Susan Higginbotham
October 2008
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HUGH AND BESS
January 1341 to April 1341
STRICTLY SPEAKING, BESS TOLD HERSELF, SHE WAS NOT EAVESDROPPING ON her parents, for she had been curled up in a window seat, half dozing, when they came in, and before she could say a single word, they had launched into a conversation that plainly was too important (and too interesting) to bear interruption. And she had been told many times not to interrupt; it was a bad habit of hers. So she would not do so now. Instead, she drew her feet up where they could not be seen and quietly rearranged the heavy drapes to screen herself more securely from view.
“The king himself proposed the marriage,” her father had said when he first came into the room. “And there's nothing to be said against the man, Katharine. Everything for him, as a matter of fact. He's a good fighter. He's rich. He's the king's near kinsman and a great-grandson of the first Edward. So how could you possibly object? He'll make an excellent husband for her.”
So it was true; her parents were at last arranging a marriage for Joan of Kent, who though her mother was still alive, had been raised with the Montacute children and with the king's children after the wicked Mortimer had been hung at Tyburn. It was high time the girl got married; all of the Montacute household had been saying so. Joan was almost thirteen, less than a year younger than Bess, but unlike Bess, who at thirteen and a half still had simply a chest, Joan had breasts, unmistakable ones, even under the modest robes she and the Montacute girls wore. More than once Bess had heard her mother tell her brother Will, when he was visiting from the king's court where he served as a page, that he should not stare at Joan's breasts. “I realize it is difficult not to, with them poking forward as they do,” Katharine had said tartly. “But you must try. My, that girl needs to be married, and soon!”
Bess herself had been married several years ago to Giles de Badlesmere, soon after Papa became an earl and she had become a desirable match. Then after only a year of marriage—if one could count living with her parents while her grown husband lived on his estates as a marriage—Sir Giles had fallen ill, leaving Bess a widow at the age of eleven. Her husband had sent her gifts on occasion and had visited her several times, but she had known him little better than any of the other men who came to visit her parents, and though she dutifully prayed for his soul, his death had otherwise meant little to her. She was vaguely aware that she had been left quite prosperous by the brief union, and she had a sense that suitors had approached Papa about her now and then, but none had been quite right, it appeared. There seemed to be no great hurry; after all, she had just started her monthly courses a few months before, and her figure was still so far from womanly that had she put on her brother Will's clothes and hidden her waist-length, thick, dark hair, she could have taken service as a page.
But Joan was a different matter altogether, yet Mama did not appear happy. “Nothing wrong with him! His father executed as a traitor, his grandfather executed as a traitor, his great-grandfather killed fighting for Simon de Montfort against the king—”
“So, at least he wasn't executed as a traitor, Katharine. And the great-great-grandfather was quite respectable, I understand.”
Bess's mother did not laugh. “I suppose one should feel pity for the man; he can't help his parentage, but what girl would want to call herself the wife of Hugh le Despenser?”
“Despenser wouldn't have suggested the match himself, I imagine. He knows full well of his family's disgrace and that some are loath to associate with him; it's probably what has kept him single all of these years.”
“Indeed,” said Katharine, finding a straw to grab upon. “He can't be young, is he, William?”
“He is two-and-thirty.”
“Two-and-thirty! William, that's far too old for a girl of thirteen.”
“Bess will mature soon. And Badlesmere was in his twenties himself, Katharine.”
Behind the curtains, Bess gasped, covering her mouth just in time. She was to marry Hugh le Despenser?
Soon afterward, Bess's parents had left the room, and she had made her way back to the chamber she shared with Joan of Kent and her sisters just in time to be told that her father and mother wished to speak to her. She had been summoned to her mother's chamber, where Bess's parents had broken the news to her gradually, so much so that Bess, who had been worried lest she give away the fact she had been eavesdropping, had been almost lulled into believing she had misunderstood. So distressed had she been when she realized that she had heard them correctly that she had not had to feign shock. “I don't wish to marry him. I do not like him.”
“Like him, Bess? You've never met him.” Her father smiled tolerantly.
“I could not like a man from such a horrid family.”
She had expected more help on this score from her mother, but Katharine, whatever her opinions might be in private, was a woman to stand publicly with her husband. “It is not for you to refuse this match, Elizabeth. You will marry him. You are a widow, after all; it is most suitable that you remarry.”
“Why can't Joan marry him? Her father was beheaded too. They would have much more to talk about.”
William's lip twitched upward, but he still managed to say testily, “Hugh asked for your hand, not Joan's. In any case, he would have asked in vain, because we have decided that Joan will marry your brother Will, quite soon as a matter of fact.”
So now he can stare at her breasts all he likes, Bess thought, then remembered the matter at hand. “I don't want to marry him, Papa.” She looked up into her father's face and gazed at him sadly with her large brown eyes, a trick that up to now had never missed with her father, though Bess to her credit had used it sparingly. “Please don't make me.”
“I must, child. I cannot have you dictating to me whom you shall marry. I would not marry you to a man I did not esteem; you should know that. His father did disgrace his family's name, but Sir Hugh has done much to restore it. I will allow you to sit with us when he comes to visit tomorrow or the next day. You will see for yourself that he will make a good husband for you, and you will get a chance to come to know him.”
“And Hugh is a rich man,” added Katharine. “You will be Lady of Glamorgan, and have many castles, you know. It won't be bad, I promise.”
Nor, thought Bess, had she promised that it would be good.
IN RESEARCHING THIS NOVEL, I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE ACCESS, AS A MEMBER of the public, to the libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Without its facilities I would have been greatly hampered in my ability to complete this novel. I also benefited from the use of the Wake County public library system, the Duke University library, and the North Carolina State University library. I thank these institutions, and in the appropriate cases the taxpayers of North Carolina, for making these invaluable resources available.
I found two online resources extremely useful. Through reading the postings at Gen-Medieval-L, I obtained valuable information about the genealogy of the Clare and Despenser families, including new findings. Many of these findings are mentioned at www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk. I would like in particular to thank Brad Verity, a poster on Gen-Medieval-L, who shared his findings about Eleanor de Clare's children both with the group as a whole and with me personally. Any errors, genealogical and otherwise, that I have stumbled into are, of course, my own.
It was a pleasure to work with Sara Kase, assistant editor at Sourcebooks, in preparing the 2009 edition of The Traitor's Wife.
My most heartfelt thanks goes to my family. My parents, Charles and Barbara Higginbotham, have encouraged me and aided me in every way possible. My husband, Don Coomes, has encouraged me, humored me, and put up patiently with my Mrs. Jellyby–like abstraction. I can think of no luckier wife than myself. Finally, my children, Thad and Bethany, endured many tedious hours at the library, bore with my hogging the family computer, and
have given me indescribable joy.
Throughout the novel, Hugh is a pirate, adulterer, and land thief, among other morally questionable things. Despite Hugh's wrongdoing, Eleanor remains loyal to Hugh to the very end. Is this admirable?
Elizabeth de Burgh scolds her sister Eleanor for her blindness to Hugh's misdeeds. Do you think Eleanor on some level chooses to ignore her husband's darker actions? If so, does she do so consciously or subconsciously?
Roger Mortimer is executed for his part in the events of 1326 to 1330, but Isabella undergoes only a brief house arrest. Do you believe that she gets off too easily? Who do you think was more to blame—Mortimer or Isabella? Would Isabella have rebelled if Mortimer had not been there?
King Edward II has many admirable qualities, but proves unfit for the demands of kingship. What qualities do you think make a good ruler? Do you think Edward II might have been more successful in a later century?
Even as Edward carries on an affair with Hugh, Isabella is faithful to her husband for years before she finally commits adultery with Roger Mortimer. Is her adultery justified? Do you feel that she as a woman is subjected to a “double standard"? Would you have been able to—or wanted to—remain faithful?
In October 1326, Queen Isabella, Roger Mortimer, and their forces invaded London. Is this invasion morally justified? Do you think Hugh really endangered the safety of England?
What did Edward do to make Isabella believe that he deserved to lose his throne? Was she right?
The men of this tale have their faults but they also have redeeming qualities. Gaveston commanded too much of the King's attention; Hugh did the same, accumulating lands and money all the while; Edward let his affections come before his kingly duties; Mortimer invaded a country. In the midst of all these misdeeds, we also see that Gaveston and Hugh really love the king, Hugh is a wonderful father and husband, Edward only wants the best for those around him, and Mortimer is a man with ambition. In the end, none of them lives. Is Hugh's death a tragedy? Gaveston's? Edward's? Mortimer's?
As is common for the time period, many of the marriages in The Traitor's Wife are arranged. While some of these are unhappy, others turn out quite well. What qualities characterize the happy arranged marriages and which ones characterize the unhappy ones? Do these spouses have to work harder at their marriages than those who marry for love?
Eleanor has moments of great strength as well as moments of great weakness. Do you consider Eleanor to be a strong heroine? What qualities make for such a heroine?
Gaveston and Hugh the younger, both very different men, are both lovers of Edward II. How do their relationships with him differ? How are they similar? Do you think that people can be romantically compatible with different personalities, or is each individual compatible with only one type of personality?
Hugh the elder knew Hugh the younger was going down a questionable path. Should he have done more to rein in his son? Could he have done anything? Was he a good father?
Executions in medieval England, like the horrific one of Hugh the younger, were well-attended public spectacles. Did this shock you? Could you see yourself attending such an event? How does the desire for public display translate to modern times?
Edward III is a young boy when his mother Isabella and Roger Mortimer begin scheming against his father. As a child, would you have stayed with your mother? Would you have gone to your father? Does Edward III bear any responsibility for his father's death?
Eleanor agrees to become Isabella's “housekeeper” although she knows she is only appointed to this position to keep an eye on the queen. Should Eleanor have agreed to become Isabella's “housekeeper"? How did it affect future events?
Eleanor reacts to the news that Hugh has become Edward's lover by seducing Edward herself. How did you feel in light of the fact that Edward is Eleanor's uncle? Do you agree with Eleanor and Hugh's later forgiveness of each other?
Eleanor, Isabella, and Philippa, among others, marry and cohabit with their husbands while they are still in their early teens. Edward III, after Mortimer's arrest, takes on the full responsibilities of kingship when he is not quite eighteen. How do medieval attitudes toward adolescence differ from our modern ones? Do you believe that modern teens could take on the responsibilities that their medieval counterparts did?
Forced to take the veil as a result of events that transpired when she was a mere infant, Sister Gwenllian takes a resigned, philosophical view of her fate. How do you feel about her attitude? Could you adopt such a positive attitude in similar circumstances?
How did your opinion of Isabella change throughout the novel? Were you sympathetic toward her at first? Did you ever lose that sympathy? If so, did your sympathy return at the end, when she is defeated and living out her life in a more or less solitary condition?
While a prisoner in the Tower, Eleanor steals jewels that were confiscated by Isabella and Mortimer from the Despenser family's property. Would you consider her theft a crime?
Hugh becomes Edward's lover partly to gain power. Women have often traded sexual favors to get ahead; how did you feel about seeing a man doing the same? Do you think it's a legitimate way to make gains? Do you feel differently about women rather than men using their bodies to gain power?
SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM HAS WORKED AS AN editor and an attorney. She grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, and now lives in North Carolina with her family. This is her first novel.
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