‘We have both lost someone we loved to the vagaries of the King’s desire.’ said Ralph sadly, looking up at Meg carefully.
‘While the King has taken Kitty on a Progress, I might go back to Hever.’ Meg spoke through a mouthful of fruit. Ralph looked up at her sharply.
‘I will miss you, Meg, so much.’ Ralph reached up and stroked her hair out of her eyes as it escaped from under her cap. ‘I wish you wouldn’t go.’
‘I’m not needed here now Kitty is Queen.’ Meg struggled to remember to say Queen Catherine. ‘Jane Rochford is her chief lady in waiting, as well as the other high-born ladies of the court. I was always Cat’s maid in any case, so I’ll go back to her.’
‘I need you, Meg. Stay here. Stay with me.’ Ralph sat up and took her hand. ‘Should I speak to your father first Meg? Before I speak to you?’
Meg’s eyes were huge as she looked at Ralph. She had slowly fallen in love with this quiet, kind, sensitive man but had never felt that he would ask her to marry him. They had shared a few gentle kisses and spent time getting to know each other, but his behaviour towards her had never been less than gentlemanly, and now he had asked if he should speak to her father!
‘No,’ she laughed softly, ‘you don’t need to speak to my father. He would like you immensely, Ralph, and be proud and pleased that you want to marry me. But he could not give me a dowry. I have only the necklace Lady Anne gave me and I …’
Ralph placed his finger on her lips to still her chatter. Her voice was rising and he could tell that she was surprised.
‘I don’t need you to sell Lady Anne’s necklace for a dowry, my Meg. I have sufficient money for us to live well enough. You don’t need to sell your treasure to make me want you. I have wanted you for a long time, but I can wait a little longer if you need to think about it?’
‘There is nothing for me to think about. I love you, Ralph. I think I started to love you the day we met, and now I’m sure that I do. I would be happy and honoured to be your wife.’
‘That’s settled then.’ He smiled at her in satisfaction and then popped another slice of apple into her mouth, kissing her as he did so, and tasting the sweet juice of the apple on her lips.
‘Mmm! Will your kisses for me always be so sweet, my Meg?’ he laughed as she swiped at his hat with her hand, unable to speak until she had chewed and swallowed.
‘Always,’ and she tipped her head up and stood on her toes so she could kiss him again before they both went back to their duties.
***
The Progress was so the King could show off his tiny jewel of a Queen to the country, and so they could be away from London during the summer months, away from the pestilence that so often visited the overcrowded capital. The business of running the country however, never stopped, so the King was accompanied by Norfolk and Suffolk as representatives of the Privy Council as well as Wriothesley and Richard Rich who were Cromwell’s successors. Ralph had been left behind to run the office and clerks in their absence.
Even Henry recognised that visiting Hever on his progress would be somewhat insensitive, so he and his Queen stayed at nearby Leeds Castle, so that Norfolk could take Kitty to see Mary while Henry went hawking with his gentlemen. Henry enjoyed flying his hawks, and he was able to take part in this sport without any pressure on his injured leg.
Kitty was excited to be going to see Mary, and she would be happy to see Cat, who was also at Hever awaiting the date of her wedding.
‘Oh Uncle, I’m so pleased to be able to see Cat before she gets married. I miss her so much. And Cousin Mary is always so kind to me. Where will Cat live when she’s married, Uncle? Will she come back to court?’ Kitty was almost bouncing with excitement in the carriage, and it took all Norfolk’s strength of will not to shout at her.
‘Calm yourself, your Highness,’ Norfolk forced himself to patience and spoke respectfully to his niece, even though she persisted in calling him ‘Uncle’ when he would have preferred ‘Monseigneur’. ‘You will see Lady Mary and her daughter very soon. As to where Lady Catherine will be living after her marriage, I have things I need to discuss with her mother before that is decided.’
Kitty just nodded excitedly at him and went back to looking out of the carriage window. Norfolk watched Kitty, marvelling at how lovely and sweet and vacant she was. He shook his head to think how much power this vacuous child could wield, if she were different.
‘Cousin Mary! Cat! Cat!’ Kitty shrieked as the carriage came to a halt in the stable yard at Hever. Both Mary and Cat were waiting for her arrival, and both swept to the floor in respectful curtseys as Kitty, not waiting for a servant, clambered down from the carriage, much to Norfolk’s disgust.
‘Your Highness,’ said Mary, eyes downcast as she greeted the Queen. Kitty rushed towards her, arms flung wide and it was fortunate that Mary was quick enough to stand from her curtsey or Kitty would have knocked them both flat with her hugs and kisses. Mary carefully hugged her back, then Kitty turned and repeated the affectionate greeting with Cat. Norfolk’s eyes met Mary’s over the heads of the two girls.
‘Monseigneur,’ Mary bobbed a brief curtsey to her uncle, and Norfolk nodded his own greeting.
‘I will see your parents, Mary, before I come and find you. It will give you a chance,’ he nodded at Kitty and Cat, whispering and giggling together as always, ‘to speak to her Highness in private.’
***
Mary shepherded both girls, still laughing, towards her solar, and then she dismissed the servants.
‘Well, your Highness. How goes it, being Queen?’ asked Mary, seating herself and pouring cups of watered wine for them all.
‘It’s lovely, Cousin Mary. Everyone is so nice to me, so kind. And the King loves me so much, he’ll do anything for me.’ Kitty giggled and helped herself to a sweetmeat from the platter passed by Cat.
‘And is there likely to be a prince in the cradle soon?’ Mary waited for Kitty to finish chewing before she answered.
‘Not very soon,’ replied Kitty, smiling slyly.
‘Cat, my lovely. Would you go and find Geoffrey and ask him to give you another jug of watered wine for us, please?’ The look in her mother’s eyes silenced any protest Cat might have been going to make about her being sent on an unnecessary errand.
‘Yes, of course, Mother,’ she turned and smiled at Kitty, ‘I’ll be back soon, and then we can have a lovely talk while Monseigneur speaks to Mother.’ Kitty nodded back happily, eating another sweetmeat. Mary waited while Cat closed the door.
‘Do you and Henry share a bed sometimes, my lovely?’
‘Well, sometimes I go to his bedchamber, Cousin. He finds it difficult to come to mine, because my chamber is up some stairs and he struggles with his leg. But when he wants me, he sends for me.’
‘And then?’ Mary couldn’t believe how prurient this conversation was becoming, but Kitty didn’t seem to notice.
‘He likes me to take my hair down and dance for him.’
‘Dance for him? Just that? Dancing in his room?’
‘Well!’ Mary closed her eyes. The tone of that “well” made Mary think that Kitty was about to share information that she would rather not know.
‘Well, sometimes I have to keep my robe on because Tom hasn’t finished dressing Henry’s leg. But when Tom goes, Henry likes me to take my robe off before I dance for him.’
‘So you dance for Henry in just your nightgown? After his leg has been dressed and Tom has gone?’
Kitty nodded enthusiastically, then lowered her voice to a whisper, ‘Sometimes I let my robe slip open when Tom is still there. When I let him out of the room, before I can turn the latch, I let it slip open.’
‘So
this gentleman who dresses the King’s ulcer, Tom. He has seen you in your nightgown when you let your robe slip open?’
Kitty put another sweetmeat in her mouth, and spoke round it, muffling her words, ‘Tom Culpeper. And I don’t wear a nightgown when I dance. Just my hair.’ She giggled as she finished chewing. ‘Tom’s eyes go very round, and he blushes.’
‘Does the King know you do this, my lovely?’ Mary was trying hard not to show how shocked she was.
‘The King can’t see the door from his bed, because of the curtains, Cousin Mary,’ this said as if Mary was foolish for asking the question, ‘and Tom doesn’t speak when I do it. He just puts a finger out and touches my….. my breast, to say ‘goodnight’. Then I go back to Henry and take off my robe and dance. Then when I’ve danced, I go to Henry on the bed, and get under the covers with him, and let him do what he wants,’ Kitty’s voice lowered now, as if she had come to the part she didn’t really want to talk about, and she shrugged her shoulders, ‘I don’t mind what he does, Cousin Mary, because the King loves me. He doesn’t really hurt me, and he always kisses me afterwards, but I don’t think I’ll be having a baby.’ Kitty shook her head to emphasise the point.
‘I don’t think you should let Tom touch your breasts, my lovely,’ Mary was having difficulty controlling her voice, keeping it gentle and reasonable, ‘I think your body should just belong to the King.’
‘Tom says he loves me, Cousin Mary. And the King can’t do the things to me that Tom can. It doesn’t take anything from the King – I let him do what he wants, but he’s too old to do much.’
‘But he’s the King, my lovely, and you’re the Queen, so you belong to him.’ Mary was trying to keep her explanations simple so Kitty could understand.
‘I do belong to him, Cousin. Only last week I went and found him. He was waiting for the council to come into the meeting room, so I went and sat on his knee, his good knee, and he undid my bodice and began to suck my breasts. Right there in the council room.’ Kitty giggled at the memory, and Mary closed her eyes in irritation at how this simple-minded girl was being manipulated by men that should know better.
‘Then the councillors came in and were so shocked when the King didn’t stop kissing and sucking while they watched, their mouths gaping. But they would have been even more shocked, Cousin, if they could have seen where his fingers were, right up inside my …..’
‘Ah, Cat, with more wine,’ Mary interrupted Kitty’s story in a relieved voice, shocked to her very core with the things Kitty was telling her. She would ask Norfolk if it was likely to be true, while the two girls chatted and laughed together.
Chapter 11 - 1540
ary and Norfolk walked along the paved veranda that overlooked the vast gardens at Hever. They watched Cat and Kitty, hoods cast aside unheeded on the grass, as they chased each other along the paths and over the lush green lawn. Mary tried not to remember watching Anne and George doing exactly the same thing.
‘Monseigneur, do you know who Tom Culpeper is?’ Mary was frantically trying to think how to tell Norfolk what she had discovered in her conversation with Kitty without setting loose his famed temper.
‘He’s the boy that tends Henry’s leg. The lad has a strong stomach, I’ll hazard. Hell’s teeth, Mary, the stench is terrible. I don’t know how she stands it.’ He nodded towards Kitty, screeching with laughter as she ran away from Cat. ‘Why do you ask about him?’
‘Kitty mentioned him. Says he is sometimes tending Henry’s ulcer when she is summoned to Henry’s bedchamber.’
‘Hmph! According to Jane, she isn’t summoned that often. He prefers to sleep alone. It’s when everyone’s awake that he can’t keep his hands off her! Why, only the other week, he had her tits out in front of the council, and she didn’t seem to care.’
Mary closed her eyes, haunted by the vision of Henry, old, fat, stinking, having his hands all over and inside the little jewel she could see running round the garden with her own little treasure. ‘Yes,’ Mary murmured, ‘Kitty told me about that. About how shocked you all were. She thought it was funny!’
‘Hmph!,’ responded Norfolk, ‘She’ll not get with child if she isn’t summoned, Mary. But, being honest, I doubt Henry is capable of getting her with child. And God knows we don’t want a repeat of last time!’
Mary pushed down her fury at Norfolk’s insensitive reference, and said pleasantly, ‘I just think you should ask Jane to keep a close eye on her, and who she associates with, Uncle. As you say, we don’t need another scandal.’
‘Jane has sharp eyes and a sharper tongue. She seems to love Kitty like she has never loved anyone before, Mary. It is like a hen with one chick. I’m sure she’ll come to no mischief while Jane keeps guard!’
‘Let us hope she guards her well then, Uncle. So, you wanted to speak to me about something else?’ Mary kept her voice level, waiting for something she knew she wouldn’t like.
Norfolk had thought how to broach this subject tactfully with Mary, but his soldier’s bluntness got the better of him. ‘There is a position for Cat with Princess Elizabeth’s household at Hatfield after her wedding, Mary. It would be good for her, and for Elizabeth. She is growing, and needs to know her family.’ He found he was holding his breath, waiting for Mary’s reaction to this proposition.
‘What a wonderful idea!’ Mary beamed at him, and he let his breath go silently. He never was much good predicting women’s reactions, he thought. ‘Cat would flourish at Hatfield. Would Francis be able to join her?’ Mary turned her clear gaze on her uncle and raised her brows.
‘Well, erm,’ Norfolk was so nonplussed at Mary’s approval, he had forgotten what else he had to say, ‘well, yes. Elizabeth is around eight now, to my thinking. She has her own household, and Henry has made sure she has the best tutors, but she needs educated people around her, like your Cat and Francis Knollys. He would make an effective secretary to manage her finances. He is so wealthy himself we needn’t worry about funds being, shall we say, diverted from the Princess.’
‘He is really a wonderful man, Uncle. I’m sure you would approve of him, and Cat loves him. I’m sure they will be very happy together at Hatfield, and they would both be good for Elizabeth.’ It crossed Mary’s mind that they would be far away from court when disaster struck, but she didn’t say anything to her uncle. She looked across the garden at the girls, who had flopped onto the grass, heedless of the silks of their gowns, and had started to make daisy chains to wear as crowns.
‘Come along, girls. The Queen will have to leave soon if she is to have supper with the King.’
Cat jumped up and started to collect their discarded shoes and hoods. Kitty picked up a ruby and diamond necklace that she had carelessly tossed into the grass because it was too heavy to run with it round her neck. They raced up to the veranda and then Cat sat on the steps to put on her stockings and shoes, handing her hood to Mary to hold while she did so. Kitty stuffed her feet into her slippers, and brushed grass off the front of her rose-coloured silk gown.
‘You have time to put on your stockings, Kitty. Monseigneur has just gone to tell the grooms to ready the carriage.’ Mary smiled at the little Queen, who looked for all the world like a child dressed in her mother’s gown. Kitty looked sideways at Mary and smiled a little smile.
‘The King doesn’t like me to wear stockings, Cousin Mary.’
‘Oh,’ breathed Mary, quite taken aback by that statement. ‘Why not?’ before she had chance to think, the words were past her lips.
‘He doesn’t like me to wear anything under my gowns, Cousin,’ she whispered, suddenly aware that perhaps Cat didn’t need to know this sort of secret. ‘He likes my body to be bare underneath the silks, he says. He likes to think of me like that when he is away from me.’ She shrugged her should
ers and smiled at Mary, face clear of worry. ‘He likes to think of me because he loves me so much. Will you fasten my necklace, please, and straighten my hood? I must look lovely when the King sees me – he hasn’t seen me all day, and he will have missed me.’
Mary blinked back tears so she could fasten the necklace on the little Queen, naked beneath her silk at the old King’s request. She tried not to feel sick.
***
‘Quickly, Jane, quickly. The King will already be there, and I don’t want to miss the dancing.’ Kitty wriggled with impatience as Jane Rochford placed the gold and amethyst filet on Kitty’s lustrous hair.
‘Shouldn’t your Highness wear a French hood for the dancing?’ asked Jane, biting her lip that her charge wasn’t properly dressed for the occasion. It was customary for a feast to be held on the night before the court left one venue on their progress to the next, and there was to be dancing and merriment before all the carts were loaded in the morning to move on.
‘Oh, they’ve all been packed in the clothes chests, Jane,’ giggled Kitty, with an airy wave of her hand. ‘And Henry likes my hair loose. The circlet will hold it in place, and it matches the purple of my gown beautifully.’ Kitty smiled at her own reflection in the glass. Her gown of purple silk had sleeves of palest lilac, with a panel down the front to match. The amethysts round her neck and in her hair glinted in the light, and she spun on her toes, happily watching how her skirt belled out as she turned.
‘I must go and greet the King,’ she said majestically, then burst into laughter as she opened the door and raced down the stairs to the great hall. Henry was already seated on the raised dais, his bad leg heavily bandaged and supported on a footstool. Some of his gentlemen stood round making idle conversation with each other and with the ladies of the court.
‘How now, sweeting,’ boomed Henry as Kitty trotted across the floor, skirt clutched above her feet so she didn’t trip. As she reached him, she swept into a deep curtsey, her silken skirts like a purple sea surrounding her tiny frame.
In The Midst of Madness: Tudor Chronicles Book Two Page 7
