The Last Howard Girl (Tudor Chronicles Book 3)

by Lesley Jepson

  Meg looked past Cat’s shoulder and straightened, seeing they were being watched closely by children and young people of various sizes and ages. Cat laughed again and swept her hand in their direction.

  ‘My growing brood of lovelies, Meg. We have come to make the cobbler rich.’

  Meg smiled at Cat and then at the children with huge eyes, surprised at the changes five years of exile had wrought. ‘Let me present them to you, Lady Sadler.’ Meg wrinkled her nose at the title.

  A tall young man with large blue eyes and blond curls swept his hat from his head and made a courtly bow, then smiled up at her. ‘Lady Sadler,’ he growled in a deep voice that his looks belied.

  ‘Tommy,’ gasped Meg, astounded at what a fine young man he had become. ‘Tommy, you are the image of your grandmother Lady Mary.’ He smiled again and moved out of the way for a petite young woman to move forward, bowing her head and making a low curtsey. ‘Lady Sadler,’ she whispered.

  ‘Gracious me, Lettice!’ Meg’s astonishment increased at the poised young woman in front of her, with her delicate features, dark eyes and bright copper hair gathered up into an intricate mass of plaits and curls. Meg looked across at Cat, who nodded and beamed back.

  ‘An astonishing likeness, isn’t it, Meg? She is the image of our Princess.’

  Meg nodded and Lettice rose from her curtsey and tossed her head in the direction of her mother. She had obviously been told that many times.

  ‘And these are the rest of my rogues, Meg. Henry,’ a tall, dark thirteen year old bowed, ‘Maisie, who is her grandmother Mary all over again,’ a blonde apple-cheeked girl curtseyed. Cat took a breath and said, ‘Edward,’ in a terrified whisper as a sturdy dark haired eight year old bounded up and bowed respectfully then bounced on his toes, grinning round at everyone.

  ‘You didn’t fall overboard on the way home either, Master Edward?’

  ‘I did not, my Lady. I am a good sailor. And I shall be a pirate when I grow up.’ Edward ran off, threatening the shrubs in the garden with an imaginary sword as Cat rolled her eyes at Meg and shook her head.

  ‘He’ll make an excellent pirate,’ she sighed, taking the hands of two much smaller children from the nursemaid. ‘These two treasures are Beth and Francis, and that little jewel,’ she nodded to another nursemaid holding a beautiful dark haired, dark eyed toddler, ‘is our Lady Anne.’

  Meg smiled round all the children, then linked her arm with Cat and bade them all come in and take refreshment.

  ‘Tommy, could you take Edward and show him the stables, my lovely,’ Cat turned and spoke to her grinning eldest, who nodded and went to rescue the shrubs from his younger brother. ‘You can go too, Henry, if you would like to.’ Henry nodded enthusiastically and raced off.

  ‘Your house will last longer if Edward looks at the horses,’ laughed Cat as she helped the nursemaids shepherd the children indoors. Meg smiled and replied, ‘My children are upstairs in the nursery, if your maids would like to take the little ones up for a drink and some bread and cheese? We can sit in my solar while you tell me how you are. Oh, Cat. I’m so glad you’re home.’

  ***

  Meg poured Cat a cup of wine and passed Lettice a cup of small ale. The others were either outside or upstairs, and Cat sipped her wine and helped herself to a sweetmeat.

  ‘Wait until you taste my new recipes for these,’ she smiled at Meg through a mouthful of honeyed sweetness.

  ‘What are your plans, Cat? I can see your mantle is hiding another child.’ Meg nodded at her friend’s swollen belly.

  ‘Thank God this one will be born here, and I will have you with me.’ Cat rubbed her belly. ‘But it isn’t due for quite a while. You know how big I always get, almost from the beginning. I have months yet, and I shall be with our Princess until then.’

  ‘She is the Queen, Cat. If she weren’t, you wouldn’t be home.’

  ‘Hmmph! She will always be my Princess. And now Mary has gone to her Catholic God without a child from her swarthy Spaniard, England can breathe again. Especially as Cardinal Pole chose to join her on the same day!’ Cat snorted a laugh and sipped her wine again. ‘Francis has got Tommy a place at court as a squire, and I shall take Lettice with me as a maid of honour. I am hoping you can find room for the others here, my lovely, until they are a little more grown?’

  ‘Of course. My Richard is articled to William Cecil as clerk and Tom is a page. The others are still continuing their education.’ Meg rubbed her own belly and Cat’s brows rose. ‘Your little one may have to share his cradle, Cat.’ She smiled.

  ‘You always carried small, Meg. Except with your twins.’ Cat laughed at the memory of how large her friend had been.

  Meg looked across at Lettice, seated quietly by the window. ‘Are you looking forward to going to Court, Lettice?’

  ‘Oh, yes, my Lady. I can’t wait to see all the wonderful gowns and learn all the new dances.’ Out of the corner of her eye, Meg saw Cat’s eyes roll upwards at the vacuity of her eldest daughter.

  ‘We are involved in negotiations for a betrothal to Walter Deveraux for Lettice, Meg. It will be a good match, I think.’ Meg looked at Lettice, squirming in excitement at being betrothed. ‘But before we go to court, and get swept up in all the intrigues there, Lettice and I are going to visit Monseigneur. It will probably be for the last time, Meg. We have been told he is dying.’

  ‘Oh, Cat, I’m so sorry. He has been such a part of court, of England, for so long. It must be hard for you to come home to that.’

  Cat smiled and sipped her wine. ‘It will be strange without him, Meg. Being at court and not having the thought at the back of your mind “What would Norfolk think?” His grandson, another Thomas,’ Cat rolled her eyes at the name, ‘will take the title. It remains to be seen if he grows into the position.’

  Meg lowered her gentle voice to a low rough growl, “Hell’s teeth, girly,” and she and Cat collapsed into a fit of laughter that made Lettice, still gazing out of the window, look at them with huge curious eyes, not understanding why they were laughing so raucously.

  ***

  ‘Hell’s teeth, girly, I never thought to see you again this side of heaven,’ growled Norfolk from the depths of his chair by the fire.

  Cat smothered a smile and put two bottles of wine down on the table by his side.

  ‘I am glad to be home in England, Uncle. Shall I pour you a cup of this wine?’ Norfolk grunted and nodded assent. Cat poured smoothly and passed him the goblet.

  ‘And I am glad to bring my children home. I have brought my eldest daughter Laetitia to meet you, Uncle.’ Cat beckoned Lettice to come forward and curtsey to the old man, the fast fading elder statesman of their family. Lettice bowed her head and made her best curtsey.

  ‘Hmmph! Let’s look at you then, girly. Get up and lift your head.’

  Lettice rose and met her uncle’s eyes with her own dark ones, and smiled shyly. Norfolk spluttered into his wine.

  ‘Hell’s teeth, Mary. They could be twins.’

  ‘I’m Cat, Monseigneur. And Lettice is Mary’s granddaughter. Elizabeth’s cousin.’ Cat smiled tightly at her uncle and waited for the comments she knew he would make. Lettice blinked at the old man, and kept her smile in place.

  ‘No mistaking who she belongs to, though.’ He jerked his head towards Lettice, who was watching him curiously. ‘And you are taking her to court, you say? Hell’s teeth! That will cause the eyebrows to rise. Another Howard girl at court, and one that looks like…..,’ Cat took a loud breath and Norfolk looked at her sharply.

  ‘…that.’ Norfolk looked down into his cup and began to chuckle softly, then laugh which started a fit of coughing that took the old man a long time to bring unde
r control.

  ‘I’m dying, girly.’ He looked at Cat and nodded. Cat knew that it would be useless to correct him. She only had to look at him to know his end wasn’t far away.

  ‘You will be missed, Monseigneur.’

  Norfolk snorted. ‘Only by my family, girly. My enemies will breathe a sigh of relief.’ He took another long drink of wine, and Cat wished she had brought him four bottles instead of just two. It was little enough, now.

  ‘I condemned Cranmer, you know.’ He looked at her over the rim of his cup, and she met his eyes levelly. ‘For heresy. I condemned him to the fire of Smithfield, even though he changed his coat at the last moment. Mary and that damned Spaniard of hers. They were no good for England, girly. A man’s conscience should be his own, between himself and God. Kings are not God.’ He snorted again and looked into his cup, then back at Cat.

  ‘I’m glad you weren’t in the country, girly. I’m glad you were safe.’ His gravelly voice roughened even further and he spoke into his cup. ‘I wouldn’t have wanted to condemn another Howard girl.’

  Cat couldn’t think of a reply; she knew he had condemned her aunt Anne and her cousin Kitty. Norfolk took another long drink and looked at Cat, then nodded at Lettice.

  ‘Keep her safe, Mary. She might be our last hope.’

  ***

  Cat made her curtsey as deep as her increasing girth would allow, and she slid her eyes sideways to make sure Lettice followed her example.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ she said solemnly, trying her utmost to keep the smile from her voice.

  ‘Cat! You are home. You have come home to me.’ Elizabeth jumped up from her seat on the dais in her presence chamber and rushed forwards, grasping Cat by the shoulders and drawing her into a tight embrace.

  ‘I’ve waited so long to see you, Cat,’ Elizabeth whispered as she kissed Cat on the cheek.

  ‘I came as soon as I could pack all the children up and get to a ship, Princess. I mean Your Majesty.’ Cat hugged Elizabeth as tightly as she could.

  Elizabeth laughed and drew back, keeping hold of Cat’s hands in her own.

  ‘It is taking some getting used to, Cat. Being Queen.’ She looked curiously at the young girl beside Cat, still in her curtsey. ‘Who have you brought with you, Cat?’

  ‘My daughter Lettice, Majesty. Come to court to wait on you until her marriage to Walter Deveraux.’

  Elizabeth’s eyes widened at the first sight of her cousin, then nodded at Lettice, who rose from her curtsey and smiled at the young Queen. ‘Oh, Your Majesty. I am so pleased to be in your service.’ Lettice could barely keep her feet still as she bounced with excitement at finally being at court.

  Elizabeth nodded again. ‘We are happy to have you with us, Lettice.’ She turned to Cat, ‘Lettice may go and join the other maids of honour, Cat.’ Elizabeth blinked and shook her head, ‘It’s like looking in a mirror.’ She laughed and then lowered her voice. ‘But I would speak alone with you.’

  Cat pointed out the knot of maids in waiting seated at the other end of the room, gossiping over their needlework, and Lettice trotted over to them, immediately bombarded with questions about her life in Frankfurt.

  ‘How have you been, Princess?’ asked Cat softly when she and Elizabeth were out of earshot of the crowded presence chamber, their voices absorbed by the giggling, gossiping maids from one corner, and the musicians playing softly in another.

  ‘Afraid, Cat. Every day. For myself, for you, for England. I am so pleased you and your children were safe.’

  ‘Safe, but far away from you, my lovely. I am pleased you stayed safe too.’

  ‘I kept myself safe, Cat. I tried to keep myself invisible. I guarded my tongue and my eyes, every day. I said what people wanted to hear, and did what they told me to do. Even when…,’ Elizabeth stopped and looked at Cat with narrowed eyes and dragged in a harsh breath.

  ‘Even when that Spaniard she married wanted me instead, I stayed my tongue.’ Elizabeth almost spat the words as Cat gasped.

  ‘But Cat, I had William Cecil and Francis Walsingham writing to me. And that damned book, although to be honest I also found it very informative and intriguing. Master Niccolo understood very well how to play the politician.’ Her mouth twisted in a wry smile, then her eyes widened and her tone grew more animated. ‘But Robbie was by my side. Oh, Cat, wait until you see what he has arranged for my coronation.’ Elizabeth clasped Cat’s hands in excitement at the celebrations to come.

  ‘Robbie has arranged it, Princess?’ Cat tried not to show how surprised she was at this revelation.

  ‘Yes, he is my Master of Horse, and I intend to invite him onto my Privy Council. I need him by my side.’

  ‘Princess, he is married.’ Cat hissed the words at Elizabeth, rather than let her voice rise and be overheard.

  Elizabeth looked at her with equanimity and Cat caught her first glimpse of how imperious Elizabeth could be.

  ‘I know that, Cat,’ she snapped, ‘but he doesn’t see her. I don’t allow him to see her.’ Elizabeth took a deep breath and refused to meet Cat’s eyes. ‘She is well cared for, and is with people who love her. But Robbie belongs to me.’ Elizabeth looked up and shrugged slightly at the last words.

  ‘You will have to marry at some point, Princess.’ Cat tried to point out Elizabeth’s future gently, without upsetting her too much.

  ‘No, Cat. I won’t.’ Elizabeth spoke with utter certainty in her tone. ‘Never again will I be commanded. By anyone.’ She looked at Cat levelly. ‘If I marry, my husband will think to command me. Robbie is my husband, the husband of my heart. But there will be no husband of my realm.’ Elizabeth brought Cat’s hand over her heart to emphasise how important this was to her.

  She looked intently at Cat and lowered her voice to an intense whisper, ‘I see him across the room and my stomach clenches with longing, Cat. He sits beside me and I tremble for want of him. When he looks at me, I can feel my skin, Cat. Can you imagine that? I can feel my skin. I can’t give him up, Cat. He is my all.’

  ‘But an heir, my lovely. What about an heir for the country?’ Cat understood the infatuation of first love for a young sheltered girl as Elizabeth was, but she knew that realistically, the country would call for an heir.

  ‘I don’t think that’s very likely, Cat. My father moved earth and heaven for a male heir, and now it will all stop with me.’ Elizabeth shrugged and smiled. ‘You seem to have the Howard fertility,’ she laughed and indicated Cat’s belly shrouded by her mantle, ‘and I seem to have the Howard ambition. I think I will be the last Howard girl on the throne.’

  ‘You are only young, Princess. Only 25 summers. You may yet change your mind.’ Cat rubbed Elizabeth’s hands with her own, and Elizabeth shook her head smiling.

  ‘I won’t Cat. Truly, I won’t.’ She pressed Cat’s hands in return, entwining her fingers and bringing Cat’s knuckles to her lips, whispering even more, ‘But only you shall know my secrets. To the world, my ministers may negotiate alliance after alliance. Only you know that, in my heart, I am already married to Robbie. And he to me.’

  Cat tried to smile at Elizabeth, but couldn’t help the nagging doubt in her mind that told her Robert Dudley might not be as loyal to her Princess as she so obviously seemed to be to him.

  Chapter 20

  steemed Lord Husband

  Lady Hyde tells me you have secured a high position at Court. As your wife I should be by your side. Lady Hyde tells me the Queen has gifted you a house at Kew. As your wife I should live there and take my place as Lady Dudley. Please let me know the arrangements you have made for my removal, as I will need notice so Mistress Pincto may pack my belongings.

  Your wife before God, Amy Dudleyr />
  Robert sighed as he took another mouthful of wine and then read the letter again before he fed it into the flames of the small fire in the grate. He went to the writing table and drew parchment and an ink horn towards himself. Sharpening a pen with the dagger at his waist, he began to write, both to his wife, and then to his relative Anthony Foster.

  Dear Amy

  Lady Hyde is quite correct, I have been given a house at Kew. It is a grace and favour residence, dependent on my keeping the position I currently hold. However, it is much neglected and not yet fit for habitation. As you seem to be unhappy staying with the Hydes, I have arranged for you to stay with my cousin and his wife at Cumnor Place. They will welcome you into their family and I’m sure you will be happy there. I have sent Thomas to escort you, and ensure your safety.

  With the utmost respect I am Robert, Lord Dudley.

  He signed the letter with his customary flourish, then sanded, folded and sealed it. Robert sighed, thinking how his life had changed since Elizabeth had taken the throne, and how simple Amy would have no chance of survival amongst the intrigues of the court.

  Robert knew very well that Elizabeth’s ministers disapproved of her reliance on him, but he was helpless to resist her dependence. He had loved her for so long, and had so many regrets about his marriage. If pretending that Amy didn’t exist when he was with the Queen was what kept Elizabeth able to face each day as Queen, when sometimes she could hardly walk for fear of what the day would bring, then Amy had to be kept in the background. His first duty, above all others, was to his love for Elizabeth.

  My most esteemed cousin

  I write to entreat you to offer a home with your wonderful family to my wife Amy. No doubt you have heard that my fortunes are on the rise and I currently serve as Master of Horse to Her Majesty. As I am sure you can imagine this position is very time-consuming and I find myself at court on an almost permanent basis. It is to this end that I wish my wife, who hasn’t been in the best of health of late, to reside with a family such as yours, who will love her and cherish the time spent with her. My steward Thomas has with him sufficient funds for her keep. She has her own maid who will see to her needs and procure the medicine she requires, and Thomas carries a separate fund for these expenses. He has my absolute trust, and you should consider him my representative in all things. Thomas will convey Amy to Cumnor Place as soon as arrangements have been made for her comfort and safety.