My Enemy, the Queen (31 page)

She had played with fire and if they were not careful a few fingers were going to be severely burned. She said there must be a way out of the situation, and she would find it. The marriage terms were discussed and the French showed themselves eager to comply with her demands, and in desperation she suddenly made the announcement that there was one clause which was vital to her agreement, and that was that Calais should be returned to the English crown.

This wasnd she knew itutrageous. Calaishich her sister Mary had lostad been the last stronghold possessed by the English, and in no circumstances would the French allow the English to get a foothold in France again. They must have realized at last that she was playing with them; and the situation then became fraught with danger.

She knew it better than anyone and she found an answer. The Spaniards were a menace. The little Duc was in one of his Protestant phases at the time and there would eventually have to be a confrontation with the Spaniards. The Queen firmly believed that such an encounter could more happily take place outside her realm; and as the Netherlands had sent out repeated calls for help, it might be a way out of a difficult situation to kill two birds with one stone by giving the Duc dnjou a sum of money to go to the Netherlands and conduct a campaign against the Spaniards there.

Nothing could be calculated to annoy Henri III of France and Philip of Spain more than that, and it would keep the little Prince mind from matrimonial matters.

Languishing, as he said, with love for her, Anjou at length allowed himself to be persuaded to go to the Netherlands. Proudly she showed him her dockyard at Chatham, and the sight of so many fine ships impressed him greatly, but no doubt increased his desire to be her husband and master of them; and as she continued to show great affection for him he must have felt that this was still not an impossibility.

Robert came to me and told me what had happened. It deeply concerned him, he said, for she had told the Duc that as a mark of her great esteem, she was going to send with him, to escort him to Antwerp, a man whose presence at Court had always been more important to her than that of any other.

ou, Robert!I cried.

He nodded.

I sensed the excitement in him, and I think my feelings for him began to change in that moment. He was back in favor; and I knew then that the ruling passion of his lifeow as everas ambition. She, my royal rival, could give him what he craved. I was not a woman lightly to take second place.

He was glad to go to the Netherlands, even though it meant leaving me, because he saw opportunities there, and the fact that the Queen was sending him to be close to Anjou showed that she trusted him.

They were together againy husband and his royal mistress. I might be the one his senses sought, but she was the one his head told him to follow, and even greater than his physical need was his ambition.

He did not notice that certain coldness in my manner. He went on excitedly: ou see what she has been doing? She has been holding off the French all this time and now she has succeeded in getting Anjou to fight her battles for her.

His eyes were shining. She was a great woman, a great Queen. Moreover, all the tenderness she had shown to her Little Frog was devious politics. There was only one man whom she had ever loved enough to make her temporarily forget expediency and that was Robert Dudley.

He was hers to command. She had forgiven him for his marriage and was going to keep him with her. The marriage was unimportant. She did not want to marry him, in any case. But she was going to take my husband from me whenever she could. He was going to be reinstated as her favorite man and his wife was going to be denied the Court. This was her revenge on me.

I felt the cold anger rise within me. No, I was not a woman to be set aside lightly.

Of course he was passionately loving and assured me that he was going to hate leaving me, but already in his thoughts he was in the Netherlands, seizing what advantages he could there.

It was February when he left England. The Queen accompanied the party as far as Canterbury. I could not go because my presence would be repulsive to her.

I heard, though, that she took a fond farewell of my Robert, and talked to him very sharply because she feared he might eat or drink more than was good for him and not take enough care of himself. He caused her great anxiety by his thoughtlessness, she was heard to say; and she would recall him and put him into dire disgrace if she heard reports of ill health caused through lack of care.

Oh yes, she was still in love with him; and although she announced that she would give a million pounds to have her Little Frog swimming in the Thames, it was Robert of whom she was thinking.

eicester Commonwealth

His Lordship (Leicester) changeth wives and minions by killing the one, denying the other.

Children of adulterers shall be consumed and the seed of a wicked bed shall be rooted out.

Leicester Commonwealth

When Robert returned from the Netherlands, I was at Leicester House with Dorothy and my young son Robert. My elder son, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, had by this time taken his Master degree at Cambridge and had expressed a desire for a quiet life, so Lord Burleigh, his guardian, had thought it an excellent idea for him to retire to one of his properties at Llanfydd in Pembrokeshire, where he could live the life of a country squire and devote himself to his books. I saw him only infrequently at this point, which did not please me, for, of all my children, he was my favorite.

Leicester had aged perceptibly. There was much more gray in his hair and his ruddy looks had intensified. The Queen was right to chide him for overindulgence at table. He had completely lost that mild depression which had been there after the disclosure of our wedding when he had thought, briefly, that he was out of favor forever. Now he was bursting with confidence.

He came into the house where I was waiting to greet him and swept me into his arms declaring that I was more beautiful than ever. He made love with the urgent need of a man who has abstained from the practice for a long time; but I sensed an absent-mindedness, and I knew that my rival was Ambition.

I was faintly irritated that before coming to me he had been to the Queen. I knew this was necessary, but my jealousy made me irrational.

He could not stop talking of the future, which was going to be brilliant.

he received me with great affection and berated me for staying away too long. She said she thought I had formed such an affection for the Low Countries that I had forgotten that of my birth and my gracious Queen.

nd perhaps,I put in, our ever-patient wife.

he did not mention you.

That made me laugh. t was kind of her not to assault your ears with abuse of me.

h, shel get over that. Il swear, Lettice, that in a few monthstime she will be receiving you at Court.

ready to swear otherwise.

shall work for it.

oul waste your efforts.

ay, I know her better than you do.

he only way you could obtain her forgiveness for me would be to leave me or rid yourself of me in some way. But no matter. She has taken you back into her loving circle, it seems.

here is no doubt of it. And, Lettice, I believe there is a great future for me in the Netherlands. I was received with such courtesy. I believe they would be ready to make me Governor of the Provinces. They are a desperate country and they seem to look upon me as a savior.

o, if you had the chance you would desert your royal mistress? I wonder what she would have to say to that!

should have to persuade her.

ou have a big notion of your persuasive powers, my lord.

ow would you like to be Governor lady?

ery wellince I am not accepted here as Leicester lady.

t is only at Court.

nly at Court! Where else is there to be recognized?

He took my hands and his eyes were alight with that passion which ambition could kindle.

am going to see that our family is conveniently placed,he said.

aven you done that? You seem to have set your relations and adherents in the right places throughout the country.

have always sought to secure my position.

et you see how easily a frown from the Queen can unseat you.

Tis true. That is why I have to make sure that I strengthen my hold. There is young Essex. It is time he stopped skulking in Wales and came to Court. I could find a place for him.

y son seems to like the country according to his letters to me and to Lord Burleigh.

onsense. I have a fine stepson. I want to make his acquaintance again and bring him forward.

will write and tell him so.

nd our own little RobertI have plans for him.

e is but a baby.

t is never too soon to plan their future, I assure you.

I frowned. I was anxious about our son. He was delicate, which seemed ironical when I considered his father and myself. My children by Walter Devereux were strong and healthy; it seemed a strange trick of fate that Leicester boy should be a weakling. He had had difficulty in walking and I had discovered one of his legs to be a trifle shorter than the other, and when he eventually did walk it had been with a slight limp. I loved him the more for his deformity. I felt I wanted to care for him and protect him; and the thought of his making a great marriage made me uneasy.

hom do you propose for Robert?I asked.

rabella Stuart,replied Robert.

I was aghast, seeing what he was thinking of. Arabella Stuart had a claim to the throne because she was the daughter of Charles Stuart, Earl of Lennox, the younger brother of the Earl of Darnley, who had married Mary Queen of Scots. Through his mother, the Earl of Lennox was the grandson of Henry VIII sister, Margaret Tudor.

I said quickly: ou think she has a chance of the throne. How could she? Mary of Scotland James comes before her.

he was born on English soil,said Robert. ames is a Scot. The people would favor an English queen.

our ambition runs away with your good sense,I said tartly, and added: ou are like your father. He saw himself as the kingmaker, and he ended up without his head.

see no reason why there should not be a betrothal.

nd you think the Queen would allow it?

think if I put it to her

n cozy fashion,I suggested.

hat the matter with you, Lettice? You must not be put out because Elizabeth will not receive you. I tell you I will soon have that changed.

t seems you have come back from the Netherlands a conquering hero, sweeping all before you.

ou wait,he said. have other plans. What of Dorothy?

orothy! Have you a royal husband for her?

hat exactly what I have.

can wait to hear whom you have found for her.

oung James of Scotland.

obert, you can be serious. My daughter Dorothy to marry the son of the Queen of Scots.

hy should she not?

should like to hear his mother comments on the proposed match.

hatever they were they would be of no account. The Queen of Scots is but a prisoner.

nd those of your royal mistress.

believe Elizabeth could be persuaded. If James were to swear to remain a Protestant, she would be ready to accept him as her heir.

nd you, my lord, as his good father, would rule the kingdom. And if he should fail to reach the throne there is always Arabella. Have a care, Robert.

display the utmost care.

ou are indeed like your father. Remember him. He tried to make your brother Guildford King through Lady Jane Grey. Again let me remind you that it cost him his head. It dangerous to dabble with crowns.

ife is a dangerous gamble, Lettice, so one might as well play for high stakes.

oor Robert. You have worked hard. You almost reached the crown through Elizabeth. That was a bitter blow and shameful was the manner in which she kept you dangling all those years.

Then it was: obert, my Eyes, my Sweet Robinand then just as you thought you had your hands on it, it was snatched away. At last you know how the game is played, but you don give up, do you? Youl achieve your ambition secondhand, as it were. Youl place the power in your puppetshands and youl jerk the strings. Robert, you are the most outrageously ambitious man I have ever known.

ould you have me otherwise?

ou know full well I would not have you otherwise than you are, but at the same time I would say, Take Care. Elizabeth has received you back into favor, but she is unpredictable. You can be her Sweet Robin one day and That Traitor Leicester the next.

ut you see how she forgives me always. There could never have been a greater blow to her than our marriage, and if you could have seen her tenderness towards me when I was leaving for the Netherlands and on my return

was mercifully spared that.

ou must not be jealous, Lettice. My relationship with her is not to be compared with mine and yours.

o, because she has refused you! It would have been a different matter if she had taken you, would it not? All I say is Take Care. Do not think because she had patted you on the cheek and said you eat too much that you may take liberties with our gracious ladyr you will soon find that she is far from gracious.

y dear Lettice, I think I know her better than anyone.

ou should. It has been a long acquaintance. But methinks the adulation you have received in the Netherlands may have made you see yourself a little more glorious than in truth you are. You are on dangerous ground, Robert, and I repeat that all I, as your humble wife, am doing is asking you to be careful.

He was not pleased. He had wanted me to applaud his schemes and to display a blind belief in his power to get what he wanted. He did not realize that I was changing towards him or how deeply I resented my expulsion from Court while he was received there with honors and seemed content that this should be so.

But even his new favor at Court did not save him from the Queen wrath when she heard of his proposals. She sent for him and berated him soundly. I had his account of thisnd that of others. She made it clear that both suggested marriages were anathema to her simply because both of the participants were my children.