Courtier in the Royal House of Stuart

by Leslie Hatton

  ‘Well I will get little Anne Huxley to teach you, I think you two are about the same age, and the next time we have a ball I will insist you dance with me,’ she said pointing a finger at me.

  She then held out her hand and I kissed it as I had been trained to do.

  ‘When will that be my Lady, how long have I got?’

  ‘A week or two when Charles returns,’ she said. ‘He is off on his travels tomorrow trying to gain support for his army. You, however, will be staying here as my guest for at least a month… maybe two or three.’

  She started to walk away then stopped, and turned to face me.

  ‘I am looking forward to that dance Toby, don’t let me down.’

  She smiled and was gone, leaving me with mixed feelings of joy and trepidation, worried about the dancing and how I could possibly learn to dance so quickly and with such grace, but also happy knowing that I would be staying here at Noordeinde. I had only been here for a day but I loved it. I had found a new friend in Louis and everyone was so welcoming.

  I tried to put it all at the back of my mind but that night I couldn’t sleep: tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, thinking about my dance with Princess Mary but also worrying about the wretched war at home that was threatening all our lives.

  When I did eventually sleep, it was disturbed by foolish nightmares. I was sailing through rough seas with waves crashing over the bow of a ship that was breaking up in the storm. Of men being sick and others being swept into the sea, I was trapped on the gun deck with Thomas, unable to move or speak, with a group of faceless men laughing as a loose cannon came crashing down on me.

  I woke with a start, sweating and out of breath, daylight was streaming through the window so I knew it must be late.

  Jumping out of bed I quickly dressed and rushed down to the stables to see if I could get in a ride before starting my lessons.

  The sun was already high above the horizon with just a whisper of white cloud moving across an otherwise clear blue sky.

  I could see before I arrived that the stables were a busy hive of activity, a group of riders already trotting off in the distance and a couple more being helped onto their ponies.

  As I stepped inside, I could make out at least six grooms, each busily tending to different horses but I couldn’t see Louis so I called out his name.

  ‘He is not here,’ a girl’s voice called, ‘I believe he has been sent to collect something for my Lady Princess Mary.’

  The voice stepped from the stall of one of the smaller Palominos.

  ‘Are you Toby?’ she asked as she stroked the head of the pony.

  ‘I am, how do you know my name?’

  ‘This is my pony she is called Poppy, which is yours?’

  ‘I don’t have one here in Holland, mine is at the royal stables in London.’

  ‘What do you call him?’

  ‘Galileo, he is called Galileo.’

  ‘That’s a funny name for a horse, what does it mean?’

  ‘I think it is the name of a moon… or a man, but I’m not sure. How do you know my name?’

  ‘I am Anne Huxley and my mistress has told me I must teach you to dance.’

  Anne was a girl of about my age but slightly shorter, she was very pretty but not what you would call beautiful, she did have the most amazing green eyes. Her hair was the colour of golden corn with just a hint of red, which was made up into ringlets and tied with silk bows. Her dress was white with a floral design and was tied at the waist with a red belt, she wore buckled shoes and short white socks.

  ‘Do you know the summerhouse?’ she asked.

  ‘I have seen it from a distance but I have not been that far yet, I only arrived here yesterday.’

  She looked sideways at me and smiled… a playful mischievous smile.

  ‘I have to go to lessons just now, but I will meet you there at two o’clock this afternoon; it’s going to be fun teaching you to dance.’

  She turned and ran from the stables, waved and shouted, ‘Don’t be late.’

  She skipped across the lawn towards the rear of the palace. While I just stood and watched spellbound until she had disappeared from view, wondering just what I was letting myself in for.

  Louis appeared at my side and leaned on my shoulder.

  ‘So… Lady Anne is going to teach you to dance.’

  ‘So it seems, what do you know about her?’

  ‘Not much, her father is an odd looking chap with red whiskers, but her mother is nice.’

  ‘Are they here at Noordeinde?’

  ‘No, they only came to bring Anne here about a year ago. I think they live in Sussex, England. Do you want a ride, I have a lot of horses needing exercising today?’

  ‘I would love to but I only have a few minutes left so there isn’t time. I will try to get down earlier tomorrow.’

  ***

  ‘You’re late for lesson again,’ Thomas barked, ‘I can’t stand around all day waiting for you, I’m a busy man… I suppose you have been down to the stables. Have you brought your books?’

  I dropped my books on the table in front of him.

  ‘Thomas, how many other children live here at the palace?’

  ‘Six or seven I think, ranging from five to fourteen years old, why do you ask?’

  ‘Why am I being taught on my own… why can I not join with the other children for lessons?’

  ‘Because they are all more advanced than you, and that is not meant as a criticism; you are doing fine, it’s just that the others will have started lessons when they were five or six years old. You will soon catch up, I am sure of it.’

  I enjoyed my lesson as I always do, but I couldn’t stop myself thinking about Anne Huxley and my dancing classes. Surely Princess Mary doesn’t really want to dance with me I thought.

  ‘You’re daydreaming again Toby so I think we will call it a day and finish a little early. Do you think you have learned anything or have you spent the whole time thinking about the stables?’

  ‘Do you know Anne Huxley?’

  ‘So you haven’t been thinking about horses, you have found yourself a girlfriend.’

  ‘No of course not, I’m not interested in girls, you know that.’

  His smile showed that he didn’t believe me, I was embarrassed and anxious to change the subject.

  ‘Thomas, how long will we be staying here at Noordeinde?’

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘Princess Mary told me she thought her brother would soon be leaving here. He wants to try and raise an army.’

  ‘You spoke to Princess Mary?’

  ‘She spoke to me. She wanted me to dance with her.’

  He started to laugh at the thought of me dancing, and then stopped and asked: ‘So do you want to go with Charles, or stay here and learn to dance?’

  ‘I like it here.’

  ‘I am sure you do… especially now that you have found little Lady Anne Huxley, but in answer to your question about her, the truth is I don’t know myself yet, but when I do you will be the first person I will tell.’

  ***

  Not wanting to be late for my first dance lesson, I rushed down my food and was a little early getting to the summerhouse, but Anne was already there.

  ‘We will start with the Allemande,’ she said. ‘It’s a dance you do in pairs, but watch, I will show you the steps first and then you can try on your own.’

  Picking up the hem of her dress she skipped, hopped and spun across the summerhouse floor, talking through the steps as she went.

  ‘Now you try.’

  I was feeling a little silly but thought it looked easy enough, so I started by following her instruction to the letter, and I thought I was doing alright until I came to the spin which was an embarrassing disaster. I lost my balance and crashed to the floor.r />
  Anne, doubled up with laughter, sat down by my side.

  We laughed and talked together for ages. I found her laugh contagious, her sense of humour infectious, and her personality charming and endearing.

  I remember that day as if it were yesterday because it was the first day of a wonderful friendship that was to last for the rest of my life.

  ‘Let’s try it together,’ she said jumping to her feet. ‘Dancers form a line of couples, they hold hands like this,’ she said taking hold of my hands. ‘Now we walk three steps then balancing on one foot, turn then a step and a hop.’

  ‘How many dances are there?’

  ‘Let me think,’ she said putting a finger to her chin. ‘There’s the Bourrée, the Courante, the Gavotte, the Gigue, the Loure, the Minuet and the Passepied… that’s all I can remember.’

  ‘And do I have to learn them all?’

  ‘Just a couple for today, I think the Allemande and the Minuet.’

  ‘Thank goodness for that.’

  Anne punched my arm. ‘Have you explored the garden yet?’

  ‘Not yet. I haven’t had the time.’

  ‘Well when I am satisfied with your dancing lesson, I will show you my secret place in the garden.’

  We spent almost two hours dancing but mostly laughing and fooling about.

  ‘You’re hopeless,’ said Anne, ‘but by the time I have finished with you, you will be an expert.’

  ‘I doubt it.’

  ‘I promise that by the time you have completed your lesson, you will be as proficient and skilled as the prince himself, just in time for the next ball. You will be so good that all the princess’s ladies will want to dance with you.’

  ‘Will you dance with me?’

  ‘I will have to think about that. But we have done enough dancing for today, come… I’ll show you my secret garden.’ We walked through an opening in an immaculately manicured hedge to a walled garden with an oblong-shaped pond full of koi carp. On two sides of the pond there were rosebuds, and at each end stone benches, placed in the shadows of willow trees.

  We walked out of the garden, down some steps and across a stream… hopping from one rock to another where the water was running fast before tumbling down into a deep still pool. A hundred yards further along the stream we stopped at a place that was completely hidden from view, and there we sat on a bench beneath a cedar tree and listened to the calming noise of the water trickling down the stream.

  ‘This is my secret place, I come here to think and sometimes to study.’

  ‘I love your secret garden, but just how secret is it?’

  ‘I come here most days and I have never once seen anyone else even walk by.’

  ‘Would you mind if I shared your secret garden? I would like to study here with you where there are no distractions.’

  ‘Don’t you not think that I would be a distraction?’

  ‘Probably, but I am willing to take that risk.’

  ‘Then I have no objection to share with you. But first you must answer one question: Did you really save the life of Prince Charles?’

  ‘How do you know about that?’

  ‘My mistress Princess Mary told me. But everybody knows you are a hero Toby.’

  ‘You don’t know me at all, and I promise you I am no hero, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.’

  ‘But you hit the man, a grown man, you hit him on the head with a log, that’s what she told me and I think that’s very brave… tell me about it.’

  ‘There’s nothing to tell. I happened to have a lump of wood in my hand at the time, and hit the man on his head with it when he tried to stab the prince, I then ran away, that’s not being very brave is it?’

  She put her arm through mine and whispered, ‘Well you’re my hero today Toby, and I do know about you.’

  ‘Then you have me at an advantage because I know nothing about you.’

  ‘There is not a lot to know, but I will tell you if you really want to know.’

  ‘I really want to know.’

  ‘Well my name is Anne Huxley, the only daughter of William Huxley the 3rd Baronet of Lewes. My mother is named Anne like me, and I have two brothers. Peter is two years older than me, and Robert two years younger. I am here at Noordeinde Palace with Princess Mary training to be one of her ladies-in-waiting and I will remain here until my father, or my mistress, finds me a suitable husband: There now, you have it all, you know all about me.’

  ‘Could you not choose your own husband?’

  ‘Only if my father approves, or if I find a handsome young prince.’

  ‘What are your parents like, and do they have lovely hair like yours?’

  ‘I am told that I am like my parents, so if you like me you will like them. My mother’s is strawberry-blonde like me, and my father’s is a sort of red and ginger, he doesn’t have much hair on the top of his head it’s all on his chin. He is a little self-conscious about being bald so he wears a periwig most of the time. Is there anything else?’

  ‘Yes… tell me who that young woman was that danced with Prince Charles all last night?’

  ‘Yes; wasn’t that romantic… love at first sight I think, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.’

  ‘But who is she, is she one of the princess’s ladies?’

  ‘No, she came here with her parents to escape the civil war, she is the daughter of William and Elizabeth Walter who are Royalist supporters.’

  ‘What is her name?’

  ‘Her name is Lucy and she is eighteen years old, just like Prince Charles. She came here with her parents because they feared for their safety. They lived in Wales at Roch Castle in Pembrokeshire, that was where Lucy was born. But the castle was taken and destroyed by Parliamentary forces over four years ago, they stayed in London for a while before moving to Rotterdam… and now she has found herself a prince.’

  ‘How do you know all this stuff?’

  ‘I talked to her, she’s nice, perhaps even beautiful, but she is too old for you and you’re too late anyway because she has captured the heart of a prince.’

  ‘I am not interested in her, I doubt I will ever get married, not for a hundred years anyway, I am enjoying life too much to give it all up for a woman.’

  ‘I can’t wait a hundred years Toby,’ she said laughing, ‘and in any case I cannot ever see my father approving of a lowly commoner like you, he wants me to marry someone with a title.’

  ***

  We were now sat in the shade, the sun having disappeared from view behind the trees, and as it was getting late we decided it must be time to amble back to the palace.

  We returned on the same path we came on, hopping over the stream and stopping for a moment to watch the fish in the pond, it was still warm but the sun was dropping lower on the horizon and a few dark clouds were beginning to creep across the sky. The lake in the distance was as calm as a mirror, disturbed only by a pair of swans gliding gracefully across the water, and just the occasional ripple of a fish breaking the surface.

  We were midway between the summerhouse and the palace when Anne pointed to a young couple running hand in hand between the topiary bushes and the trees towards the lake.

  ‘That looks like your Prince Charles and Lucy Walter,’ she said shielding her eyes.

  ‘I think you’re right, I wonder where they’re going.’

  ‘Towards the lake I think, let’s follow them and find out.’

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, what if they see us?’

  ‘We will be careful, come on.’

  Anne set off in a crouching position, running from one hiding place to another, I followed reluctantly behind.

  ‘It looks as if they are going to the lake.’

  ‘I think we should go back,’ I said, ‘let’s go to the stables.’r />
  ‘I thought you were a fearless hero, don’t be scared Toby, I will protect you.’

  ‘I’m not a hero and I don’t need protecting, please let’s go back.’

  ‘Look, they’re going in the boathouse, follow me.’

  I had a bad feeling that this adventure was not going to turn out good, a forewarning of misadventure and misfortune, but there was no stopping Anne now, she was excited and determined to solve the imaginary puzzle that was spinning around in her girly mind.

  Prince Charles and Lucy Walter entered the boathouse, closing the door behind them.

  Using the reed beds around the lake as cover, Anne crept slowly forward with me, her unwilling collaborator, following a couple of paces behind; eventually we were near enough to hear the voices inside but not near enough to catch what they were saying.

  ‘We will be able to see them through the cracks in the door if we get a little closer,’ she whispered.

  We took a few more steps and disturbed a family of moorhens who squawked in annoyance at being disturbed, it all went quiet inside the boathouse and I was sure for a moment that our secret eavesdropping had been exposed.

  We were now almost at the doors and I could clearly hear the prince teasing playfully and speaking quietly of love and seduction, Lucy was giggling impishly then squealing with delight and then all went quiet.

  Having lived the first ten years of my life in a brothel, I was in no doubt that the sound now coming from the boathouse was the sound of two people in the act of lovemaking.

  ‘What are they doing?’ Anne whispered.

  ‘Whatever they are doing, it’s none of our business and I think we should leave them alone.’

  Anne peeped through a crack in the door and then slowly turned to face me… her eyes and her mouth wide open at the realisation of what she had just seen, and what they were doing.

  Covering her mouth with both hands, she walked three paces backwards and sat on the bench by the lake in a state of shock.

  I took hold of her arm and pulling her to her feet I whispered, ‘We must go now and don’t argue.’