The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr

FIFTEEN

Yuletide: Year of Our Lord 1547

Winter and Spring: Year of Our Lord 1548

Hanworth

Hampton Court Palace

Shortly before the Christmas season was about to begin, Kate and I were reading in her room whilst the snow swirled outside of the lead cross-panes when she said, “After the New Year’s celebrations, I should like to hold a fine banquet and dance to which I shall invite unmarried young men of good birth and knighthood for you to meet.” She set her book down and looked at me. “I daresay it is time.”

“I should like that, Your Grace.” I pushed aside memories of Jamie. She was right. “And mayhap you can invite some widowers?”

She looked at me strangely. “Of course, but why ever for?”

“I believe that Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald finds life with her husband, Sir Anthony Browne, to be most congenial. I should consider all.”

The queen nodded, agreeing. Soon the conversation turned toward planning the gifts and clothing she would take to court for Christmas.

Although her household numbered at about one hundred, only twenty or so of us accompanied her and Thomas to court for Christmas. She was still the highest-ranking woman at court, which piqued her sister-in-law Lady Seymour. Thomas, of course, shared her exalted chambers. One night as I was unfastening her stays and handing her gown to her lady maid she seemed particularly vexed. “Quickly!” she said. “Lord Thomas will shortly arrive and he is not well disposed.”

“Why not, Your Grace?”

She hesitated afore speaking. “He has seen the king, and asked the king to copy, in His Majesty’s own hand, a letter that Thomas has written, and then sign it as if written by the king himself. His request was denied. Then Thomas argued to His Majesty that it were no ill thing he be requesting.”

I stopped what I was doing and nearly dropped her gown. “What did this document say?”

“It was a request by the king to the council for Edward Seymour to be replaced by his brother, Thomas, as his governor.”

“And the king’s response?”

“He refused. He said if it were good, the lords would already have made such a move. And if it were ill, he, the king, would not write such a thing. He warned Thomas that it was treasonous and pointedly dropped the matter.”

I knew Lord Thomas would have taken poorly to being rebuked and chided by a ten-year-old boy, king or no. Had he not considered that the council was like to inquire of the king how he came upon this line of thought, and when pressed, His Majesty should speak the truth? “This is dangerous work, madam, when the king himself calls such an action treason. Will Lord Thomas now let this madness lie?” I heard him approach and quickly finished my ministrations.

“I think not,” she said softly. “He oft acts rashly and without forethought.”

I stuck myself with a hairpin and the sharp shock of it reflected the pain in my heart over Kate’s husband.

The New Year began with mishap but followed with merriment. The Lady Elizabeth’s tutor, Master Grindal, who was beloved by all in the queen’s household and especially by the Lady Elizabeth herself, died of plague. The plague had been better behaved under the last king, but had reared its death head more regularly under the new monarch and began boldly picking off men, women, and children. Though sorrowed, we were also relieved that Master Grindal had taken his leave afore Christmas and therefore had not had time to pass the contagion.

I came upon the queen dowager and the Lady Elizabeth having a disagreement, as mothers and daughters do, about who should replace Master Grindal. Kate desired Master Goldsmith, the Lady Elizabeth, Master Ascham.

“Come now, Kate.” Thomas strode into the room middiscussion. “I believe Elizabeth is now of an age to choose her own tutor. I rather prefer Ascham myself.”

Shortly thereafter, Master Ascham was engaged, though I know Kate did not like being rebuked by her husband in front of her ward, especially as he’d sided against her.

More trouble ensued when Elisabeth Brooke and her small household arrived to stay at Hansworth. Though she was married now, the lord protector declared it was not valid, and I again shared my large chamber with her.

“William is forbidden from seeing me on pain of death,” Elisabeth said bitterly whilst her lady maid unpacked her clothing. “The lord protector has set aside our marriage.”

“What happened?” I asked, sitting in a chair nearby whilst she raged.

“William spoke with him privately to tell him that in light of the petition for annulment last spring, we had recently married. He expected the lord protector to be favorably disposed toward this news, he having been divorced from an adulterous wife himself afore taking Lady Seymour. But no! He said his power and authority had been thwarted. That no noble may marry without his permission. Never mind that till his sister shared the king’s bed he himself was no noble, only gentry.” She paused at that, she born the daughter of a noble lord, and looked at me. “Not that I intend to slight those raised to gentry.”

“Of course not,” I said.

The news only inflamed the queen and Lord Thomas more against Edward, and I felt, to my dismay, that a final point for reconciliation had been met and then quickly passed by as the road diverged.

The queen held a large masque, as promised, in early March, when all were well tired of the ill weather. Yet it was not bright enough to look toward the promise of spring. There were more than two hundred people well-crammed in the queen’s beautiful dower estate; all spoke of her homes as the second court. The king was but a boy and Lady Seymour had more talent to pretention than to true hospitality. The tables were laden with jellied eels and baked lampreys with sticky syrup, small pies with whitefish bursting from the crusts, roasted pink salmon, and all other manner of fish as ’twere Lent. My lady did not keep with a somber household for the season, as court did of old, but she did keep with forbearing the eating of meat.

I had taken my rose gown out and let it air; I had worn it but once, when I last met Jamie, and it seemed a shame and a waste not to wear it more than that. But at the last minute, I could not. I sorrowfully put it away and chose a becoming gown of bright red that I knew also showed off my dark brown hair to advantage.

I had danced with many fine young men that night but did not allow any to think that I favored them. When a gentleman about the age of Lord Thomas approached me to dance, I accepted his invitation.

“My lady?” he said. “Sir Richard Hibbart. A dance?”

“I should be glad to,” I replied.

He took my hand and graciously led me to dance, and while he allowed me to partner with another, he later came back to ask of me again. I discovered that he was a widower with three children already with tutors of their own, one placed in a noble household and the others remaining with their governess.

“Are you in constant attendance upon the queen?” he asked at the end of the evening.

“I am,” I said. “Though I may visit my mother, who resides in Marlborough, or my brother, who is placed in Cecil’s household.”

He led me to sit, called for a goblet of watered wine, and took one for himself. He broke sweat rather quickly whilst dancing, and his hair was thinning, but he still cut a fine figure in his doublet and jacket. “I shall take my leave for Scotland soon, with the fleet, to defend against the French onslaught. I am supposing that the lord high admiral will accompany us … this time.”

It was to Thomas’s great shame that when last the fleet sailed out against Scotland he had not been at the helm, but rather remained in London pressing his case with the council.

“I will pray for your safety,” I said.

“May I call upon you when I return?” he asked.

I nodded. “You may.”

Late that night, I helped Kate undress and she asked me if I had met anyone who had captured my interest.

“Sir Richard Hibbart was polite and kindly disposed toward me,” I said. “He is a widower with some fine children and I found him to be pleasant company.”

“That does not sound very … ardent, Juliana,” she said.

“Were you ardent with your first husbands, madam?” I asked.

She laughed. “No. But I had no choices. You, unlike many others, do.”

“’Tis possible to build a household with a man and his children already born,” I said. “To be a stepmother is noble and worthy, as I have well learnt from you, and I look forward to perhaps doing that with Sir Richard.”

She set her brush down and drew me near, taking my hands in her own. “Bearing your own babe is also noble and worthy, as I hope you shall also shortly learn from me.” She put her hand upon her abdomen and patted it lightly.

“Kate! You are with child?”

She smiled and then giggled like a girl. “Can you believe it? ’Tis true. And I believe it to be a mark of favor of our Lord upon my marriage with Thomas, as I have never been with child before.”

“My lady, I am overcome with gladness for you,” I said. “You must rest easy now. No difficult works or harrying situations to discomfort you.” I took the brush from her hands and finished the task. “Quietly, calmly, sweetly, till the babe comes.”

She nodded her agreement and when I was finished bade me good night. “I shall see you upon the morrow, dear heart.”

I curtseyed. “Thank you, Kate. It was a splendid evening. I am overjoyed of your news.”

Once in my room, I found Elisabeth already abed; her husband, Sir William, could not attend, though progress was being made with the lord protector toward their reconciliation. I took the red gown off and put it away, but as I did, my hands and eyes and heart lingered upon the rose one.

“Juliana.” I felt a hand shake my shoulder. I opened my eyes and found Elisabeth Brooke leaning over me. For a moment I thought I had disturbed her sleep with another prophecy, but no.

“Get dressed,” she said. “There is something I want you to see.”

I gowned myself quickly and twisted my hair back without a net and followed her down the long gallery, around the turn, and toward the Lady Elizabeth’s chambers. Within, I heard high-pitched giggling. Elisabeth pushed the chamber door open slightly and I could see some of the maidens loitering about the back of the room, dismay and discomfort writ on their faces. In the center was the Lady Elizabeth’s bed, its drapes pulled back and she cowering, half nervously laughing, half protesting, fully vexed, against the head of it. Lord Thomas drew near to her and, it seemed, he was tickling her leg though she still was in her bed gown.

“He has no leggings on!” I whispered. His long shirt came to mid-thigh but you could see his bare legs and feet. I could not see, nor did I want to see, if his codpiece remained laced.

She nodded. At that moment, Kat Ashley came down the hallway; where she’d been I knew not but she pushed by us and went to rebuke Thomas.

“I have said this to you afore,” she said. “My lady will be badly spoken of if you persist!”

“Nay, madam, I will tell my lord protector how it slanders me if others speak evil of this. I will not leave off, for I mean no ill.” At that, he reached over and patted the Lady Elizabeth’s thigh.

“It is an unseemly sight to come so barelegged to a maiden’s chamber. Desist!”

At that, Lord Thomas pulled away, the Lady Elizabeth leapt out of her bed and raced toward the end of the room, to safety, where her maids cowered, and Elisabeth and I made our way to our chambers.

I sat down, heavy in heart and spirit. “How come you to know of this?” I asked.

“Two of my maids, who came with me to Hanworth, share several chambers with the Lady Elizabeth’s maids. They told me that this has transpired several mornings, that even with Mistress Ashley remonstrating with Lord Thomas, he persists.”

“Someone shall have to inform the queen.”

Elisabeth shook her head grimly. “She already knows. She has partaken in the activity once with Lord Thomas.”

“Surely not!” I stood, ready to defend her. “I think you misspeak.”

“I do not wish to speak ill of the queen any more than you do. When my maidens first told me of this mischief, I could not believe them. I went the first day and saw it for myself, and the queen was tickling her, too, though she did not look happy and put a quick end to it.”

“Mayhap she was seeking to temper his behavior with her presence.”

She nodded. “I agree. But it has emboldened him rather than stayed his actions. I was”—she paused—“I was hoping you could speak with the queen about it yourself. She trusts you in all matters.”

“I am sorry I accused you of speaking out of turn.” I paused for a moment. “I shall speak with her. But I must tell you in confidence … I have just learned that she is newly with child.”

“Oh!” Elisabeth clapped her hand over her mouth. “’Tis marvelous news.”

“Indeed. But I do not want to upset her, nor the babe. So I shall wisely choose when to broach the matter. I suspect Mistress Ashley has shamed Thomas enough to put an end to matters for some time.”

She smiled, agreeing with me. Alas, we were both grievously wrong.

May arrived, gowned in a garland of hawthorn, said to be whence our Lord’s crown of thorns came. Elisabeth Brooke returned to William Parr, and of a quiet afternoon, I felt a keen and curious desire to wander the gardens. I took nothing with me and went alone. As I made my way through the maze of hedges, as yet untrimmed for the season, I heard loud voices coming from without the hedges and one quiet one from within. I felt dreamlike again.

Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

I quietly picked my way down the gravel path, taking care not to noisily crush it with my slippers. Once close, I hid behind the statue of Aphrodite and listened. I could not make out what the voices were saying, but the Lady Elizabeth’s voice sounded by turns pleased and then pleading; her laughter scaled from enjoyment to fear. And there it stuck. I looked on in horror as Kate held her fast, as if in a playful tease, but Kate’s face looked tense and distressed, near tears, and I had a care for her well-being and for that of her babe. Lord Thomas grinned wickedly and had drawn his dagger and was slashing the Lady Elizabeth’s gown into pieces. The Lady Elizabeth held herself upright, never losing her royal posture, but her face looked afraid and vulnerable as I had never before seen it. She protested loudly and was ignored. Pieces of her gown plummeted to the ground, one by one. I felt sickened and fearful of what might come next.

Seymour finally sheathed his dagger and made a move as if he were going to take the lady in his arms whilst Kate held her. Both the Lady Elizabeth and the queen looked to be filled with woe, forced to drink a cup of bile that neither of them had earned. I felt that he meant to harm her, and that Kate was trapped as a woman drowning, pulling Elizabeth under with her.

Thomas, who had no care that he had asked the king to participate in his treason, was not likely to worry himself for the Lady Elizabeth’s or Kate’s concern, either. I felt pressed to move, and in spite of the rancor I knew they would cast upon me, I did.

I stepped out from behind the statue, balled my hands into fists, and shouted, “Stop! This is shameful!”

I was out of turn, but my rebuke, as a witness to their doings, shocked them into silence. Thomas stalked back to the manor house. Kate did not meet my gaze but followed him from a distance, while the Lady Elizabeth, who had given me a quiet look of thanksgiving, trailed them both.

There was little time to think upon the matter, though I remained shaken all day, wondering with dismay what kind of household I now lived in. Lady Fitzgerald Browne arrived to stay with us beginning that very evening; she had recently become a widow and came to Kate’s household to stay for a time afore moving into her dower estates. Though she were in mourning, Lady Fitzgerald Browne kept our good spirits up with tales of her home in Ireland, which she had left as a child. “My brother, now, he had to disappear back into Ireland to be hidden by our clansmen. He was in hiding for a number of years when King Henry had other plans for him.” She did not look at the Lady Elizabeth when she said that. King Henry had, in fact, planned to separate her brother not only from his lands but from his head. Though she did not seem to hold the sins of the father against the daughter, it was not a pleasant memory I was sure.

Lady Fitzgerald Browne continued. “He eventually made his way to the continent without drawing undue attention. Now that good King Edward sits upon his throne, I am supposing that he will come back to claim his lands! It will be good to see him again.”

We all heartily agreed with her sentiments, and in her grief about her husband, I was glad to see her looking forward rather than back. Soon, the Lady Elizabeth excused herself, telling the company that she had a headache coming on.

“The babe tires me, as well,” Kate said.

“May I assist you this evening, my lady?” I asked, my voice reflecting that I hoped she would agree. She looked wearily and warily in my direction but nodded her agreement.

Lord Thomas was in his own quarters and had not yet come to join her for the evening so I felt free to speak openly as I took the skirt paneling, undid the laces, and then gathered the rings from her swollen fingers.

“Madam, you know that I love you above all others,” I began. “My loyalty to you is unquestionable. And yet it is the very same love and loyalty that compel me to speak.”

“The garden,” Kate said.

“The garden,” I agreed. “’Tis unseemly.”

Her back stiffened at the rebuke. “It was play, Juliana, nothing more.”

“And in the Lady Elizabeth’s bedchamber? Whilst her governess and maids looked on in horror?”

Kate took the brush from me, set it down, and turned toward me, her face flushing. “I did not begin nor approve of that, and the Lady Elizabeth could have brought her complaints at any time.”

My temper flared and I shook my head. “To whom would she speak in your household, madam? To you? When even now you are unwilling to see. To Lord Thomas? Kat Ashley did speak to him, to no avail. The Lady Elizabeth is too loyal to you to write to the lord protector and bring your household under condemnation. And, as a girl is wont to do, she is flattered at the attention of a man, of course. But at her tender age she does not know better. Lord Thomas most certainly does.”

And so do you. I let the thought float, and I knew she would discern it though it remained unspoken. My own breaths came quickly and sharp as the situation in its entirety somehow reminded me of John Temple, though I knew things had not gone that far. Once more the girl was held to full account for the wrongs of the man.

“I know. You are right. It has grown beyond the playful to something I do not understand.” Kate slouched in a chair. As she did, she ran her hand across her belly. “The little knave grows restless and kicks from within.” Lord Thomas had already told all who would listen that he believed the babe to be a boy.

The flock of ravens, the Lady Elizabeth’s dress clippings, flying to the Tower in my vision came back insistently. Because I had intervened in one forewarned event did not mean all danger had passed. “We must protect the Lady Elizabeth. And yourself. And your son.” I did not mention Thomas. I had no interest in protecting him.

“What shall I do?” she asked quietly.

“You must decrease your household in readiness of your lying in.”

She thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, yes, you are right. As I am to shortly depart for Sudeley to bear the babe, perhaps ’twould be a good time for Kat Ashley to visit with her sister Lady Denny and her household in Hertfordshire.” A shadow lifted from her face. “The Lady Elizabeth will benefit of the fresh air and change of circumstances and I shall be well occupied for the next few months. I’ve also promised Lady Jane Grey she could attend upon me with the household in Sudeley, so mayhap it’s better if Elizabeth does not come just now.”

I nodded my agreement. I knew the Lady Elizabeth’s dismissal would seem to those who knew the situation as if she were to blame, but there was no other alternative. Kate could not dismiss her husband.

Within weeks the queen and Elizabeth had a solemn discussion wherein Elizabeth’s departure was confirmed. Elizabeth said little but perhaps she felt some relief and ease too. Within a fortnight after her departure, the queen received a letter from Elizabeth and she asked me to read it to her whilst she rested upon her bed on a warm afternoon.

“‘Although I could not be plentiful in genuine thanks for the manifold kindnesses received at Your Highness’s hands at my departure, yet I am something to be borne withal, for truly I was replete with sorrow to depart from Your Highness, especially leaving you undoubtful of health. And albeit I answered little I weighed it deeper when you said you would warn me of all evils that you should hear of me; for if Your Grace had not a good opinion of me, you would not have offered friendship to me that way, that all men judge the contrary. Your Highness’s humble daughter, Elizabeth.’”

I closed the paper. “She believes you to be angry with her and hold her accountable,” I said. “She wants reassurance of your love.”

Kate kept her eyes closed. “Nay, I do not hold her to account,” she said softly. “I know whence her fear came. She has my constant love and I shall write and tell her so.”

Within the week we took our leave to Sudeley Castle in Gloucester to prepare for the arrival of the little knave. Thomas did not sail to Scotland with the fleet, as Sir Richard Hibbart had hoped. Instead, he went back and forth between Sudeley and the court, pleading and manipulating in public and private for more power and control.

The very night we arrived in Gloucestershire, I dreamt.

It was a cliff, and next to the cliff, a tiny patch of green upon which grew some flowers. They were bright and bold, flos solis, sunflowers, with beautiful faces that turned toward the sun as it arced across the lustrous blue sky.

Toward the end of its arc, a seed dropped from one flower’s bosom and implanted itself deep within the soil. Within a moment, a tiny shoot sprang forward, unsteady and green. As it began to grow, the larger flower nodded under the heavy weight. Suddenly Lord Thomas’s dagger sliced through the stem right below the head and, thus lopped off, it fell to the ground.