In The Midst of Madness: Tudor Chronicles Book Two

by Lesley Jepson

  ‘Will my baby be easy to love, Meg? If he has his father’s temperament?’ Kate looked at Meg with eyes awash with tears.

  ‘You will love him because he is yours, my Lady. His father will love him too.’ Meg carefully avoided the question as Kate gazed down at Richard.

  ‘He watches me, you know.’

  ‘Richard does?’ Meg was bewildered at the turn in conversation.

  ‘Tom.’

  ‘He is concerned for you, my Lady. Now you are with child, you carry a precious burden.’

  ‘He feels it is I that am the burden, Meg. He wishes he had never married me.’

  ‘Oh my Lady! That can’t be true. Sir Thomas has loved you for so long, he was glad to make you his wife.’

  ‘He was, Meg. He is no longer!’ Kate was silent for a moment, tracing her finger down the sleeping baby’s cheek. ‘He no longer wants to make love to me.’ Tears started to fall on the blanket.

  ‘My Lady. He will fear for the child. He is being a good husband.’ Meg was starting to panic, and trying her best to keep her voice level. She remembered Mary’s words about a bolt for Elizabeth’s door.

  ‘Did Ralph…?’ Kate cleared the tears from her throat and took another breath. ‘Did you and Ralph make love while you were carrying him?’ Kate nodded down at Richard. ‘Tell me honestly, Meg. Did you?’

  ‘Yes,’ Meg whispered reluctantly.

  ‘He watches her now.’

  Meg struggled with the sudden shift of topic. ‘Who, my Lady? Who do you think he watches?’ Meg had begun to worry about Kate’s mental state. The conversation was taking so many turns, Kate’s mind didn’t seem to be able to follow thoughts through.

  ‘Her. The Princess. He watches her too. But not how he watches me!’

  ‘How does he watch her, my Lady?’ Meg was trying not to twist her fingers together and add to the agitation Kate was displaying. But she was still cradling Richard carefully, so Meg wasn’t worried about the safety of her precious boy.

  ‘He watches her like a cat at a mouse hole,’ Kate hissed the words.

  ‘And how do you think he watches you, my Lady?’

  ‘Like he’s measuring me for my shroud!’

  Kate’s head dropped and she began to cry in earnest, still rocking the baby absently. Meg put her arms round Kate’s shoulders and tried to comfort her, all the while forming in her mind the message she would send to Hever.

  ***

  Tom Seymour lifted the little maid in waiting down from the window embrasure and tried not to notice her wiping herself on the hem of her shift as he re-laced his breeches. That action always reminded him of Anne, although she had always looked him directly in the eye as she did it, as if issuing a challenge.

  ‘That was wonderful, sweeting. I hope we may do it again sometime.’ His breath ghosted past her ear as he planted a kiss on her cheek and she shivered in delight.

  ‘Oh, yes, Sir Thomas. It is always wonderful with you.’ The maid looked up at him with huge eyes but try as he might, he could neither remember their previous couplings or her name.

  He peered out from behind the hanging, then nodded to her that the coast was clear. She walked in front of him into the solar and hurried over to a knot of other maids, laughing and whispering behind their hands, and looking over in his direction as he made his way towards the wine, and Anne.

  ‘Please don’t get my maids with child, Tom,’ Anne sighed as he handed her a cup of wine.

  ‘I’m sure you know well a tincture of pennyroyal and herbs to rid them of it, if it should become necessary.’ He looked at her over the rim of his cup, ‘I’m sure you had reason to use it during our liaison.’ She coloured and he snorted a laugh as he threw himself into a chair beside her, crossing one ankle over the other knee and taking another drink.

  ‘A shame there isn’t a tincture to make wives more accommodating,’ he muttered into his cup, as Anne raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

  ‘Has something vexed you, Tom?’ Anne looked across at her brother-in-law in surprise, seeing as if for the first time the sulky turn of his mouth, the discontent in the frown across his forehead. He was still a very handsome man, she thought, squirming as she suddenly felt herself moisten at the thought of their previous association; that had taken her by surprise!

  But she couldn’t help but be glad that she had had the presence of mind to end it when she did, before Ned had discovered anything untoward, and before she had become the recipient of Tom’s obvious dissatisfaction with life.

  ‘We are leaving Hatfield House, Anne. We are moving to Sudeley Castle!’ Irritation was evident in every word.

  ‘And why are you doing that, Tom?’ Anne felt she was asking the question to hear Tom’s version of events. She knew perfectly well why they were moving their household so late in his wife’s pregnancy.

  ‘She’s too damned tempting, Anne.’ Tom took another long drink from his cup, and rose to pour himself some more. Sitting back down heavily, still sulking, he continued, ‘Not that I’ve done anything wrong.’

  ‘Yet,’ thought Anne.

  ‘Just teasing, really. A jest, is all. But that sort of jest is obviously frowned upon.’ He gave Anne a hurt look, as if he was mystified at how misunderstood he had been, ‘and all hell breaks loose, and we have to move our whole household to Sudeley.’

  ‘What happened, Tom?’ Anne’s tone was quite gentle, for her. What she wanted to say was, “what did you do, you stupid man?”

  He sighed, ‘Elizabeth was in her chamber, and I thought to surprise her. To wake her up with laughter. So I crept into her chamber, and crept into bed beside her.’

  Anne’s eyes closed at the idiocy of the man, but then she just looked at him, brows raised in sympathy and invitation to continue.

  ‘She woke, and turned, and giggled, and it would have ended there, Anne. I swear! But ….’, he took another long drink, and an even longer breath, ‘…she asked me if I was there to ravish her, and she looked so …… so I ……. I pretended I was a pirate and started to cut her gown from her with my dagger. We were both laughing, and she was running round her chamber, trying to escape me. We were making so much noise that her nurse Kat Ashley came to see what was happening. Followed by Kate!’ His eyes closed at the memory, and Anne looked at him in amazement.

  ‘Elizabeth was trying to cover herself in the shreds of her gown, so Kat shrouded her in a robe and led her away. Kate just looked at me, and told me we would be leaving Hatfield as soon as she could pack, then she left me standing there. Wouldn’t let me explain!’ His tone had become indignant.

  ‘Perhaps you would be better, living elsewhere. Kate might be happier to have you to herself.’ Anne thought that if Tom felt himself to be the centre of someone’s world, he himself might be happier.

  ‘But she is with child, Anne. Large. Ungainly. No longer sleek and slender,’ He looked up at Anne, and felt a tightening in his breeches, remembering them together. She gave him an amused smirk, knowing exactly where his thoughts had gone.

  ‘Then you must content yourself with my maids, Tom. Until the child is born and Kate is slender again,’ she smiled at him.

  ‘I think I may need to consider my options for the future, Anne.’ he whispered, ‘I have heard it said that child birth can be hazardous, especially for a first-time mother past her prime.’ He stood abruptly and placed his goblet carefully on the table.

  ‘I must go and see that my things are packed correctly. And take my leave of Elizabeth properly. Make sure she knows she will see me again soon. Very soon.’ His mood lightening suddenly, he sketched a bow in Anne’s direction, and left the solar whistling. Anne watched him go, perplexed at the workin
gs of his mind, and anxious that his abject stupidity didn’t cause her and Ned any problems.

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  eg sat by the fireplace in her husband’s office and rocked her baby gently as he slept.

  ‘I have never seen Lady Kate so embarrassed, Ralph. It was dreadful for her; she was mortified.’

  ‘What did Sir Thomas say?’ Ralph was listening to Meg recount the circumstances surrounding the Seymours moving to Sudeley.

  ‘He tried to make light of it. It was as if he couldn’t work out what was so unacceptable about his behaviour, because to him it was a joke! Lady Kate didn’t think it was funny. And I didn’t know Kat Ashley could get so annoyed with Elizabeth without shouting. Her fury was cold, Ralph. Elizabeth was ashamed for herself, worried that she’d upset Lady Kate but genuinely humiliated that she’d allowed Tom Seymour such liberties.’ Meg was breathless with indignation.

  Ralph got up from the seat beside Meg in his office and poured them both some ale, then brought the cup to Meg. ‘Why do you think she allowed it, Meg?’

  ‘Because he has been taking the liberties a little bit further every time, Ralph. It started with both him and Lady Kate waking Elizabeth up. She was so pleased they were here; the nearest thing she had ever had to parents who cared about her.’ Meg shifted baby Richard to her other shoulder and carried on rubbing his back as she continued her tale.

  ‘Then they started tickling her to wake her, again both together. But as Lady Kate’s pregnancy continued, it was Sir Tom who woke Elizabeth, and who knows what he got up to on his own!’ Her voice had taken on a shocked tone.

  ‘But this time, Ralph, he got into bed with the Princess, and in the teasing of her, started to slice pieces of her gown away, chasing her round her suite, cutting a little more each time he caught her. By the time Lady Kate and Kat Ashley arrived to see what all the noise was about, she had only shreds to cover herself. Somehow, she looked more naked with those shreds than if he had stripped her completely!’

  The baby gave a satisfied burp over her shoulder, and she passed him to Ralph so she could take her drink. Richard’s hand went straight to Ralph’s gold chain, sitting over his shoulders, and he pulled delightedly on the jewel. Ralph smiled at his son.

  ‘And then what, my love? Was Tom suitably ashamed of himself?’ asked Ralph, knowing what the answer would be. Meg snorted a laugh.

  ‘You know the answer to that, my love. Tom Seymour has never been ashamed of anything in his life. But Ralph, the look on his face as he gazed at Elizabeth! Lady Kate told me he watched the Princess like a cat at a mouse hole, but I never saw such …. such…. lasciviousness on his face before. That’s the only word I can think of to use. It was horrible to see.’

  ‘It is a very good word, my Meg. A descriptive word for an unhealthy emotion. And they are moving immediately, you say?’

  ‘I’m surprised you haven’t seen the wagons as you came in the stable yard, Ralph. But perhaps they’ve gone already. I know Lady Kate is still upstairs packing her clothes, because she said she would say farewell to me before she went. Tom rode out straight away, saying he had business with his brother, so he’s probably been at court all day, drinking. The carriage has been brought round, because I saw it through the door, waiting for the last minute things and Lady Kate.’

  As if by the mention of her name, she had to appear, a brief knock sounded at Ralph’s door, and Kate came in carrying a small travel case and a balled-up handkerchief in her other hand. Her eyes were very red, and her nose had been running.

  ‘Ah, Meg. There you are.’ She smiled at Ralph holding the baby and letting him play with the chain, and gently stroked the baby’s cheek with one finger. ‘Goodbye, little man,’ she whispered.

  She took Meg’s hand in hers, then drew her close for an awkward hug as she was so large in her pregnancy. ‘You will come, won’t you Meg? When my baby comes, you will be there? You promise?’

  ‘Of course I will, my Lady. And Cat, we will both come. Just send the word and we will be there. You’re not that far away, so it won’t take very long for us to reach you.’ Meg squeezed Kate with genuine affection, and kissed her cheek. Kate looked at Ralph.

  ‘Take care of them, Ralph,’ He bowed slightly at her words. ‘Take care of Elizabeth too. I have loved her as a daughter, and this breaks my heart.’ Tears began to fall and she wiped them away impatiently. ‘I have told the Steward not to let my husband enter if he thinks to come here, but to tell him I am gone to Sudeley. Kat has promised she won’t let him near Elizabeth, no matter what he threatens! But I want you to know as well, Ralph. So you can stop him.’

  ‘I will send him to you, my Lady. He shall not be admitted here.’

  Kate stood on tiptoe to kiss Ralph’s cheek. ‘Thank you Ralph. That has reassured me.’ She bent awkwardly to pick up her little case and turned to the door.

  ‘Good bye.’ A bleak tone in her voice, and a bleaker look on her face, then she turned and went through the door to get into the carriage. Tears began to roll down Meg’s face and Ralph put his other arm round her as the little family watched Lady Kate’s carriage drive away.

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  y Lady,’ the whisper came from the doorway.

  ‘What is it, Alys?’ Elizabeth looked up from her book of Roman conquests at the little maid trembling in the doorway, clutching a letter.

  ‘A message, your Highness. From Sudeley for Lady Knollys.’

  Elizabeth nodded that Alys might give the message to Cat, who had risen with a gasp. Meg dropped her sewing in her lap and watched her friend with frightened eyes.

  Cat opened the letter, glancing at the contents, then passed it to Elizabeth to read aloud.

  “Please make haste. My time is here and I fear he’s trying to poison me.”

  ‘Cousin, might I send Alfred with a message to my mother at Hever to meet us there?’ Cat turned, white-faced to Elizabeth for permission to use her groom as a messenger.

  Elizabeth, bottom lip caught between her teeth, nodded silently while Meg curtseyed her leave to the Princess so she could go and collect hers and Cat’s bags; they had been packed for days. She left a brief note for Ralph in their bedchamber, then rushed down the grand staircase just as the carriage was being brought round.

  ‘Please give Lady Kate my best regards, Cousin. Tell her she is in my prayers.’ Elizabeth, still shaking, hugged Cat and Meg as they climbed into the carriage. She turned to Meg, ‘I shall make sure Richard is well looked after whilst you are gone, Meg.’ Meg nodded her thanks as Cat gave the order for the carriage to make haste to Sudeley.

  ***

  Cat and Meg scrambled from the carriage almost before it had stopped, and Meg quietly asked the coachman to make sure their bags were taken inside. Cat strode ahead, not being quiet at all, but very much like her mother, Meg thought with a smile.

  ‘How now, Lady Cat.’ Tom Seymour leant against the door frame, draining a cup of wine, obviously not his first.

  ‘Where is she?’ Cat shrugged off her cloak and threw her gloves on a table in the hall. Tom jerked his head upwards, and Cat began to climb the stairs quickly. The crunching sound of wheels from outside heralded the arrival of Mary from Hever, and Meg was grateful that Mary had made such good time with the journey.

  Mary marched through the still-open doorway and took in the drunken state of Tom with one disgusted look.

  ‘Oh, and here comes the greatest whore at court!’ Tom glowered at Mary and buried his nose in his wine cup. Meg gasped at the insult and Cat froze on the upstairs landing.

  Without missing a step, or her face changing in any way, Mary walked up to Tom and slapped him with her whole strength behind the blow. His wine cup flew from his hand and
landed in the fire, clear across the other side of the room. He looked at her furiously, rubbing his cheek, which was reddening by the moment.

  ‘Not any more, my Lord. That title has now passed to you!’ Mary gave Tom a look of utter contempt, then turned and followed Cat up the stairs, Meg trotting behind, trying not to applaud.

  ‘Where is she?’ Mary asked a maid, arms piled high with bloody linen.

  ‘Third door along, my Lady.’ The maid bobbed a curtsey and hurried away.

  Mary thrust open the chamber door, and gasped at the sight before her. Kate lay in a blood-soaked bed, being ineffectually tended by her lady in waiting Anne Tyrwhitt, while a grimy-looking crone burnt something in the hearth that was filling the room with a terrible stench.

  Cat went to the cradle, where an unwashed, naked girl-child mewled, sucking her fist. Meg gathered some torn linen strips from a pile on the dresser, and brought them and a bowl of water over to the babe. Cat picked up the baby from the cradle and began to help Meg wash and swaddle her.

  Mary spoke to the midwife sharply, ‘Have you inspected that before you burnt it?’ The midwife gazed blankly back at her, so Mary tried again, ‘Was it whole? If you left any inside her, it could kill her!’

  The midwife shrugged. Either the she didn’t understand the question or didn’t have an answer, so in her impatience Mary grasped her by the upper arm and thrust her back through the door. ‘Sir Thomas is downstairs. Ask him for your fee,’ Mary said abruptly to the startled woman, then closed the door sharply before she could reply.

  Mary pressed her back against the door and closed her eyes briefly. Kate’s appearance since she last saw her had shocked her beyond measure. From being blissfully in love with her young, virile husband and excited about the impending birth of her first child, she had become a gaunt, hollow-eyed shell. Her hair hung in unwashed strands round her face, and her skin had a yellow parchment-like appearance, stretched over her prominent cheekbones and in shocking contrast to the healthy apple-cheeked glow Kate had shown at the start of her marriage.