend Charles Brandon. What am I to do, Thomas?’

  Thomas had been weighing up the advantages and disadvantages – not for Mary, nor for the nation, but for himself. On the one hand, should he persuade Henry to hold firm and promise Mary’s hand to Charles, the almost certain successor to the Holy Roman Empire, he would have gained a powerful ally in Rome in the matter of his ambition to don a cardinal’s red hat. He would also be back in favour with Queen Katherine, who would naively believe that Thomas had been the one to persuade her husband to favour her nephew.

  On the other hand, to advise Henry now that his first idea had been the better one, from which he had been dissuaded by Thomas, would do nothing to maintain the King’s confidence in his counsel. There was also the need to maintain the good offices of Suffolk against the malice of the Norfolk faction towards the man they regarded as the upstart son of their local butcher. At least he could rub Surrey’s nose in the excrement in which it belonged.

  ‘It would be as well, Hal,’ Thomas began, ‘to avoid any suggestion that the Princess Mary has become a mere coin on the trading table of European politics. Less than an hour ago, Surrey referred to her, in my hearing, as “a royal chess piece”. But at the same time, her physical safety should be assured, ere she become the hostage of Francis of Valois. She must surely be returned to England with all speed, that you may then perhaps persuade her where her duty to England must take her next.’

  ‘And her dowry, Thomas? What is to become of that?’

  ‘A matter of secondary importance, if I might make so bold. Nothing is more important than the safe return of your beautiful sister, the rose of all England, to the bosom of her family.

  ‘And who shall I send, Thomas? It was Surrey who took her to Dover barely three months ago; shall we send him to perform a like service on her return?’

  This did not suit Thomas at all, particularly since it was the very thing that Thomas Howard wanted. There had to be a better way.

  ‘Perhaps my lord of Suffolk, who has her welfare so close to his heart?’

  Henry stared back at Thomas in open-mouthed astonishment.

  ‘The very man who is likely to melt her heart anew, and banish all thought of marrying a prince of Europe from her head?’

  ‘Also the very man whose love for her will ensure her safe return from all obstacles that Francis might put in her way. He is one of the strongest, most valiant, men in the kingdom, and as your sworn and lifelong friend, the most likely to carry out your instructions to the letter.’

  Henry was finally persuaded, against his better judgment, and an astonished and jubilant Charles Brandon was advised before dinner that day, by his former nursery companion, that he was to lose no time in crossing the Channel in order to bring back to England the woman of his dearest dreams. He was also told by Henry, in no uncertain terms, that he was to insist upon the return of so much of Mary’s original dowry as he could wrest back from Francis, now confirmed as the new King of France. Finally, he was left in no doubt that his life would not be worth living – and perhaps might no longer be lived at all – if he did not keep his hands off his precious charge.

  Thomas had been present during this stern royal briefing, and he escorted Charles out into the ante-chamber, where he drew him to one side.

  ‘My dear friend,’ Thomas advised him, ‘be in no doubt that I have all but placed my head on the block for you in this matter. Should ought go awry, Henry will hold me to account as well, no doubt, as yourself, and do not believe for one moment that he will spare either of us simply for love of his sister. Also, do not build up your hopes that you and she will be allowed to marry – I have much work yet to do in persuading his Majesty before that point will be reached. But you may depart in the comfort of knowing that today the French Ambassador advised me that King Francis is waiting to welcome you to his Court, from which it may be presumed that he has no objection to your venture.’

  Suffolk grasped Thomas firmly by the shoulders and embraced him warmly.

  ‘My dear Thomas, when you promised me that day at Hampton that you would look to my interests with the Princess Mary, I had no idea that it would be so soon. I am eternally in your debt, and if there is ever anything I can do …’

  ‘There is, Charles,’ Thomas cut in. ‘You can keep your hands off the Princess Mary and preserve both our heads from the block.’

  Six weeks later, Thomas sat at his desk in his bedchamber with his head in his hands, groaning audibly, and shaking with disbelief. In front of him was the worst communication he had ever received. It was from Charles Brandon, and it seemed that they would both be heading for the axe. Thomas had clearly underestimated both Brandon’s lust for Mary and the depth of his naivety, and they would both almost certainly pay with their lives. Brandon for what he had done, and Thomas for what he had placed him in a position to do, while giving King Henry the worst advice he had ever received.

  It seemed that upon his eager journey south from Calais, at Senlis, Brandon had been headed off by Francis with a pretence of welcoming him to France, and escorted into Paris as the honoured envoy of Henry of England. Over a jug of wine, Francis confided in Brandon that Mary had confessed her love for him, and that if he – Brandon – would do him the honour of allowing Francis to organise a hasty wedding between the happy couple, not only would Brandon have his heart’s desire, but a letter would be sent from the Court of France advising Henry of the French King’s delight at this happy union.

  This letter was never sent, and the one that Suffolk thought to write to his protector Thomas to warn him that Francis was urging him to marry Mary in a secret ceremony in Paris was intercepted before it reached Calais, and destroyed. When Brandon reached Paris, he was first of all half ravished by the most beautiful woman in Europe, and then when he tried to explain the restrictions that had been placed on their reunion, she reacted by accusing him, in floods of tears that were heartfelt, genuine and irresistible, of only being there in order to be the means whereby Henry married her off to the ugliest youth in Europe. When Brandon protested that this was not the case, Mary called his bluff and all but commanded him to marry her there and then, or give up all hope of ever enjoying her body. Brandon chose the more appealing option, and they were married secretly in the chapel in Cluny a week later.

  The letter that was provoking Thomas’s groans ha
d been written three days after their wedding, and it sought his intervention with Henry, if the two of them were ever to return to England safe in the knowledge that their heads were secure on their shoulders. Unaware of what had been taking place, both Henry and Thomas had been sending despatches urging Brandon to insist upon the return of the whole of Mary’s dowry, and it was of little comfort to Thomas to be advised that all the plate, jewellery and coinage that had accompanied Mary on her outward journey would be making the return trip. Francis could well afford to part with it, since he had taken Henry’s most valuable chess piece off the board, and somehow Thomas had to tell him.

  He opted to do so privately, rather than humiliate himself in Council, and it was in a plain white alb that he walked slowly into the Presence Chamber and prostrated himself flat on his face before a startled Henry.

  ‘What means this foolery, Thomas?’ Henry demanded, not sure whether to laugh outright or send for a physician, since his Archbishop of York appeared to have become bereft of his wits.

  ‘I place myself at your mercy, Hal, for you to do with me as you wish, rather than vent your wrath upon the two people who love you as dearly as they love each other. Since it was I who trustingly placed them where they might fall prey to the temptation of true love, it is I who must pay the penalty. I would ask only that you allow me to go to the scaffold in this simple vestment that symbolises my humility and shame.’

  ‘Get up, you fool, and explain to me what it is that has so addled your brain,’ Henry demanded. ‘Who are these people of whom you speak?’

  Without rising, even to his knees, Thomas spoke to the carpet.

  ‘Suffolk and your loving sister, Mary.’

  In the deathly silence that followed, Thomas was obliged to look up in case the King had left the chamber, or perhaps expired in the chair in which he sat. It was worse than that – Henry’s face was crimson with rage, and he was experiencing difficulty in breathing.

  ‘Say you that Brandon has had her?’

  ‘It is worse than that, Hal – he has married her.’

  ‘Dear Christ –no!’ Henry thundered, as he hurled his wine goblet clean through the chamber window, and began thumping the arms of his chair like a child denied a favourite toy. Thomas took this opportunity to rise to his knees, but no further, and eventually Henry composed himself sufficiently to remember that kneeling before him was not only the man whose advice had led to this dynastic disaster, but also the very man who could best advise him how to deal with it.

  ‘Off your knees, Thomas,’ he commanded him. ‘I seek your counsel, not your head.’

  When Thomas appeared to be having difficulty raising his impressive bulk from the carpet, Henry waved a page from the side wall at which he had been standing awaiting further royal command.

  ‘Assist my Almoner to his feet, and have a carpenter repair that window ere we all freeze to death. Now then, Thomas, you have no doubt already designed a strategy to take us round this formidable obstacle, other than the execution of my favourite sister and my childhood companion?’

  ‘Indeed, Hal, and it may be that this unhappy and unwanted event may be turned to our advantage.’

  Henry smiled conspiratorially.

  ‘Already you promise to repay me for sparing your head. What have you in mind?’

  ‘Well, Suffolk advises me that this state of affairs was only made possible by the deviousness of King Francis, whose Ambassador was but recently at my door seeking that the Princess Mary be betrothed to some minor French nobleman or other. It would seem that she refused any such offer, and that Francis sought to prevent her from being married into the Habsbergs by encouraging the heartsick Suffolk. This confirms that Francis sees a rival in Charles of Habsberg, King of Spain, as well as King of Germany, and Holy Roman Emperor in all but name.’

  ‘This much I could have worked out for myself, Thomas. What do you advise?’

  ‘Overtures to Charles himself, Hal. While he may no longer hope for the hand of Princess Mary in marriage, he may look fondly on an approach by us for an alliance against Francis. This way you will be insulting Francis, while at the same time making it clear to the whole of Europe that his devious schemes have brought him nothing but the enmity of England.’

  ‘Do you propose that I appoint you as special envoy to Charles’s court?’

  ‘No, Hal. I propose that we entertain him royally here in London, with great pomp and splendour. We might even invite the French Ambassador.’

  Henry smiled briefly, then his face fell.

  ‘After the recent fires here at Westminster, we would have to do so at Richmond, or perhaps Greenwich or Windsor. Yet I doubt that any of them could house a royal visit of such size. Is your new dwelling at Hampton completed?’

  ‘No, but my London residence at York Place would be more than adequate, with any additional guests being housed at one of the royal palaces you name.’

  ‘And you would organise it?’

  ‘Down to the very last detail, Hal. It would be my pleasure, and would afford me one more opportunity to display my gratitude for the retention of my unworthy head.’

  ‘Yet I fear that the Council will take this news ill. Norfolk in particular will be most aggrieved to learn that Suffolk has escaped with his head.’

  ‘His head perhaps, but may we not reduce his wealth by way of punishment? He writes that he is returning not only with the Princess but also her dowry. That should of course be forfeit, and might I suggest that she be obliged to repay the outlays of her wedding, which amount to some twenty-four thousand pounds?’

  Henry turned slightly pale.

  ‘This would ruin the happy couple ere they had been wed a month. Is there no other way?’

  ‘I do not suggest that they be obliged to pay the entire sum in one instalment, Hal. Perhaps over a period of six years, with an attainder upon default?’

  ‘That would be kinder, certainly. But would it satisfy Norfolk and his faction?’

  Thomas smiled. Here was an opportunity to play the ends against the middle, and the morning would not be entirely wasted.

  ‘There are few occasions upon which Norfolk’s son Surrey says anything worth listening to, yet he did but recently seek my assistance in a family matter. Two of the ladies who travelled to France with the Princess Mary are still there, it would seem, and are now seeking positions at the English Court. They are the ladies Mary and Anne Boleyn, Surrey’s nieces, and – more to the point – Norfolk’s granddaughters. Should you be inclined to prevail upon your dear Queen to include them among her ladies in waiting, it might be sufficient to silence Norfolk, and with him those of your Council who are foolish enough to listen to him. Katherine might well be disposed towards granting your request, given that you will shortly be showing so much honour to her nephew Charles.’

  Henry’s face broke into a broad smile. ‘Thank God that you serve my interests rather than those of my enemies, Thomas. It shall be as you suggest.’

  Before allowing himself the exquisite pleasure of advising his old enemy Thomas Howard that he owed him a considerable favour for securing the appointment of his nieces to the most prestigious positions at Court that any lady could aspire to, Thomas took the precaution of inviting the French Ambassador to take wine with him at York Place. He smilingly reminded him of the deviousness of his master before requesting, by way of penance, all the information he could supply regarding the Ladies Boleyn. The Ambassador was eager to advise Thomas that, ‘The Lady Anne resides with her father, and is so far advanced in her studies, as well as her dancing, singing and lute playing, that she is accounted one of the finest prospects in Paris.’

  ‘Do not contrive to have her married off to some French noble with more land than culture,’ Thomas advised him, ‘since she is required here at Court, to wait upon the Queen. And her older sister, Mary?’

  The Ambassador’s face set in concentration as he sought the appropriate words.

  ‘She is much more – how shall we say – frivole? th
an her sister.’

  ‘It is much the same in English,’ Thomas advised him. ‘The word you seek is “frivolous”. In what way is she frivole, Monsieur l’Ambassador?’

  ‘Light-hearted, much given to laughter, gaiety, dancing and the like. She is received at Court, where she is chased by many fine young nobles.’

  ‘And is she frequently caught, may I ask? The word ‘chased’, in our language, can have two meanings when simply pronounced verbally. The other meaning of it –“c h a s t e” - means “virtuous”. Is she virtuous, monsieur?’

  The Ambassador had been forced into the corner he had hoped to avoid.

  ‘In truth, it is only rumour, and because of her undoubted beauty she is of course resented by many of the more senior ladies at Court, who spread unkind stories regarding her.’

  ‘Please do not prevaricate, Gilles,’ Thomas urged him as he refilled his guest’s goblet. ‘Is the word you are withholding from me perhaps “putain”?’

  The Ambassador’s eyes slid to the floor, and he nodded sadly in confirmation.

  ‘Yes, regrettably. You English say “whore”, yes? She has a reputation tres forte for her freedom with the men. Indeed, my master would be grateful for her removal from his Court, where she was once described by the Spanish Ambassador as una grandissima ribalda. You speak Spanish?’

  ‘Sufficient for that,’ Thomas grimaced. ‘The nearest in English would be “slut”, and it is hard to hear a high-born English lady thus described. But you assure me that this is just jealous slander by those ladies who envy her beauty?’

  ‘Perhaps a little more than that, my lord Archbishop. I know of at least two men at Court who have known her favours. I am sorry if this news does not please you, but you wished that I be honest with you.’

  ‘Indeed I did, and I am most grateful to you for your candour,’ Thomas replied, keeping the smile from his face at the prospect of the disgrace, humiliation and embarrassment that he could cause for the Norfolk family by having her brought to London without delay, and slipped into the Queen’s entourage like a ferret down a rabbit hole.