Rosamund (40 page)

“Vixen!” he said with a grin, and then he was gone.

When Annie came to wake her shortly afterward Rosamund could not get up. She simply couldn’t. She was utterly exhausted by the delicious excesses of their passion. She had never imagined that such a lover as the king existed. He was unstoppable, and his energy was inexhaustible. And he needed her. He really needed her, and she was amazed by the realization that a man as powerful as Henry Tudor could need the love and caring of a simple woman as herself. But Rosamund did not fool herself. He would in time become bored with her. And she would move graciously away because he would need her to do that, too, for the king did not cope well with guilt.

“Go to the queen,” she instructed Annie. “Tell her that I am ill with a flux that has afflicted my bowels. Say that I beg her indulgence, but I must keep to my bed this day.”

Annie nodded, and then she said, “This mysterious man who visits you, m’lady, must be magical that he could reduce you to such a state. Are you certain that he is human and not some creature from the dark world? I have heard of demons taking human form and then choosing lovers. They saps the life from ’em, I’m told. Are you certain that this man is not one of them?” She looked very worried.

Rosamund swallowed back her laughter. “My lover, Annie, is the most human of gentlemen, I swear it. Now hurry to the queen. If you run you can catch her before the mass. Leave me to sleep until the afternoon, and then bring me something to eat, for I shall be ravenous by then. And tell my cousin that I have decided to remain in my bed.” She turned over, pulling the coverlet over her shoulders as Annie went from the bedchamber.

Rosamund was awakened by her cousin who had himself brought her a
tray with sweet wine, beef, bread, butter, and cheese. “Arise, you slugabed!” he teased, smacking at her coverlet-covered rump. “It is almost four o’clock of the afternoon. Her majesty sends her best wishes for your recovery and hopes to see you on the morrow. His majesty gave me a rather broad wink, which I pray was not observed by any but myself. I have not seen him so jovial since his son was born. These little nighttime excursions of his obviously agree with him.”

“He is inexhaustible,” Rosamund muttered sleepily. “Turn your back, Tom, but hand me that smock at the foot of the bed first. We must talk.” She took the garment from him and pulled it over her head and down her body. “Can you hand me my hairbrush, cousin?” She took it from him and began to brush the tangles from her tresses. “He remains practically the entire night, and I get no rest. I cannot serve the queen and service the king! What am I to do?”

He took the brush from her, for she was struggling with a knot. “There is little you can do but caution your lover to be more circumscribed in his enthusiasm. Is he coming tonight?”

“He said not, and I pray it is so!” Rosamund responded.

“Ah, yes, the Venetian ambassador and his wife have arrived at Greenwich today. The king and the queen will be entertaining them until the wee hours of the morning. There is to be a pageant of some sort involving Robin Hood and Moors in gold turbans, and God only knows what else. The king has a most fertile imagination. It is up to his friends to see that his ideas are put into reality, such as reality is at the court.” He unsnarled the tangle in her hair and continued to brush her long locks. “If he told you he would not come, then he will not. Is that why you stole the day for yourself, dear cousin?”

“Aye! And tomorrow I shall request the queen’s permission to depart the progress somewhere in the north. Have you heard when we are to leave Greenwich yet?”

“Mid-June, or so the rumor goes, and usually the rumors about a progress are accurate, for those fortunate ones to be visited by the king’s August presence need to depart for their homes to prepare. A visit, even a short visit, from the king can beggar a man. In another week you will
see a small exodus begin,” he chuckled. “There! Your hair is now like a swath of silk, dear girl.” He lay the brush aside, and stood up. “I shall join my friends at court tonight so I may view this elaborate spectacle that has been planned to honor the Venetians. The Italians adore such elegant charades.”

“I am sorry to miss it, but I dare not appear until the mass tomorrow, lest it be suspected that I have indulged in a bit of playacting myself,” Rosamund told Lord Cambridge.

“Do you think, dear girl, that before you ask the queen for her permission to go home, you might ask the king?” he queried. “You are Henry’s new toy. He will not relish the idea of giving you up and will be very annoyed if it comes as a surprise to him.”

“He must give me up sooner rather than later,” Rosamund said, “but perhaps, cousin, you are correct. I will tell Hal before I tell my mistress, the queen.”

“I believe you have made a wise decision,” Lord Cambridge said to his cousin, and then with a wave he was gone.

Rosamund appeared at court the following morning, mingling among the queen’s women to take up her duties once again. The queen had several letters to write that day, and Rosamund was kept busy. Late that night the king arrived at Bolton Greenwich to be with his secret mistress. After they had made passionate love for the first time in two days, Rosamund told him what she was planning.

“I shall ask the queen’s permission to leave the progress when it reaches its furthest northern point, Hal. I have been away from Friarsgate for many months now. My daughters need me. I am not the kind of mother who willingly leaves her bairns in the care of others. I want to go home. I need to go home.”

“I forbid it!”
he exploded angrily.

“My lord! While we are at Greenwich you and I may enjoy a sweet idyll and keep our liaison a secret from all. Even my dear Annie does not know it is you who visits me. She wonders if my
lover
is not some demon taking human form, for she believes that only someone like that could have
lured the lady of Friarsgate from the path of virtue. Only my cousin Tom knows your identity. Perhaps we can keep our secret while we reside at Greenwich, but once we begin your summer progress it will be difficult for us to meet at all, let alone in secret. I will not willingly harm the queen, who has been my friend, who is my daughter’s godmother. Nor should you hurt her, for she is devoted to you and is a good wife. If you have any tenderness of feeling for me, Hal, you will let me go. We both know I cannot really ever be a part of your life.”

“Do you love me, fair Rosamund?” he asked her softly.

“Aye, I believe that I do,” she answered as softly.

“Then how can you desert me when I need you so very much?” the king said plaintively.

He was her king. He was a man to be sure, she thought, and yet he was still a boy. “How can you jeopardize what we have, even knowing that it cannot be forever?” Rosamund countered. “How can you consider hurting your queen yet again when she loves you with all the devotion that is in her heart and soul? I adore you, Hal! But I am ashamed of my behavior, for it does disservice to a woman who has been kind and generous to me, and is completely loyal to you.”

“You reason like that city lawyer, Thomas More,” he grumbled at her. “Dammit, fair Rosamund, I am your king!”

“It is because you are my king, and because I love you, that I speak frankly to you, Hal. If you refuse to allow the queen to let me go home, what excuse can you make for it that will not arouse suspicions? Even if Kate does not consider it, there are those among her women who will consider it. And then they will begin their spying and seeking out in order to protect the queen. If it becomes public knowledge that you took a northern lady of no great family to be your mistress, you will become the butt of mockery not only in England, but in France and Spain and in the Holy Roman Empire, in the Low Countries. You are young, my lord, but you will be a great king one day. I know it!”

“You are a far wiser and more clever wench than I had anticipated,” he said, tumbling her back among the bedclothes.

“Did you learn nothing from our first encounter those years ago, Hal? I
told you then that you should not seduce me until I chose to be seduced. I was but fourteen then, and a virgin. I had my good name to protect, and that of my betrothed husband’s to consider. This time I chose to allow your seduction, for my obligations have changed and I found I could not resist you.” She reached up and stroked his cheek. “You know I am right.”

He bent and slowly kissed her lips. “Aye,” he admitted. “You are, my fair Rosamund. Ask the queen for your release tomorrow, and I will not stand in your way. Indeed I will approve my good wife’s request, but you, in turn, must promise me something.”

“What?” she asked him.

“That we will remain lovers until you leave the progress for your beloved Friarsgate, fair Rosamund. That is the price that I will exact from you for my cooperation,” the young king said.

“I will gladly agree,” Rosamund told him, opening herself to his male member, which was now seeking to gain entry to her warm and loving sheath, “but you must swear you will do nothing that will allow the queen to learn this secret we harbor—
Ahhhh, God, you fill me full, my lord king!
” Her lithe body arched against him, and she felt herself beginning to lose control.

“Agreed,”
he growled into her ear, grinding himself as deep into her sweetness as he could. “God’s nightshirt, fair Rosamund, I shall never get enough of you! You will forever be a sickness in my soul, and when you leave, you will take a part of my heart with you.”

Her legs wrapped about him, and her carefully pared nails dug into his broad shoulders. “I think my Annie is right, Hal. You are a demon, for only a demon could steal my heart and my soul as you have done!” Then she kissed him passionately, and together they pleasured each other until the moon had set and the morning star began to rise in the gray false dawn of the eastern skies.

T
he king’s royal summer progress was similar to the journey Rosamund had taken north when she had first left the court as a girl, going home to be wed with Owein. That journey had had a purpose however, to bring Margaret Tudor to Scotland. The annual summer progress was simply a means of entertaining the king and his court, and keeping them from the city’s summer. It was an enormously expensive undertaking for those who were to be honored with a royal visit. And it could be extremely uncomfortable for the men and women who served the king and his company. It could be equally difficult for the courtiers who accompanied their majesties, because housing was not always guaranteed, and had to be foraged for by one’s servants or the courtier him or herself. Still, to not be invited on a progress, or to not go, was considered social disaster or a serious faux pas.

Lord Cambridge’s informant had been correct. The progress would go north into the Midlands of England. And Tom Bolton, a man who did not like being without his comforts, immediately learned the itinerary from the royal chamberlain. He then proceeded to arrange accommodations in the best inns along the route for himself and for Rosamund. And the lady of Friarsgate had now begged the queen’s permission to leave her service and return home from Nottingham.

“Are you not happy with us?” Katherine inquired solicitously.

“It is a joy to be in your majesty’s presence, and especially in her service,” Rosamund said diplomatically, “but I miss my children, madame. I have been away almost a full year now. I need to go home.”

“Are your daughters not well cared for?” the queen asked, for she was reluctant to let Rosamund go. While she certainly had closer friends, she enjoyed Rosamund’s gentle company, and she particularly liked having a woman write her correspondence. It was a great convenience.

“My daughters are in good hands, your majesty, but I am their mother. Great ladies must, of necessity, leave their children to the care of others. I am not a great lady. My uncle Edmund and his wife are no longer young, and my uncle Henry will try to force my eldest into a marriage with his odious son if I am not back soon. Mistress Blount would be so honored to take my place by your side, I vow. She would gladly, if asked, take over the responsibilities of your correspondence.”

“You do not like Gertrude Blount,” the queen said with a little smile. “Yet you would recommend her to me?”

“What I want, or who I like, is of no importance, your majesty. You need, and must have, the best person to replace me. That lady is Mistress Blount, on my honor.”

“We shall ask the king’s advice in this matter,” Katherine said, and she turned to her husband. “Henry, the lady of Friarsgate would leave the court at Nottingham for her own home. She does not want to come back. She recommends Mistress Blount to me in her stead. What think you, my dear lord?” She put a hand on his green velvet–covered sleeve, looking up into his face with a smile.

“Dearest Kate, what you decide for your household always has my approval,” the king said smoothly. “If the lady of Friarsgate wishes to go home, then release her from your service.” His head abruptly snapped up. He looked directly at Rosamund. “You have children, madame, as I recall, do you not?” he asked her casually.

She blushed, curtsied, and replied, “Aye, your majesty, I do.”

“Then you are released, with our grateful thanks, for the many services that you have rendered our dear consort and wife,” the king responded. Dismissing her as suddenly as he had approached her, he turned and began speaking with Will Compton, who was seated on his left.

“My lord and husband has spoken for us both,” the queen said mildly.

Rosamund curtsied again, saying, “I shall be happy to continue my duties until we reach Nottingham, your majesty.”

“Excellent,” the queen answered, “and you will show Mistress Blount what she is to do for me after you are gone.”

“I will, your majesty,” Rosamund replied. God’s nightshirt! Had anyone wondered why she had blushed when the king had spoken to her? She hoped that they would just think she was overcome by briefly having the royal attention, being an unimportant lady of no great family and not used to being addressed by Henry Tudor.

Gertrude Blount sidled up next to her. “Why would you do me a favor?” she demanded of Rosamund. “We are not friends, and we certainly do not like each other. I am not certain I like being in the debt of someone like you.”

“You are not in my debt, Mistress Blount,” Rosamund replied evenly. “When I leave the court I shall not return. I but spoke the truth to the queen.”

“Writing the queen’s most personal correspondence is a great honor,” Gertrude Blount said. “Whether you wish it, or not, I am now in your debt, for I cannot refuse the queen’s appointment.”

“Nay, you cannot,” Rosamund murmured, “nor can you impart anything that you write to anyone else. You are a girl who loves to gossip, but you will not be able to do so now lest you bring dishonor upon your family, Mistress Blount.” And Rosamund smiled sweetly.

“Ohhh!”
Gertrude Blount’s blue eyes widened with the realization of what the lady of Friarsgate had done to her. “This is your revenge on me because I do not like you! How mean you are!”

“Mistress Blount, it matters little to me whether you like me or not,” Rosamund told her frankly. “Your family name is greater than mine, but my pride in who I am is far greater than yours is in who you are. I will not be spoken down to by the daughter of Lord Montjoy. I am the lady of Friarsgate, not by marriage, but in my own right. I have recommended you to the queen because you write a fine hand and you are already one of her ladies. It is an honor to serve Queen Katherine. You owe me nothing for this appointment. Now, on the days that the queen requires my
services you will come with me and learn how the queen’s most personal correspondence is done, and how it is kept.”

Gertrude Blount nodded, temporarily cowed, but was soon bragging about the queen’s chambers that it was she who would now be taking the queen’s most intimate dictation, that she had been recommended for the position, but she did not say by whom, and no one bothered to ask her, because they did not care.

The progress departed Greenwich, moving to Richmond briefly while last-minute preparations were finalized. Then the travels began in earnest. The king had continued to visit Rosamund at night while they were still at Greenwich. He came to her one night at Bolton House from Richmond, but he had to travel via the river to reach her, which meant his bargemen knew he had left the palace and where he had gone. It was not a good situation, for Henry did not choose to be caught with a mistress again at this point in his life. While he would not be denied his pleasures, he wanted everything to appear circumspect to his world.

The progress moved to Warwickshire, that county which was divided into two parts by the beautiful river Avon. To the south lay the Feldon, a beautiful swath of green meadows and pastures dotted with wildflowers. To the north lay the Forest of Arden, and in the far north, which was not tillable, were sandstone quarries and coal and iron mines. While the castles and churches were built of sandstone, the towns were mostly black-and-white timber framing and subject to fire.

The progress visited two great castles in Warwickshire. First Warwick, which stood on a great bluff above the Avon, and then Kenilworth, which was nearer to Coventry. Warwick had originally been a Saxon fort, but two years after the Norman conquest a castle had been begun. In the fourteenth century the Beauchamp family had turned the castle into the magnificent edifice that Rosamund now saw. It was a great and proud fortress that had been lived in by great and proud families.

Kenilworth on the other hand was the most romantic place that Rosamund had ever seen in her entire life. It was neither massive nor imposing like Warwick. Begun in the twelfth century it owed its elegance and its beauty to John of Gaunt, a son of King Edward III, who spent a
fortune on the castle that had once belonged to Simon de Montfort, the notorious kingmaker—and troublemaker. The Great Hall of Kenilworth had the most beautiful windows anyone would ever see. Oriel, they were called, Tom had told Rosamund.

In Coventry they attended a high mass at the cathedral. But the highlight of the visit to that great market town was a performance of one of the famed cycle of mystery plays, executed by the local guildsmen. These plays had been enacted for centuries in Coventry and were known far and wide, even in France and Spain. The queen had wept at the beauty of what she saw, and it was whispered among her women that her strong emotions indicated that she was with child again. Hearing the news the king strutted about among his friends very pleased.

The progress now moved north again, making for Nottingham where the king and his court would spend time at Nottingham Castle. It was virtually impossible for Henry to find a secret moment alone with Rosamund, and strangely, she felt relieved. She had fallen half in love with him, but she was not a foolish woman, and she knew that what they had shared was almost over, and must be.

At Nottingham the king indulged himself in sports and in gambling. Some of the younger courtiers introduced the monarch to acquaintances from France and Lombardy. It was not long before the king’s longtime friends noticed that he was losing a great deal of money on dog races, bear baiting, cards, and tennis matches. Will Compton noted that the young English courtiers would entice and taunt the king into foolish wagers. Henry’s pride would not allow him to cry off, and he would invariably lose. When Compton saw one of the courtiers later splitting the winnings with a French friend, he tipped the king as to what was happening. The king quietly sent both the young courtiers and their bad companions from court, informing their families of their misbehavior as well. Then his behavior became genial and jovial once more as befitted the monarch.

Now the time had come for Rosamund to leave court. She asked her cousin to discreetly inform the monarch of their going, for she did want to say a private farewell if it was at all possible. Lord Cambridge managed to engage the king in a quick conversation, catching him alone for a
minute as he came from the tennis courts. Stepping into the king’s path, Tom Bolton bowed with an elegant flourish.

“You must teach me how to do that some time,” the king said with a grin.

“Gladly, your majesty,” Lord Cambridge replied. “I thought you might want to know that Rosamund and I will be leaving Nottingham shortly. She is most anxious to get home. She would render her good-byes privily, if that is your majesty’s desire.”

Henry Tudor shook his head. “She is the most loving woman I have ever known, Tom Bolton. I cannot let her stay, but I do regret her going. Aye, I would say our good-byes privily. My body servant, Walter, will tell you when and where.” The king passed on into the castle keep.

The meeting was set for midnight the following night, in a small room in the east tower of the castle. Walter came to lead Rosamund to the place of the assignation, opening the door to allow the lady in, then remaining outside. It was a tiny chamber with but two chairs and a table upon which were two goblets of wine. The king embraced Rosamund, his lips taking hers in a passionate kiss.

“I wish you did not have to leave me,” he said to her.

She smiled, curling into his lap. “You are flattering me when you say it, but we both know I must go. Kate is more than likely with child again. She must not be distressed by anything. She needs your love now more than she has ever needed it, Hal.”

“Pray God she is indeed ripening again,” he said, slipping his hand into her bodice to fondle her plump breast. “Damn! I want to fuck you, Rosamund! I must have you one more time before we part!”

“My lord, but how?” she asked, but she wanted him, too. She had missed his passion and his vigor these past weeks.

He yanked his hand from her breast, and reaching around her, undid the laces of her bodice and pulled it away. He unlaced her chemise and pushed it from her shoulders. Then his hand moved beneath her skirts, and he began to play with her, his fingers twining amid the auburn curls of her Venus mont, rubbing against her slit, pressing and glazing over her love button, even as he buried his face in her bosom, groaning with his longing.

Oh, she wanted him! She could be his whore forever if he would but
let her, she considered, shocked by her own thoughts. It was madness, but her juices flowed as she imagined him deep inside her, his manhood where his fingers now plunged. Suddenly he was lifting her up to straddle him, commanding her to raise her skirts, fumbling with his codpiece. He lowered her onto his thick, engorged love lance, and she screamed softly with the pleasure his entry gave her. The walls of her love sheath closed around him, holding him, teasing him.

“Oh, Hal!”
she moaned. “Make me soar, my dear lord!”

And he did. When it was over, and she had collapsed on his neck with a deep sigh, he said, “I will never forget you, my fair Rosamund, my beloved lady of Friarsgate.” He held her in his arms for what seemed a long time, and then finally he said, “We must leave our hideaway, my love. It is time our tryst was ended.”

She slid reluctantly from his lap, lacing up her chemise and slipping on her bodice, which he neatly did up for her. He straightened his own garments into a semblance of order. Then together they toasted each other with the goblets of wine, and when the goblets were empty the king said, “It is time, fair Rosamund. I will take you from the tower, but Walter will escort you from the castle to your inn.”