Secrets of the Tudor Court Boxed Set

6

Alys Guildford and I soon became fast friends. Even though she had only been a maid of honor for a short time, she seemed to know everyone at court. It was not long before I met all the maids of honor and chamberers. I found another kindred spirit in Mary Woodhull, a plump, pretty girl with sand-colored hair and mild gray eyes. She was the queen’s kinswoman, the granddaughter of Kathryn Parr’s uncle, but she did not push herself forward because of that. She was happy just to be at court. As a chamberer, she waited on Her Grace in the royal bedchamber but did not attend Queen Kathryn in public.

Both Alys and Mary shared my interest in exploring the maze.

“You promised you would show me the way to the center,” I teased Jack Dudley when he joined us in the great hall after supper to laugh at the antics of the king’s fool, a juggler, and a man who could walk on his hands. “Instead you abandoned me for nearly a week.” I pretended to pout.

“I would have found you sooner if we had not been forced to lodge so far away.”

Jack and Harry Dudley, and many other late arrivals at Woodstock, had of necessity been billeted at nearby manors. Even one of the king’s “great houses” filled up quickly when the entire court assembled.

It was Harry who suggested that we gather together a congenial group, eat our supper while sitting on blankets on the grass near the entrance to the maze, and afterward make the trip to its center together. Besides the Dudley brothers, Mary Woodhull, and Alys Guildford, our little company included Dorothy Bray and two more young gentlemen. Ned Brydges, the oldest at twenty-one, was a gentleman pensioner and an esquire of the king’s body. He was a moonfaced young man with blue-black hair and eyes so dark a brown that they appeared to be black, too. He had a little tuft of a beard that I thought looked foolish, but he was quite proud of it and stroked it continually. Davy Seymour was a member of the queen’s household. Like Ned, he had a beard, a wispy little thing beneath a trailing mustache, but he’d been blessed with high cheekbones that allowed him to carry it off.

Harry Dudley was the most toothsome of the lot, with his sculpted features and his height and his muscular build. Jack might be nearly as tall as his brother, but he was beanpole thin, all angles and gangly limbs. He was also slightly bowlegged from the endless hours he spent on horseback. I supposed that the rest of him would catch up to his height in time, but for the nonce he was gawky and uncoordinated and I was shallow enough to prefer his older brother’s company.

Servants delivered food packed in baskets, and one of the queen’s musicians played soft music while we ate. Halfway through our meal, I realized that I knew him. He was Jasper Bassano, the same Venetian musician who had performed at Cowling Castle.

“That’s Will Parr’s man,” I whispered to Alys.

“No longer. The Bassano brothers are the queen’s musicians now.”

Jasper paid no attention to me, but he watched Dorothy all the while he played, a look of disapproval on his swarthy face. She was oblivious to his scrutiny. She was too busy flirting with Ned Brydges. I was glad that Jasper left us when we finished our meal. His glower had begun to cast a pall. He took his lute and the empty food basket with him.

“Are you ready for a great adventure?” Harry asked, helping me to my feet.

I grinned up at him. “Lead on.”

Jack glared at his brother, but allowed Alys to partner him. They followed Dorothy and Ned into the maze, leaving Davy to escort Mary. Harry and I came last, chatting amiably, in no great hurry to overtake the others. But within moments of entering the hedge maze, my smile faded. I tightened my grip on Harry’s arm.

Even though I had seen the maze from the outside and had a vague sense of how large it was, I had expected to be able to see over the plantings. I’d been under the impression that mazes were low, using hyssop or winter savory or germander to lay out the paths. This one rose man high, just like the hedgerow that surrounded Woodstock. It was impossible for any of us, even the tallest of the gentlemen, to peer over the top. Moreover, the royal gardeners had clipped the thick growth of evergreens to make the sides flat and as solid as stone.

Sound was eerily muted. The path was sanded, not graveled, so that we could not even hear our own footsteps. I felt cut off from everything I knew. A deep uncertainty crept over me, the fear that I would never be able to return to the world that lay outside the maze.

Why had I imagined this would be a pleasant walk? I knew the path inside would twist and turn, but I’d reckoned without the shadows and the sense of confinement. I was trapped. Imprisoned by impenetrable green walls.

“Are you sure you know the way out?” I whispered.

Harry freed his arm from the death grip I had on it and slung it around my shoulder. “Would I ever put you in harm’s way? Trust me, Bess.”

The others were some distance ahead, out of sight. I shivered at the sound of Dorothy’s disembodied laughter. My sense of impending doom increased with each step I took.

As we continued along the path, I glanced over my shoulder. Everywhere I looked there were tangled green branches. Only overhead was there open space and, to my dismay, I realized that the day was fast fading into twilight.

“Harry, what if we are still in here when darkness falls? Won’t it be impossible to find our way out?”

“Never fear,” he whispered, his mouth close to my ear. “If we are obliged to stay in the maze overnight, I will keep you safe and warm.”

I pulled free of his grasp, my heart racing. “I want to leave now.” I started to run back the way we’d come.

“Bess, wait! Stop! You will be lost if you keep going.”

A solid mass of evergreen loomed in front of me. I did not understand how it could be there, blocking the path. Had it been there earlier? Wherever it had come from, its presence forced me to choose. Left or right? I had no notion which way led to the entrance.

Harry came up behind me and circled my waist with his hands. “Lost?” he asked, turning me in his arms. His eyes were alight with mischief.

My voice went high and breathy. “How do I get out?” He had only been teasing me about spending the night in the maze . . . hadn’t he?

“I’ll tell you,” Harry said, “for a kiss.” His hands slid up from my waist to cup my breasts.

“I’d rather kiss a frog!” Furious with him, I brought one heel down on his foot. It did little damage. I wore soft leather slippers. He had on sturdy boots. But at the same time, I rammed my fist into his stomach.

“Oof!” he cried, and released me.

I backed up as far as I could and stood with both hands fisted. I was so angry with Harry that I momentarily forgot my fear of being trapped in the maze. I began to think more clearly. Our absence would soon be noticed, if it had not been already. Questions would be asked. Jasper Bassano must know we planned to explore the maze. Surely he’d tell Lady Lisle. Even if Harry did not show me the way out, I would soon be rescued.

I glared at Harry. He could not meet my eyes. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked embarrassed, as well he should!

“You and Jack told me you knew the way out,” I said. “I want to leave now.”

“As you wish.” He placed his right palm flat against the nearest section of evergreen. “The trick to navigating a maze is to walk so that the face of the hedge is always on the same side. Left or right, it does not matter, so long as you choose one. That will lead you to the center.”

“I do not want to go to the heart of the maze. I want to leave it entirely.”

“You have to go to the middle first, then use the same method to take you to the exit.”

“Why should I believe you?”

He looked offended. “I am not so desperate for a kiss that I’d imprison you here.” Keeping his right hand on the wall, he started walking again.

I had to scurry to match his rapid pace. I caught hold of his arm to make him slow down, afraid of losing my guide. “I believe you, Harry. It was just that, for a moment, you reminded me of my brothers when they play tricks on me. George or Thomas would strand me in this maze without a second thought.”

“I’d never do such a thing.”

“I know that,” I said in my most soothing voice, although secretly I had my doubts.

Harmony restored, we made half a dozen more turns before, without warning, we encountered the others in our party coming back. The stricken expression on Jack Dudley’s face alarmed me, as did the fact that Mary Woodhull had tears in her eyes. Alys just looked mad enough to spit.

“The maze is separated into islands,” she said. “It is impossible to find the center by the usual means.”

Taken aback, Harry blurted out, “That cannot be!”

“What does she mean?” I asked. “What are islands?”

It was Jack who answered. “Parts of the hedge have been removed to create sections that go nowhere. When the walls of a maze are all of a piece, no matter how many branches it has, it is always possible to find the center by keeping a hand on the wall. But with this kind of hedge, that will not work.”

I glared at him. “I thought you said you knew this maze.”

“I’ve been in mazes before,” he mumbled.

“But not this one.” I did not trouble to hide my exasperation.

“It may be difficult, but surely it will not be impossible to find our way back.” Davy Seymour slung a comforting arm around Mary’s shoulders and looked gratified when she buried her face in the front of his doublet.

“We could cut our way out,” I suggested. “You gentlemen have daggers. We all have our eating knives. Why not just hack a hole in the hedge?”

Everyone stared at me.

“It is a simple and straightforward solution,” I said.

But Alys shook her head. “This is a royal maze.”

“I am certain His Grace will understand.”

“His Grace is just as likely to chop off our heads,” Harry muttered.

There had to be a means of escape. I thought for a moment. “What if two of you lift a third onto your shoulders? Harry, you are the tallest. If Jack and Davy hoist you high enough, you should be able to see the way we must go to get out.”

With Mary acting as spotter, the three gentlemen did a fair imitation of the king’s tumblers preparing to fling one of their number into the air. Alys and I stood back to give them room. It was only then that I realized two of our number were missing.

“Where are Ned and Dorothy?”

“Perhaps they found their way to Rosamund’s Bower.” Alys’s smirk told me she was certain they had, and that she had a good idea of what they were doing there to pass the time.

So much, I thought, for my young aunt’s devotion to Will Parr.

A cheer went up as Harry, from the top of the pyramid, reported that he had a clear view of the pattern of the maze and could see the shortest way to the exit. A few minutes later, the six of us burst out into the open air, laughing in relief. Jubilant, Harry swung me around and kissed me soundly on the lips.

It was a very nice kiss, and I did not scold him for stealing it. Neither did I permit him to take his celebration any further.