The Lady in the Tower (54 page)

Jane Rochford came to me one day, her eyes shining with that excitement which they displayed when she had disturbing news to impart.

“Mary fainted this morning. She was quite ill. And when we revived her it was clear that…”

I looked at Jane, hating her.

I said: “Send Mary to me.”

“We were amazed…”

“Never mind,” I said imperiously. “Send her to me. I want to see her at once.”

Mary came. She was very apprehensive.

I said: “Are you with child?”

“How …how did you know?” she stammered.

“That snake, Jane Rochford, told me.”

“Yes… she was there. I saw her when I came to.”

“Trust Jane to be there. This is a disgrace. You know I was thinking of a grand match for you. And now like the silly little wanton you are, you have made it impossible.”

“I don't want a grand match, Anne.”

“You are the Queen's sister. Your marriage should be a matter for the King and me to decide.”

“The King is no longer interested in me. He will be glad to see me out of the way. He rarely looks my way and, if by chance his eyes fall on me, he feigns not to see me. It was different once. But that is his way. When things are over, he wants to forget they ever existed.”

Her words struck me like a funeral knell. How right she was.

“In any case,” she went on, “I want only William.”

“William? William who?”

“William Stafford.”

“William Stafford! But is he not only a knight…of no importance?”

“He is of importance to me.”

“As you are ready to proclaim to the world, it seems.”

“Yes, I am.”

“I don't know what the King will say.”

“Nothing…precisely nothing. He is not interested.”

“And our father?”

“Our father has always despised me. I don't know how I happened to be his daughter.”

I looked with envy at the slight swelling below Mary's waist. She had children… healthy children who loved her and whom she loved. Why should they be denied to me?

For a few seconds I felt envious of my simple-minded sister who thought love was more important than ambition, and for a fleeting moment I would have changed places with her. But the moment passed.

I said: “And what do you think is going to happen now?”

“We shall be married.”

“You will leave the Court.”

“It is what we want,” she said, smiling contentedly.

So Mary was banished from Court and married Sir William Stafford. In due course she gave birth to a son.

How cruel fate was! Why give a son to Mary and deny one to me?

There was a ray of hope. François had agreed to consider a marriage between his son the Duc d'Angoulême and Elizabeth.

I was delighted. François had not deserted me after all. If he thought of my daughter as a possible wife for his son, she must be legitimate in his eyes, and that meant he considered my marriage with Henry valid.

This was particularly comforting because George had discovered that the matter of a pre-contract between myself and Northumberland had been revived. The King wanted the matter looked into closely. That was very ominous.

But this action of François's was significant.

I realized afterward that François had no intention of allowing the marriage; he made such outrageous demands as part of the betrothal agreement that they could only be rejected by the Council.

François would have known all along that they would be. But still he had offered to negotiate, which was the important thing, and I still clung to the hope that he had done it out of kindness to me, for I could be sure he was aware of the state of affairs at the English Court.

I kept thinking of George's words. I must act quickly. I must make the King reasonably friendly toward me so that we could occasionally share a bed. Otherwise how was I going to get a son?

He was deeply involved with his mistress. I had to break that somehow for I had discovered that she was a fervent advocate of Katharine and Mary. It might well be that she had been put in the King's path with instructions to become his mistress that she might further the cause of these two. There were all sorts of schemes afoot; there were spies everywhere. Chapuys was a very energetic man, and he had not yet despaired of getting me ousted and Katharine's and Mary's rights restored to them.

An idea occurred to me which I admit was wild, but I was getting desperate.

My cousin Madge Shelton had come to Court. She was an exceptionally pretty girl. Her mother was my father's sister. I had always liked her, perhaps because she had shown a great admiration for me. She used to copy my clothes, my manner, the way I walked; it always amused me. She was delighted to come to Court and I think it was partly because she could be near me.

Naturally such admiration delighted me. She was such a gentle girl, constantly trying to do something which would please me; and not for her own gain either—just to hear me say thank you and smile at her.

Now that I was Queen, she thought I was wonderful. Little did she know of my inward disquiet. She saw me at Court surrounded by admirers, many of them men behaving, as they always had, as though they were in love with me.

There was a faint family resemblance and, as she rather slavishly copied the fashion I had set, I think she looked more like me than any girl at Court.

The idea came to me one evening. I was sitting with the King on the dais, for on certain occasions we had to make a show of being together, when Madge appeared. She was dancing and looked particularly pretty. I saw the King's eyes come to rest on her, and there was in them that glazed expression which I remembered had been directed toward me so often in the past.

His mistress then came close in the dance, and his eyes were all for her. But I had seen the look he gave Madge.

I dismissed the idea. It was preposterous; but at the same time there was an urgent message hammering in my brain. I must get a son.

I decided to speak to Madge.

“I want to talk to you very privately,” I said. “And what I say must be between us two.”

Her lovely eyes opened very wide and she looked at me with something like idolatry.

“We have been very good friends, cousin,” I said.

“Yes,” she answered breathlessly.

“Right from the time when we were both very young. I fancied even then that you had a liking for me.”

“Oh, Madam…yes,” she said.

“I need your help.”

She looked startled; but I could see that she wanted above everything to please me.

“I hope you will feel you can give it to me.”

“But
you
have done so much for us all… the whole family…”

I laid my hand on her arm. “This is something very special. I am going to be very frank. You must have heard that the King and I are not on very good terms of friendship at the moment.”

She did not answer. Of course she had heard. The whole Court was talking of it.

“It is on account of a certain woman. She is his mistress. She has taken him away from me. She is my enemy.”

Madge looked suitably shocked.

“Yes,” I said, “She is continually talking of the virtues of Katharine and Mary. The King listens to her. And she speaks ill of me. I cannot have that.”

“She should be punished.”

“That is what I intend to do.”

“But how can
I
help?”

“I think the King likes you.”

“He has scarcely seen me.”

“Oh yes, he has. I have seen him look at you, and I know well his ways.”

She was amazed.

“Cousin,” I went on, “I know not what will become of me if this woman continues to pour her poison into the King's ears.”

“How can you stop her?”

“By supplanting her.”

“But you are the Queen. For you the King has done so much.”

“Men are strangely fickle, cousin. Their loves do not last.”

“But the King loved you for many years. For you he has broken with Rome.”

“The King loved the chase. He wanted a son. He could not get one with Katharine. He wanted me, too. I think it was in that order. You see how I trust you, cousin. I am talking to you very frankly, and what I say does not go beyond these four walls. I believe you love me and would do a great deal for me.”

She nodded.

“May Heaven bless you! This is a big thing I am going to ask of you.”

Her eyes were shining with purpose. She would do it, I knew, for me.

“I want you to lure the King from his mistress.”

“I?”

“Yes, you. You have a freshness and charm and he has already noticed you. Be in his way. Smile…nervously. Seem overwhelmed when he looks at you. Let him see that you think he is the most handsome, powerful, god-like being on Earth. He will respect your judgment and immediately fall in love with you, because you are indeed very attractive.”

“But I don't think…”

“Try, Madge. My future could depend on it. I want you in her place. I want no more talk of how good and wonderful Katharine and Mary are; I want you instead to talk of me, to tell him of my incomparable charms,
my looks, my brains and above all my great fondness for him. Tell him that I am desolate because he has turned from me. Make him believe that, although I may not show this to him, it is because I am uncommonly proud and of a somewhat inflammable nature. Tell him that I admire him …as you do… and as all women of discernment must.”

“And do you?”

I laughed loudly and checked myself. No hysteria. The plan was so wild it might not succeed. But I was desperate and it was worth a try.

“Madge,” I went on earnestly, “for my sake I want you to take the King away from his mistress. It is time he began to be tired of her. It is very important to me that he ceases to soften toward Katharine and Mary. It is of even greater importance that I get a son.”

“But surely you only have to tell him this…”

I shook my head. “That would not be the way. This might be. Cousin, I am asking too much. Forgive me. But I thought you would do a great deal for me.”

“I would,” she replied earnestly. “I would do anything.”

I saw the excitement begin to dawn in her eyes. The King was the King. He was still handsome, and power sets a mighty aura about a man. Most girls would be flattered to be noticed by him. She would have to perform her part well; and he could be courteous and charming enough when he was attempting seduction.

“You will win my eternal gratitude,” I said. “Do you want to think about it?”

She nodded.

“Then please do. And remember: this is between us two.”

“I swear it shall go no further,” she said.

Jane Rochford was very excited.

“The King is no longer seeing his mistress so frequently.”

“Oh, is he not?” I asked languidly.

“There is another.” She looked at me with satisfaction.

“Oh yes, I suppose there would be.”

“You would never guess who.”

“Tell me.”

“It is really rather funny. Who would have thought it? She seemed so quiet. The King is in hot pursuit. It is our cousin, Madge Shelton.”

“Well, she is a very attractive girl.”

“Don't you mind? To think that a member of our family…”

“It has to be someone, I suppose.”

“You take it calmly.”

“How else could I take it?”

“George was with you a long time last night.”

“We were talking.”

“I was on the point of coming in.”

“You would not do that unless invited.”

“I knew I shouldn't be invited. I'm not clever enough. George always implies that.”

I did not answer. I was thinking of Madge.

I saw her later. She had changed. She was now the King's mistress. I marveled at a devotion which had made her go so far. It had seemed such a wild plan and yet it was working.

“Does he talk much…of affairs of Court?” I asked.

“He talked about Katharine and Mary.”

“They are much on his mind.”

“He says they have caused him grievous suffering.”

“I hope you were sympathetic.”

“Oh yes. I said it was wrong that any should harm the King. He has so much to think of… affairs of state… matters of the Court. Everyone should do their best to give him peace.”

“As you do.”

“Yes, as I do. I said I thought it was wrong of Katharine and Mary to be in such close touch with Chapuys. He said he supposed I heard gossip about the Court. I told him I did and he asked me one or two things. I don't think he likes Katharine and Mary quite as much as he did.”

“And did he mention me?”

She nodded, smiling. “I told him how much I loved you and how kind you had always been to me, how wonderful you were, and that I was afraid I imitated you in so many ways. And he said, ‘Well, there is no one like the Queen.’ He looked soft for a while and then he went on: ‘She has a sharp tongue.’ I replied that it was really because you were so honest. You did not stop to think what advantage would come to you for saying this and that. You spoke freely and you were quick tempered, but you were so merry quickly afterward and how much more exciting it was to be with people when you did not know exactly what to expect from them. Then he said: ‘You are a staunch advocate of the Queen,’ and I said, ‘So would Your Grace be if…’ Then I clapped my hands to my mouth and I said ‘Forgive me, sire, I spoke without thinking.’ He laughed and said: ‘Like her, eh?’ And he seemed to speak of you with some fondness.”

Oh dear little cousin Madge, I thought. It could work. It was not a crazy scheme after all.

It did not take the King long to tire of Madge, but so well had she done her work that even before her time was over he was looking toward me. I think he had come to regard her as a pale shadow of myself.

When we were hawking, he was close to me. He spoke a few words in a most pleasant manner and when I replied gently he seemed pleased.

We progressed from there, and within a week or so my old enemies were looking glum. Some of them obviously thought they had been a little premature.

One day he said to me: “There is none like you. No matter who…I would always find myself coming back…to Anne.”

In the old days such a comment would have enraged me. I should have replied that I was not waiting on his pleasure. Now, I smiled as though contented. I had to get a son.