The Murder in the Tower: The Story of Frances, Countess of Essex

by Jean Plaidy

  Do I need Robert Carr as much as he needs me?

  An exciting idea that, which went whirling round and round in his head.

  He went to the Mermaid Club where he was always welcomed as the poet who was also the close friend of the most influential man at Court. It was natural that he should be flattered there for he was richer than most of the Club’s patrons and could entertain them with his wit and lively talk of the Court. He had always been cautious, though, never betraying how much he influenced Robert Carr.

  But he was reckless that day, and having drunk freely, talked more loosely. With Frances’s insults rankling in his mind, with the curt words of his friend mingling with them, he asked himelf who had the more to lose, himself or Robert?

  And there in the Mermaid Club he talked freely of his association with Robert Carr; and when it was said, “So the real ruler is Overbury!” he did not deny it.

  But the next morning he considered the state of affairs more soberly and he was uneasy.

  IS THE EARL IMPOTENT?

  The weeks which followed were some of the happiest Frances had known. Robert, stung out of his mildness by Overbury’s interference, was more loving than he had ever been before. The meetings were more frequent; and Frances was sure that this was due to the spells and enchantments.

  She had met Dr. Savories and Dr. Gresham, who had expressed their keen desire to work for her; they were more reckless than Dr. Forman had been and agreed with Mrs. Turner that it was imperative to work on the Earl of Essex. Frances saw several women, all of whom could procure some ingredients which the doctors had decided were necessary, or had some special powers to work their spells; all had to be paid and they were often pleased to accept a piece of jewelry.

  Robert was always loath to make love at Court where the Earl of Essex could not be far away, so Frances arranged that they should meet at Hammersmith; but when she sensed that Robert was not even completely at ease there, because it was the house of Mrs. Anne Turner, she decided to buy a country house of her own—a small place which she could look upon as a retreat.

  Impulsive as ever she soon acquired a house at Hounslow which had been the property of Sir Roger Aston, and here Robert came frequently as the house was within easy riding distance of Whitehall.

  It was here that Robert expressed his dissatisfaction with the state of affairs and explained his uneasiness every time he was in the presence of her husband.

  “You need not concern yourself with him,” Frances replied.

  “But I cannot help it. He is, after all, your husband; and when I think of how we are deceiving him—”

  “My dearest, you are doing him no harm.”

  “But how can that be … when you and I are as we are.”

  “He could never take your place with me. I have told you that he has never been a husband to me in anything but name.”

  “But that seems incredible.”

  “Why should it?” Frances remembered those days at Chartley and the lie came to her lips. It was necessary, she told herself, to placate Robert. And what were a few lies compared with all she had done? She repeated: “Why should it … when he himself is impotent.”

  She was unprepared for the effect these words had on Robert.

  “Is that so then? He is impotent? But don’t you see how important that is? Since that is the case I do not see why you should find much difficulty in divorcing him.”

  “Divorcing Essex….” she repeated.

  “Then we could be married. It would be an end of all this distasteful subterfuge.”

  An end of scheming! she thought. An end of those journeys to Hammersmith. No longer need she conspire with Savories and Gresham, no longer show her gratitude to women whom she suspected of practicing witchcraft.

  Escape from Essex! Marriage with Robert, who himself had suggested it!

  She was certain that Robert had become spellbound as a result of all the work that had been done. Success was in sight.

  Robert himself spoke to Northampton.

  “I have often thought that it is time I married.”

  Northampton smiled; he was always ingratiating to the favorite. “I am surprised that James has not found you a worthy bride long ere this.”

  “I had no fancy for one … until now.”

  “And who is the fortunate lady?”

  “Your own great-niece. Oh, I know at the moment she has a husband, but since he is impotent I do not think we shall have any great difficulty in obtaining a divorce. I was wondering whether, as the head of Frances’s family, you would have any objection.”

  “Frances, eh!” mused Northampton. He thought: Essex impotent! It’s the first time I’ve heard that. He considered his great-niece’s marriage. The family had been delighted with it when it had been made, for Essex had rank and riches to offer. But, of course, the man who could offer a woman more than any other was certainly Robert Carr who retained such a firm hold on the King’s affections.

  “Well?” persisted Robert. “How do you view this?”

  “My dear Robert, there is no one I would rather welcome into the family.”

  “Then will you speak to the Earl and Countess of Suffolk?”

  “I will with pleasure and tell them my feelings.”

  “And I will broach the matter to the King.”

  Northampton was elated. He knew that there would be no difficulty with Frances’s parents once he made them see what a glorious future awaited her—and the Howard family—when she was married to Robert Carr.

  James smiled benignly at his favorite.

  “So you have a fancy to a be a husband, eh, Robbie?”

  “I think it is time I settled down.”

  “Well, well, and I never thought ye had much of an eye for women.”

  “I have for this one, Your Majesty.”

  James patted Robert’s arm. “And she’s married. It would have been easier, laddie, if your choice had fallen on someone who was free.”

  “Your Majesty, the Countess of Essex should be free. She is bound to an impotent husband and has never lived a true married life with him.”

  “Is that so? Essex impotent! ’Tis the first I’ve heard of that. Never did much care for Robert Devereux. Too serious without the intellect. He always looks as though he’s in a sulk.”

  “Your Majesty will see that the Countess should be freed from such a man.”

  “And given to you, Robbie. I see your point. I see her point. What are Northampton and the Suffolks going to say of this?”

  “I have already discussed the matter with Northampton.”

  “And he is willing?”

  “Very willing, Your Majesty.”

  “This is going to be an unusual case, lad. I know not whether it is legal for a wife to sue her husband for a divorce. I am not sure whether his impotence will be counted a reason for granting it. It’s an interesting point. I’ll look into it myself.” James laughed. “I’ll enjoy having a talk with the lawyers. Dinna fret, boy, I’ll swear your old Dad will find a way out of the tangle. I’ll swear he’ll give you the girl as he has everything else you have asked him for.”

  Robert kissed the dirty hand.

  “Your Majesty, as always, is gracious to me.”

  “The King is agreeable.” Northampton was walking up and down the apartment while the Earl and Countess of Suffolk watched him. “Good Heavens, don’t you see what great good can come to the family through this?”

  “Yes, yes,” put in Suffolk, “providing they’ll grant the divorce. You know how the lawyers like to peck and sniff.”

  “Nonsense, man. They’ll do what the King expects them to. Robert assures me that James is taking the matter up himself.”

  “What bothers me,” said Lady Suffolk, “is this accusation of impotence. Why Essex was demanding that she live with him when they were at Chartley, and she was locking her door against him. He has pleaded with us ever since to exercise out parental rights to make her share his bed. And you call this impotence!”r />
  “Frances does, it seems,” said Northampton with a sly chuckle.

  “Essex might have difficulty in proving otherwise when a girl like Frances is ready to swear to it!”

  Lady Suffolk burst into coarse laughter. “Surely it wouldn’t be an impossibility for Essex to prove his potency.”

  “You fret over details. Let the King show his eagerness for the divorce and if Essex is a wise man he’ll not interfere. After all, his great desire is to get back to the country. Give him a divorce and a new wife who is ready to live the life he wants her to, and he’ll be amenable.”

  “I’m not so sure,” said Suffolk.

  “Come, come,” interrupted Northampton. “You meet troubles halfway. Carr is the most influential man in this country. James scarcely ever makes an appointment without consulting him. Think what this marriage is going to mean to the Howards. All the important posts in the country can fall into our hands. You have reason to rejoice that you produced your daughter Frances.”

  “I am thirsty,” said the Countess. “Let us drink to the marriage of Robert Carr and Frances Howard.”

  A messenger from Hammersmith arrived at the Court; he asked to see the Countess of Essex without delay.

  Frances, in a state of bemused joy since Carr had suggested the divorce, and her family had taken up the idea with such enthusiasm, took the note to her apartment and read it twice before she realized the urgency behind the words.

  It was from Mrs. Turner, who asked that she come to Hammersmith without delay. It was imperative that they meet for Mrs. Turner had discovered something too secret to put to paper.

  At the first opportunity Frances accompanied by Jennet rode over to Hammersmith.

  Anne Turner was waiting for her, and Frances saw at once that she was distraught.

  “I had to see you,” said Anne, and her hands trembled as she embraced Frances. “A terrible thing has happened.”

  “Pray tell me quickly.”

  “Do you remember Mary Woods … but of course you don’t. She was one of several. You gave her a ring set with diamonds and she promised in return to give you certain powders.”

  “I do not need the powders now that I am to divorce Essex. I no longer care what happens to him.”

  “But listen, my sweet friend. Mary Woods has been arrested and a diamond ring found on her person. When she was questioned she said it was given her by a great lady in an effort to persuade her to supply poison, that the lady might rid herself of her husband.”

  “She mentioned names?”

  Anne nodded anxiously.

  “But this is terrible. She said that I—”

  “She said the ring had been given her by the Countess of Essex.”

  “Where did she say this?”

  “In a court in the county of Suffolk where she was brought before the justices.”

  Frances covered her face with her hands. It could not be—not now that she was going to be divorced from Essex, not now that Robert was eager to marry her and they would settle down together and live happily and openly for the rest of their lives.

  “Oh, Anne,” she moaned, “what shall I do? There will be such a scandal.”

  Anne took her hands and held them firmly.

  “There must not be a scandal,” she said.

  “How prevent it.”

  “You have influential friends.”

  “Robert! Tell Robert that I have met such people! He would be horrified. He wouldn’t love me anymore. There would be no need for a divorce for he would not want to marry me.”

  “I was thinking of your great-uncle. He wants the marriage. He is the Lord Privy Seal. I’ll swear that he could put an end to proceedings in a small Suffolk Court if he wished.”

  Frances looked at her friend with wide, frightened eyes.

  “You should lose no time,” advised Anne. “For if this case went too far, even the Lord Privy Seal might not be able to stop its becoming known throughout the country.”

  Northampton looked sternly at his frantic great-niece.

  “So you gave the woman the ring?”

  “Yes, I gave it to her.”

  “In exchange for a powder?”

  “No, that she should procure the powder.”

  “Did you know the woman was a witch?”

  “I know nothing of her except that I was told she could find me this powder.”

  Northampton was seeing his kinswoman afresh. Good God, he thought, there is nothing she would stop at. She had been trying to poison Essex!

  Well, he knew what it meant to have an ambition and see others in the way of it. It was because she was young, so beautiful a woman that he was shocked.

  She would never forget that she was a Howard; she would work for the family when she was married to Carr. And marry Carr she must; for now the project was as important to him as it was delightful to her.

  “Leave this to me,” he said. “The case must go no further. Let us hope it has not gone too far.”

  He did not wait to say more; he must send orders at once to Suffolk. It was only a matter of time. If the message reached the Court before sentence was pronounced he could rely on everyone concerned carrying out his wishes.

  The woman must be freed and sent away. An eye could be kept on her and a witch-finder sent to incriminate her later, for she was undoubtedly a witch. But this ring which she had said was a gift from the Countess of Essex must be forgotten.

  That was an anxious time, but eventually Northampton was able to send for his niece and told her that the affair had been hushed up. The woman’s case had been dismissed and she had gone off with the ring.

  “Let us hope, niece,” he said grimly, “that you have not committed more acts of folly which will come home to roost.”

  Frances was uneasy for a few days; but she could not persist in that state.

  She was too happy; all impatience to finish with Essex, all eager desire for marriage with Robert Carr.

  Overbury could not believe it. When he had been told the news he had laughed at it.

  “Nonsense,” he had said, “Court gossip, nothing more. Essex impotent! Look at him! That young man is as normal as any wife could wish.”

  “Not as normal as the Countess of Essex wished, evidently” was the rejoinder.

  Overbury went to his apartment which adjoined that of Robert Carr.

  If it were indeed true, and he feared it was, there could be one reason for it. The Countess of Essex hoped to marry Robert Carr.

  If that should ever come about it would be the end of the friendship between Robert Carr and Tom Overbury, for he, Overbury, would never endure her insolence. He thought of all those occasions when he had criticized her to Robert and how his friend had shrugged aside his insinuations.

  Robert was so guileless: he did not see behind that mask of beauty. Overbury was ready to grant the lady her attractions; he was ready to admit that she might well be reckoned the most beautiful woman at Court. But he saw beyond the beauty. He saw wantonness, lust, ambition, selfishness and cruelty.

  Robert must be made to understand what sort of woman this was and that if he wished to retain his high position he must not marry her.

  In the heat of rage against the Countess and anger at the folly of his friend he waylaid the latter on his way from the King’s apartments and said he must speak to him without delay.

  “What has happened to you, Tom?” asked Robert. “You look distraught.”

  “I have just heard some disquieting news which I want you to tell me is false.”

  “Oh? What is that?”

  “That the Countess of Essex is planning to divorce her husband on the grounds of impotence.”

  A cautious look had come over Robert’s face. “I believe that to be true.”

  “The Countess’s motives are clear.”

  “To you?”

  “Yes, and to anyone else who knows what has been going on during the last months.”

  “You are over-excited, Tom.”

>   “Of course I’m over-excited. I see you on the brink of ruin. Isn’t that enough to excite me?”

  “You’ve been drinking too much.”

  “I am quite sober, Robert. Do you realize that that woman is dangerous?”

  Robert shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t want to discuss her with you, Tom. I have told you that before.”

  “You’re going to discuss her with me, Robert,”

  “You forget your position.”

  “Nay, I forget nothing. I am the one who wrote the letters, do you remember? I am the one who wrote the poems. I know what has been taking place between you two all the time you have been professing friendship with Essex.”

  Robert flushed angrily; it was a point on which he was very vulnerable. He had never been able to dismiss the thought of Essex from his mind even at the peak of satisfaction; and he was so happy now that Frances had explained about the fellow’s impotence because that changed everything. He could not feel the same shame at making love to a man’s wife when that man was incapable of doing so. And when the divorce had gone through and they were married, they would be quite respectable. That was what he was looking forward to and Tom was spoiling it. He wished he had never allowed Tom to write those letters. Tom knew too much.

  “Essex is impotent,” began Robert.

  “That’s the tale she tells. Why, at Chartley she had to lock her door to keep him out. Ask Wilson.”

  “Who is Wilson?”

  “Not high and mighty enough for the noble lord’s acquaintance, of course. Wilson is a scholar and a gentleman who serves Essex and is his friend.”

  “I am glad he has such a friend.”

  “Having robbed him of his wife you wish him to have some small comfort I see. Generous of you, Robert.”

  “Don’t let us quarrel about this, Tom.”

  “Quarrel. Robert, you are bemused by that woman. You cannot see clearly. You cannot think. I tell you this: if you marry her she will be your ruin. I am as certain of it as I ever was of anything in my life.”

  “You have taken a dislike to her. It is not the first time you have sought to turn me against her.”