First of the Tudors

by Joanna Hickson

  It was then I learned from Jasper that the peregrine and the merlin are the prerogative of earls and countesses and the reason I was only ever allowed a goshawk was because that is the yeoman’s bird. ‘Actually you should be grateful,’ Jasper said, ‘in my experience the gos is the wilier hunter and will fill your game-pouch more quickly.’ Seeing my mulish expression, he went on, ‘Besides, Jane, you will never get Master Falconer to allow you to break rules that emerged from the mists of time, and you must not cross him. I pay him more than my Treasurer and I cannot afford to lose him if I am to play Pembrokeshire’s overlord convincingly.’

  ‘Why did you agree to let me learn falconry with Lady Margaret then, my lord, if you knew I would always be at a disadvantage?’ Perhaps Arthur was sensitive to my petulant tone for he suddenly bated off Jasper’s fist and flapped wildly upside down until his master managed to restore him to his dignified upright stance. Even though he was hooded, the falcon assumed an injured air, averting his head from my direction.

  Jasper stroked Arthur’s breast and whispered a few consoling words to him before turning back to me, his brow creased deeply in a frown. ‘Is anything the matter, Jane? I have explained about the hawking protocol, surely it cannot simply be that?’

  He was right and more perceptive than I had given him credit for. His manner was gentle, full of concern and we were close together in the twilight of the mews. I had spent so many years keeping my feelings to myself, disguising them from the world and above all from him. His face was inches from mine, his soft, full lips curved in a half-smile and his bright blue eyes wide with enquiry. Arid years of unfulfilled longing rushed in on me and my control snapped.

  ‘No, it has nothing to do with hawking. It is simply this.’ Impulsively I went on tiptoe to kiss him. I felt his instinctive, startled surprise at the sudden contact change gradually to eager acceptance and there was a long moment of spine-tingling pleasure while our lips remained fused and I believed my heart might burst. Then I felt his withdrawal, not with a sudden jerk but with a reluctant, almost apologetic removal of consent.

  We broke apart and for several silent moments we gazed at each other, the space between us filled with unspoken questions and then his sandy lashes dropped over his eyes. ‘No, Jane, this cannot be,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I am sorry.’

  I had no intention of begging but nevertheless I could hear the agonized pleading in my response. ‘Why can it not be? We are not such close cousins that it is forbidden, we are both free and I have loved you since the first time you came to Tŷ Cerrig. You cannot deny that you find me attractive and you know that you can never have Lady Margaret.’ His eyes flashed at the mention of her name and I continued hurriedly. ‘I do not mind if you do not love me now. Later you will. We would be happy together, I know it.’

  He rubbed his forehead distractedly and then bent to take both my hands in his. This time he did not allow his gaze to leave mine. ‘I do love you, in my fashion. But this has nothing to do with love, Jane. It has to do with honour – and dishonour. Marriage between us is impossible. My brother the king would never permit it.’

  ‘Why would he never permit it?’ I knew I sounded desperate and I hated myself for it but, regardless, I had to scratch at the wound that was already bleeding. ‘I am of common stock I know, but that same stock was good enough for King Henry’s mother – your mother – and she was a queen. Why should he deny you what he allowed her?’

  ‘He did not allow her – she married without permission and it is only because King Henry is a forgiving monarch and our mother is dead that he has overlooked her transgression. He would not do the same for me. Besides I owe him my loyalty and compliance, simply because he has chosen to recognize me as his brother.’

  ‘But he has not acknowledged you out of kindness. He has done it because he needs you. Apart from his wife and baby son you are the only close family he has. You are his knight champion. The gauntlet on his hand, always ready to fend off his enemies. He will not disown you if you follow your heart.’

  ‘Perhaps not but he will no longer trust me.’ Jasper sighed and cupped my chin in his hand, gazing more deeply into my eyes. ‘I am not a free man, Jane, but that is of my own choosing. You must believe me when I say that I will never betray his trust. I will always support and defend my brother the king as long as I have breath in my body.’

  ‘And what if he never gives you permission to marry?’ I was losing heart. The look in his eyes told me I had made a mistake in revealing my true feelings for him.

  He shrugged and dropped his hand, leaving me bereft. ‘Then I shall die without issue. I may do so, even if I do marry. It is all in God’s hands.’

  I wanted to tell him that I would love him and give him children without the sanction of marriage but I did not want to hear the word ‘honour’ again. I had heard enough of Lord Jasper’s thoughts on that subject.

  17

  Jane

  Pembroke Castle

  THE FEAST OF ALL Souls came and went and Harri loved the guising and the games we played to scare the evil spirits away. Maredudd dressed up as an imp, his face blackened with ashes, and leapt through a flaming ring to flee, capering in fear at the sight of a wooden crucifix decorated with evergreens, causing the nine-month-old infant to laugh and clap his chubby hands. In Jasper’s new mansion the gloom of the lying-in chamber was a distant memory; it had become our playroom, with colourful hangings and cushions, rugs on the floor and a guard before the fire to prevent accidents. Harri had been weaned onto bread messes, vegetable pottage and ewe’s milk from a special cup and the wet nurse had returned to her home in Pembroke.

  November rain and gales howled in, sending us all to seek warmth around the hearth and tell each other ghost stories. Lord Jasper’s couriers brought letters and Lady Margaret maintained a regular correspondence with Sir Henry Stafford. His latest missive held news of the wedding.

  ‘We are to be married on January 3rd at Maxstoke Castle,’ she said, looking up from reading it. ‘Oh that is a pretty place. I went there once with my mother. It is only two days’ ride from Bletsoe.’

  I looked up from my sewing. ‘And will your mother come to the wedding?’

  ‘Possibly not, I think she may hold Christmas in Lincolnshire. But you will come I hope, Jane. And Jasper too, of course.’ Margaret pouted a little. ‘What a shame Henry does not yet walk or he could have stood beside me as my supporter.’

  I smiled at the thought. ‘He will not be one year old. A little young perhaps.’

  ‘I have been meaning to ask whether you will continue as Henry’s governess after I am married, Jane? It would be so good for him to have someone familiar there while he accustoms himself to new surroundings.’

  I bit my lip, considering. I was very fond of baby Harri and I admired his clever, accomplished young mother, but did I really want to go to live in England? Indeed did I want to leave Pembroke, to which Jasper Tudor would surely always return while he remained its earl? But how could I remain in his household if there was no little Harri to look after and no Lady Margaret to attend?

  I prevaricated. ‘Of course I would be honoured to remain with you and Harri but it might involve some negotiation with Lord Jasper, to whom I have sworn allegiance; and with my father, who expects me back under his roof when my task here comes to an end.’

  Margaret did not consider these hurdles to be of any consequence. ‘I will speak to Jasper,’ she said, tucking the letter from Sir Henry away in the casket she kept for the purpose and locking it with the key she wore on a gold chain around her neck. ‘I think he will not deny me.’

  But on this matter she was wrong. During his next visit to the nursery when I mentioned Lady Margaret’s offer Lord Jasper’s expression immediately darkened and he left me, tossing an odd remark over his shoulder as he left. ‘Do not pack your saddlebags yet, Jane.’

  The next thing I heard was a wail of dissent from the solar and Lady Margaret’s voice raised in anguish. ‘No! That is not possible. I
t is not right. I will not allow this! You can stop it, Jasper, I know you can.’

  Jasper’s low, murmured response was indecipherable but Margaret’s shrill retort was clearly audible and very revealing. ‘The king can say what he likes. He is only Henry’s uncle. I am his mother and I am not leaving Pembroke without my son.’

  I caught my breath. I knew Lord Jasper had been made Lady Margaret’s guardian after Lord Edmund’s death but had custody of her son also been granted to him? After their marriage Sir Henry would assume charge over his wife but he would not automatically take custody of her son, especially when the boy was of the blood royal. I understood enough of court procedure to realize that ultimate responsibility for his care resided with the king, who had the power to delegate it wherever he chose. I also knew for a fact that it had never entered Margaret’s head that it might not be granted to her.

  Harri was having a nap when Margaret rushed into the nursery wearing her green riding kirtle, a hat and boots. ‘Can you find your brother for me, Jane?’ she demanded, for once not considering the slumbers of her precious son. ‘The Marshall will not allow me to take my palfrey out alone.’

  I put my finger to my lips and ushered her gently out of the nursery. ‘Why now, my lady? It is nearly dinner time and threatening rain.’ I peered at her more closely. ‘Have you been crying? What is the matter?’

  She brushed my questions aside. ‘Never mind that. I am angry. I need air and I need speed. Riding clears my head. Perhaps you would come with me too, Jane? Alice can watch the baby.’

  ‘If you wish it but neither of us goes without a cloak.’

  I fetched two cloaks from the guardrobe and pulled on my boots, also stowed there. On my return I said, ‘Maredudd will be at arms practice still and he will not be pleased to miss his dinner.’

  Margaret did not quite stamp her foot but she became dauntingly haughty. ‘Tell him to fetch some food from the kitchen on my orders. Do not be long. I will see you both in the stables.’ Snatching her cloak from me, she ran off down the nearby stair.

  With a sigh I hastened to carry out my errands, thinking I had never known Margaret so forceful. She had shown an amazing ability to exert her will. Was this the effect of royal blood in the veins I wondered? I found Alice and sent her to the nursery and set off in search of Maredudd. As I had predicted, he was not best pleased at the prospect of missing the main meal of the day. ‘What ails her?’ he complained, glancing up at the dark mass of cloud gathering in the north sky behind the Great Tower. ‘It is hardly the weather for riding out.’

  ‘Something Lord Jasper said has made her angry. She is headstrong and wants to ride fast somewhere. Where do you suggest?’ We were striding across the Outer Ward in the direction of the stables.

  ‘I suppose we could head along the river towards Lamphey. It should be more sheltered there.’ As we passed, fragrant steam belched from the door of the castle kitchen and Maredudd nudged me in its direction. ‘I have been training since first light. Fetch some food, sis. I cannot do this on an empty stomach.’ I had forgotten to pass on to him Lady Margaret’s order that he should get food from the kitchen and now could not bring myself to mention it.

  The head cook hated women in his kitchen. ‘Keep out!’ he snarled at me. ‘You will curdle the sauce!’

  I ignored him and ran through to the bakery. The pastry cook was more amenable and tossed several pasties into a linen bag when I explained my errand. ‘Bring the bag back!’ he ordered but smiled as he handed it over.

  I had not been long but when I got to the stables there was no sign of Lady Margaret or Maredudd. The duty groom gave a shrug and reluctantly set down the barrowload of horse dung he was wheeling out to the midden. ‘My lady was in a hurry,’ he said. ‘She said you should catch them up.’

  ‘Is there a horse I can take?’ I asked. A glance down the line of stalls did not reveal a saddled mount.

  The groom shook his head. ‘No women allowed to ride out alone. Not without the Marshall’s say-so and he went to the hall for his dinner.’

  I glared at him. ‘So how am I to catch them up?’

  He shrugged again and bent to raise the barrow’s legs. ‘No idea,’ he said rudely and trundled it away under the stable arch, leaving me seething and anxious. There was nothing else for it; I would have to tell Lord Jasper.

  By the time he had mustered a posse of men, all grumbling about going on a wild goose chase unfed, the rain had begun to fall in torrents. Although I had pulled the hood of my cloak well down over my brow I could feel the sting of the raindrops on my cheeks.

  ‘Margaret will be soaked,’ Jasper fretted. ‘What can have possessed her to go off like this? Thank the Blessed Virgin that Maredudd is with her at least.’

  It was not until we were trotting past St Mary’s church and down the hill to the river that I plucked up courage to ask, ‘What did you say to her earlier, my lord? She was very upset by something.’

  A guilty look crossed his face and he glanced about to see if there were other ears to hear. ‘Perhaps I should have told her this before but I did not want to give her too long to brood over it. Young Harri is to stay here at Pembroke. The king wants me to oversee his upbringing.’

  My suspicions were confirmed. The mighty power of the crown was removing Lady Margaret’s little boy from her care. There would be no argument, no right of appeal, no consideration of a mother’s feelings. However hard she railed against it, racing through the wind and rain to vent her feelings, at the end of her ride nothing would have changed. Lady Margaret Beaufort was to go to her new husband as an unencumbered bride and someone else would raise the child she had nearly died to bring into the world. It was a fait accompli, tantamount to abduction.

  ‘Oh dear God,’ I said, my voice shaking with fury. ‘I should think she will want to ride and ride and ride until she drops.’

  A look of horror drained all colour from Jasper’s rain-washed cheeks. ‘Oh no, we will find her. We must find her. Are you sure they headed this way?’

  ‘Well that was Maredudd’s idea and she might see Lamphey as some kind of refuge. What else have we to go on? At least she is not alone.’

  ‘I will never forgive myself if she comes to any harm,’ he yelled over the sough of the wind in the trees lining the course of the Pembroke River. Raising his arm, he called an order and the whole posse broke into a canter along the well-worn bankside trail. ‘St Margaret preserve my lady of Richmond!’ Jasper shouted into the gathering gale. ‘A cask of wine to the first to sight her.’

  We found them several miles further on, where the river curled around the outskirts of Lamphey village to flow under a bridge into the demesne of the bishop’s palace. Lady Margaret was lying prone among the exposed roots of a willow and no man could have been more relieved to see us approach than Maredudd, who leapt up from her side and grabbed Jasper’s bridle.

  ‘God be praised you have come, my lord,’ he cried, his teeth chattering. ‘It was a tree root – Lady Margaret’s horse tripped.’

  Jasper swung down from the saddle, not waiting to hear more. I followed more slowly, careful to pull my skirts over the cantle before jumping down; we did not need two unconscious women lying in the rain. Jasper had thrown himself to his knees beside Margaret, hands clasped, eyes closed, his lips moving in prayer. It was as if he could not bear to look on her and find her dead.

  ‘She is stirring, my lord,’ I said, dropping down to lay my hand on the girl’s brow. I could see her eyelids fluttering and put my mouth to her ear. ‘Can you hear me, my lady? It is Jane.’ Her eyes flew open, full of alarm and she tried to rise but I firmly pushed her down. ‘No, no. You must stay still until we see if you are hurt. You have had a fall. Can you feel any pain?’ The hood of her cloak had fallen back and drips from the branches above were splashing on her face. Her hat was missing; I felt carefully around her head and neck to see if there was any blood and sighed with relief to discover that it was only water soaking her hair.

  ‘My shoul
der hurts,’ she said, shrinking from my touch. I noticed that her arm was caught underneath her body and I eased it very gently clear. She cried out but not in agony. ‘That is better,’ she said. I saw her skirts move as she tested her legs. When she spoke again, her voice was hesitant but remarkably calm. ‘I – do not think anything is broken.’

  I heard Jasper expel his breath in a long sigh. ‘Jesu be thanked,’ he murmured and stood up, turning to his men and re-assuming command. ‘Someone find Lady Margaret’s palfrey. Maredudd, go to the palace and tell them we are bringing her in. The Infirmarian can prepare a bed and she can rest overnight. Jane, you will stay with her. Can she walk, or should I carry her?’

  ‘Help me up, Jane,’ said Lady Margaret, gingerly raising herself but noticeably saving her right arm. With her left hand, slowly and carefully I hauled her to her feet and she immediately turned her back on Lord Jasper. ‘It is just my arm that hurts. I can walk, thank you.’

  The earl dashed moisture from his face; it may have been tears, it may have been raindrops. Frowning despondently at her averted back, he said, ‘I will come with you to the palace, Margaret, to make sure they look after you.’

  I supported her at her waist as she put her good arm around my shoulders. ‘That will not be necessary, my lord. Jane will take me.’ Her voice sounded hard and uncompromising, her raw resentment at the custody arrangement painfully evident.

  We lay one night at the bishop’s palace but Lady Margaret would not stay longer. She said it held too many memories of Lord Edmund and I understood her wish to get away, especially as, apart from the wrenched shoulder and a few bruises, she had been lucky – or else she had divine protection. When she rose the following morning her first action was to go to the palace chapel and thank St Margaret for preserving her from serious injury. The palace servants had dried our outer garments and the gale had blown itself out. Maredudd rode over from Pembroke on a pillion saddle and she travelled back behind him at a sedate pace. On the road we met Lord Jasper coming to check on her condition but once again she averted her gaze and answered him only in monosyllables.