On the Altar of England (Tudor Chronicles Book 4)

by Lesley Jepson

  ‘Lay them on the bed, Alice,’ said Lettice, curiosity in her voice, ‘and then let us see what they are.’

  ‘They have just come from the dressmaker, my Lady, in a separate cart.’ Alice bobbed another curtsey. ‘From the embroiderer, she said.’

  Lettice sat forward, taking care not to disturb her sleeping babe. ‘Unfold them, Ursula. Let us see what else we have.’

  Ursula took the first garment from the pile and shook it out, gasping at the delicacy of the embroidery and pin-tucking. ‘It is a shift, my Lady. A fine cotton lawn shift, with a pin-tucked bodice and white-work embroidery round the hem and neck. Oh, my Lady, it is so beautiful.’

  ‘It is indeed, Ursula. I think we might have to unpack some of the older things, so I might take my new clothes with me to Kenilworth.’ Jane moved some similar garments from the top of the pile and pulled out something stiff with pointed lace.

  ‘Oh, Letty. New ruffs too, and such beautiful pointelle lace.’ She held one to her own neck and gazed in the glass. Ursula burrowed past the ruffs to the bottom of the heap, where silk and satin ribbons had caught her eye.

  ‘Petticoats, my lady. Trimmed with silk ribbon and satin flowers.’ She held one up to show the others, running her hand across the carefully appliqued flowers.

  ‘Robin certainly enjoyed himself,’ Lettice laughed as she watched Cissy remove her already packed shifts and petticoats and replace them with her new things. A movement at the doorway caught her eye and she beamed.

  ‘Thomas.’

  ‘My Lady.’ The tall man bowed his head as always, and waited until Lettice spoke again.

  ‘You have a message for me, Thomas?’

  ‘Not really, my Lady. I just wanted to tell you that the wagons are harnessed if you need your clothes chests loading. I will send some of the lads up when you are ready.’ He delivered this without meeting her eyes, and without any inflection in his voice. Lettice suppressed a smile; she knew he was embarrassed with the range of undergarments strewn around the room.

  ‘Thank you, Thomas. Ask Cook to give the boys some small ale and some bread and cheese. By the time they have finished eating, I think some of my chests will be packed. Then after this little one is changed and fed, we should be ready to leave.’

  Thomas raised his pale blue eyes and looked directly at Lettice holding the baby. His eyes softened and the muscles at the side of his mouth twitched as if he might smile. He ducked his head again in a bow.

  ‘My Lady.’

  ‘Oh, and Thomas?’ He turned back to look at Lettice and raise his brows. ‘Make sure you eat something too, won’t you?’ Lettice pressed her lips together wryly and Thomas again nodded a bow.

  ‘My Lady.’

  Lettice shook her head at the girls as Thomas left the room, ‘Come, girls, let us get all this packed quickly, and we can admire it all again at Kenilworth. Jane, could you ring for the baby’s nurse please. His clout feels wet and I would feed him before we leave.’

  ***

  Nell Devereux curtseyed at the door of the Queen’s bedchamber, then whirled round and hurried along the unfamiliar corridor towards the door at the end. The country manor house where the ladies of the court had stayed the night was gloomy, with tiny mullioned windows high up in the wainscoting that let in little light. She tried to cast her mind back to the previous evening, when they had arrived tired and hungry to break their journey on their way to Leeds Castle, and remember the way they had entered their rooms.

  The far door backed onto another door, which led to another long dim gallery. She noticed all the chamber doors were closed as she rushed past them on her way to find the exit that took her outside. Suddenly one burst open and in her haste she catapulted headlong into the two men that came out of the chamber laughing at some jest.

  ‘Good grief, sweetheart, why the swiftness?’ laughed Lord Robert as he held Nell by the shoulders while she recovered herself.

  ‘Oh, Papa. I mean, my Lord,’ Nell’s breath was coming in quick pants. She had been concentrating so hard on lifting her hem so she didn’t trip in the gloomy gallery that she had been oblivious to the two gentlemen until she had bumped into her stepfather.

  Lord Robert laughed again, ‘Papa is quite alright, my pet. We are all family here.’ He swept his arm towards his companion and Nell peered owlishly upwards, seeing as if for the first time the tall slim figure of her step-cousin Philip Sidney. Sir Philip took her hand and bowed over it, kissing the knuckles gently then grinning up at Nell.

  ‘Cousin Nell. How beautiful you look.’ Nell started to blush furiously and Robert pulled her round with her other hand to face him.

  ‘Where were you rushing to, pet?’ Nell calmed her breathing and looked at him excitedly.

  ‘Papa, I was coming to find you. I thought you might be in the yard,’ she looked round the corridor in frustration, ‘but I couldn’t find a way to the outside. I need a horse for today, and her Majesty told me to tell you. She said you would arrange it.’

  Robert’s brows rose. ‘Indeed. And why do you need horse, pet? Aren’t you in the Queen’s carriage?’

  ‘Oh, Papa! It was so hot in there yesterday. There was the Queen, and the Countess of Sussex and Lady Howard and Lady Parr and Aunt Maisie and me, and I know I’m thin, but their gowns are so huge that I couldn’t breathe and didn’t have any room for my feet and oh, Papa, the smell, because Lady Parr is very old, you know, and it was …’ Nell’s breathless litany was interrupted by loud guffaws of laughter by both Lord Robert and Sir Philip.

  ‘Hush, pet,’ laughed Robert, obviously trying to control himself as the picture Nell painted danced through his mind. ‘The Queen has given you permission to ride today?’ He nodded at Nell and she returned his nod enthusiastically.

  ‘Oh yes, Papa. She said I could ride, and that you would arrange for a suitable horse for me, but I dressed to attend her, so now I have to change out of my white gown into something suitable for riding, and if I don’t hurry there won’t be anything left to eat, and I need to find Thea because I can’t get out of this gown on my own, and I just can’t find my way round this huge place!’ Nell’s eyes were enormous as she finished speaking and took another breath.

  ‘I shall go and speak to the ostler about a suitable mount for you, pet. If you go through that door at the end, then down one flight of stairs, you will find your Aunt Kit and the girls breaking their fast. Have something to eat and then change your gown. Thea is with Kit and the little ones.’ Nell blinked up at him in relief and her shoulders relaxed.

  ‘Thank you, Papa,’ she breathed, relieved to know where to go.

  ‘Is her Majesty dressed, Nell?’

  ‘Not yet, Papa. I did her makeup first, while she was still in her robe. She hadn’t decided what to wear when I left, and she hadn’t broken her fast.’ Robert nodded.

  ‘Then you have at least an hour before we start to leave, pet. Get something to eat quickly and then change your gown before the wagon masters want the bags loaded. I’ll arrange a horse for you to use and tell Tom to watch for you in the stable yard. He can help you mount.’ Nell smiled her thanks and turned to go.

  ‘And I would be honoured if you would give me your company on the ride, Cousin Nell. You can tell me all your news.’ Nell turned back and curtseyed to Sir Philp, beaming up at him with her dark eyes, and looking remarkably like her mother.

  ‘I would be honoured, my Lord.’ She turned and the two men watched her shining white dress fade to ethereal grey as she hurried further down the dim corridor and through the door to the stairs.

  ***

  Lettice, clad in her favourite travelling gown of moss green damask figured with gold embroidery, stood in the stable yard at Leicester
House and listened diligently to Thomas as he listed all the things he had organised to be packed into the wagons. Horses snorted and pawed the ground, and harness and spurs jingled as they shuffled restlessly, eager to be away.

  Robert had sent his twenty men at arms, pennants flying and snapping in the breeze, to guard his wife and son on their journey. There were three wagons loaded with chests full of clothes and linens, as well as two carriages and the individual mounts for Thomas and the squires. The noise and smell in the yard was quite overwhelming, and Lettice was looking forward to getting under way and into the fresh country air. She put her hand gently on Thomas’s arm before looking up into his tanned face.

  ‘Thank you for all your hard work, Thomas,’ she smiled, ‘I realise how involved everything becomes when you have to organise all this for me.’

  ‘It is no trouble, my Lady,’ Thomas’ flat voice rumbled from the depths of his beard, ‘I am honoured.’ Lettice dimpled at him, then supressed a giggle as his arm began to tremble beneath her touch.

  ‘At least the household at Kenilworth will have everything ready when we get there, Thomas,’ she laughed happily, ‘I dread to think how many wagons we would need if we had to take all our goods with us.’ Another rumble came from Thomas, which equally might have been agreement or dread at the thought of more wagons to organise and pack. Lettice patted his arm and then turned as the baby’s nurse came into the yard with the woven basket in which her son would travel.

  ‘Thank you, Daisy.’ The nurse bobbed a curtsey and Thomas took the basket from her as Lettice smiled her gratitude at the nurse, ‘If you would like to travel in the second carriage with Cissy and Alice, we will have the baby with us to start with.’ Daisy bobbed again and turned to climb into the carriage with the waiting maids. Thomas passed the basket with its precious sleeping cargo into the eager arms of Ursula and Jane, seated and waiting in the first carriage, then held his hand to assist Lettice up the carriage steps. Suddenly raised voices and a commotion from the stable block made them turn round.

  ‘Mother, Mother. We cannot leave. I am not ready yet. You can’t possibly expect me to ride that nag to Kenilworth.’ Essex strode into the main yard, clad in matching dark grey doublet and riding breeches, with a paler grey cloak hanging from one shoulder. Polished jet studs fastened the front of his doublet, and silver embroidery decorated the hem of his cloak. At his shoulder, Kytt picked his way through the sawdust and dung piles that dotted the courtyard and pulled a wry face towards his uncle at Essex’s display of petulance.

  Lettice gazed up at her son, now a head taller than she, and smiled gently, ‘But Robbie, you have always loved your roan.’

  ‘I need a horse suitable to my station, Mother. And I am Essex, remember?’

  ‘Apologies, my love. But I don’t know if we have anything ….’ Lettice’s words were cut short by her son’s impatient tones as he jerked his head towards Thomas.

  ‘I’m sure your pet mongrel can find me a suitable mount from the stable, Mother.’ Lettice stiffened at the insult to Thomas, and instinctively placed her hand on his arm. Her son continued irritably, ‘And I know he has left both his stallion and the gelding, so I shall have one of those.’ His eyes went round the yard, seeing the astonished faces at the carriage windows and he shrugged carelessly,

  ‘In fact I shall take the stallion.’ Kytt stepped forward and spoke quietly to Essex, who slapped his riding gloves into his other hand impatiently while Lettice’s hand still trembled on Thomas’ arm.

  ‘My Lord,’ murmured Kytt, ‘Alexander the Great rode a black horse. And with you wearing grey and jet today, surely it would be more in keeping if you rode the gelding?’ Essex looked down at his attire, and then back into Kytt’s eyes. A sudden smile illuminated his features, at once transforming him from a petulant boy to a handsome young nobleman. He turned his smile to Thomas, and tilted his head enquiringly.

  ‘Very well. Have Lord Robert’s black gelding saddled for me, Thomas. Oh, and I have given my old horse to Kytt so he can accompany me. Have his saddle put on her, if you please.’ Thomas’ brows rose at the polite tone Essex had used, and he looked across at the ostler, waiting inconspicuously at the gate. Thomas bowed from the waist without disturbing Lettice’s hand still on his arm, and then nodded curtly towards the ostler, who hurried to carry out the order. Lettice squeezed Thomas’ arm and withdrew her hand, lifting her hems in preparation to step into the carriage. She sighed and turned to her son, smiling brightly now as he watched his chosen horse being saddled.

  ‘To where is Kytt accompanying you, my son?’ she enquired gently, as Thomas took her hand and helped her up the steps to her seat. Lettice settled herself, pulling her gown round her and making room for the other girls.

  ‘Well, Mother, if you insist that we immure ourselves in the country and wait for the court to arrive, then at least we can visit the nearby hostelry and have some amusement.’ Essex looked across at Kytt and winked, then strode forward as the stable hands brought out Robert’s gelding saddled up for Essex to ride.

  Kytt stepped closer to the carriage and looked up into Lettice’s eyes. ‘Try not to worry about him, my Lady. The gelding is a gentler mount than the stallion and I promise to keep an eye on him. To try and deflect any trouble that might tempt him to forget who he is, who his mother is.’ Lettice reached out of the carriage window and patted Kytt’s shoulder.

  ‘Thank you, Sir Kytt,’ she dimpled at him, ‘a true gentleman in your soul, just like your Uncle Thomas.’ Lettice beamed across at a flushed Thomas and nodded briskly. ‘Whenever the squires are ready, Thomas, we can leave.’

  ‘My Lady.’

  Chapter 12

  ovely day, my Lady,’ Sir Philip Sidney trotted his horse to Nell’s side and slowed to keep pace with hers. The feather in his mulberry cap settled to a soft sway in time with the pace of his horse, and the amethyst studs which fastened his doublet shone in the spring sunshine.

  ‘Indeed it is, my Lord.’ Nell beamed at her step-cousin and took a deep and obvious breath, ‘At least with the breeze in my face I can breathe.’

  He laughed at the expression on her face, blissfully turned up to the bright sunlight in her joy at being released from the Queen’s carriage.

  ‘You managed to change your gown in time I see, my Lady. The blue suits both you and this glorious day.’ Philip smiled across at Nell, who screwed her nose up as she gazed down at her blue brocade riding habit.

  ‘It is my second-best, and was the one at the top of my clothes chest, my Lord,’ she shook her head regretfully, ‘I didn’t have the time to search for a better one.’

  ‘Do you enjoy serving the Queen, Cousin?’

  Nell smiled at him shyly. ‘I am honoured to be in the Queen’s service, my Lord. And she graciously singles me out for the particular honour of making up her face.’

  Philip’s brows rose in surprise. ‘You are very young for such an honour, Cousin. Do her other, more established ladies not mind?’

  ‘Most don’t seem to, my Lord. Lady Parr used to do it, but she is very old and her hand is less steady than it was. And her ideas are very out-dated. I find the Queen very willing to let me try newer methods, that make the paint lighter and easier to wear.’ Nell looked at Philip and blushed, looking down at her horse’s mane. ‘Forgive me, my Lord. I babble on so. You cannot possibly be interested in the subject.’

  ‘It pleases me that you are interested, little Cousin, and I am happy to listen. It makes a pleasant change from heavy political matters, I assure you. And it distracts my mind from the meetings to come with Burleigh and Walsingham.’

  Nell rode quietly for a while, and tried to think of another topic of conversation. ‘Have you ever been on a Royal Progress, my Lord?’

  ‘Not for some time, I’
m afraid. I have spent the last several years abroad in France, more lately trying to negotiate a marriage between her Majesty and the Duc D’Alençon, brother of the King of France.’

  ‘I don’t think I remember you being at court before, my Lord.’ Philip looked across at Nell and shook his head.

  ‘You were very young, Cousin. You were with all the other little girls practising the lute and Latin with my Aunt Kit, with your hair in ringlets down your back.’ He laughed at the memory and Nell felt a blush creeping up her cheek.

  ‘Aunt Kit is so kind to all the girls, my Lord. We all love her and want to please her, and we all cry when we have to move into the Queen’s service to make way for yet more little girls with ringlets down their backs.’ Nell smiled shyly at him as she made her jest.

  ‘Aunt Kit evidently does a good job, Cousin. Is your sister Dorothea with the Queen too? I haven’t seen her yet.’

  ‘Thea is in the Queen’s service, my Lord, but helps Lady Howard too, most often with the Queen’s wi… umm, hair.’ Nell decided to change the subject, and asked ‘Have your negotiations for the Queen’s marriage been successful, my Lord?’ Philip’s eyebrow rose at the stark question, and he pondered for a while before answering.

  ‘The diplomat in me, my Lady, wants to tell you that negotiations are progressing well and we have almost reached agreement on the most thorny obstacles that prevent the marriage taking place,’ he smiled and raised his brows again, ‘but the pragmatist behind the diplomat wants to tell you that the Queen has no real interest in marrying France.’

  ‘But isn’t the Duc D’Alençon quite young and handsome, my Lord?’

  Philip snorted a laugh, making Nell open her eyes wide, failing to understand his mirth. ‘Indeed he is, Cousin. He is quite young, and reasonably handsome. He is also very, very French. It is that, my dear, which is the thorniest obstacle of all. And although he will age, and he may lose his looks, he will never, ever be other than French.’ Philip shrugged and laughed at the expression of incredulity on Nell’s face.