Nine Days a Queen: The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey (10 page)

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There was one knight who always won in these tournaments, even against my father, who was an expert jouster. I didn't know who he was, but one day while I was holding out my silk kerchief, he rode up to where I sat in the pavilion, dipped his lance in salute, and said, "Ah, the Lady Jane. May I have the token of your affection, then, and ride into battle with it?"

My sister Catherine, sitting next to me, nudged me and whispered, "Say yes; it's Northumberland."

I handed over my silk kerchief. Expertly he lifted it with the end of his lance, stuffed it in his breastplate, and rode off on his magnificent charger.

"Who is he?" I asked Catherine.

"He comes here often. You'd better be nice to him. His father is our father's dear friend. Lord High Admiral, Master of the Horse, Viscount Lisle, and the father of thirteen children."

"I don't like his eyes. Why did he come to me like that?"

"I don't know, but I've heard him and Father discussing you."

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Sweet Lord. What did they have planned for me now?

In that year King Edward came down with the measles and everyone became very nervous. I wanted to go and visit him, but my parents refused, lest I catch the measles and bring them home. I worried for Edward. He wasn't strong to begin with.

Those who had much to gain by who was on the throne began visiting Princess Mary at Beaulieu, her country seat, presenting themselves to her, thinking she would soon be Queen.

Oh, the monstrous duplicity of people!

I objected when my parents insisted I go to visit Mary. "It will only remind her there are people in line for the throne after her," I said.

But I must go, I was told. There was nothing for it. I hated it because I would not have Mary think me an opportunist. But I went anyway.

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THIRTEEN

S

o the spring I was fifteen I paid another visit to Mary. And I couldn't help but notice. She treated me like a woman now.

"You know John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, of course," she said to me as soon as we were seated in comfort in her private chambers. "What do you know about him?"

"That I like him not," I said.

She smiled. Mary was well past thirty now, with the flush of maidenhood gone from her face. But then, had she ever been a true maid? All her life she had had to act with wisdom beyond her years just to survive.

I was glad I wasn't a princess. Their lot is not a happy one.

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"You should not only like him not," she told me. "You should fear him. He is not a man of good parts. He may be elegant, handsome, and accomplished, but it is he who set the Seymour brothers against each other. And now he is working to upset the Lord Protector."

"How?" I asked.

"For one thing, Northumberland has just put down a bothersome rebellion. Everyone praises him for it. Few stop to think it gave him an excuse to have his own army, and now that he does, the Lord Protector is in danger of being thrown over."

"Will King Edward allow that to happen?"

"My little brother is enamored of Northumberland. You know he's the finest jouster of the day and has a skill at games that fascinates Edward. He treats my brother as if he has already attained his majority. And he has hangers-on and climbers in court who will falsely testify in a minute to the Lord Protector's treasonous activities."

Fear came upon me. "And if he takes over as Lord Protector?"

"You and I are both in danger. You'll find

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yourself no longer betrothed to your earl, but likely to one of Northumberland's sons. He has five of them. You know your parents want you attached to power."

"I can't think of one I'd want to be betrothed to."

"No matter. One is already wed. Prepare yourself for it, though. "

"And you?" I looked at her. She was no longer pretty, no, but there was a certain strength in her face. And honesty. With herself.

"All the council is with him," she said of Northumberland. "Including Cranmer, Wriothesley, Arundel, Paulet, and Cecil. I am friendly with the council, but if Northumberland takes over, I shall have to flee England."

I leaned forward. "Where would you go?"

"Portugal. I am thinking Portugal," she said.

She was lying to herself now. For even I knew they would never let her out of England. A princess of the blood in a foreign country? With the opportunity to mass an army around her and return and attack and take over the throne? No, she was surely lying to herself now.

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"Are you going to the reception for Mary, Queen of Guise?" she asked me.

Mary, Queen of Guise was Queen Regent of Scotland, returning to her homeland after a trip. "I don't know," I said.

"You must, if just to see Edward. He's had the measles, you know, and we've all been worried about him.''

"Are you going?"

"No. It's too dangerous for me at court. And I'll wager Elizabeth doesn't go, either. But here, I have a present for you." She clapped her hands and one of her ladies-in-waiting brought over a dress, and Mary held it across her lap.

"You must go. And wear this. For me."

It was made of tinsel cloth of gold and velvet, laid on with parchment lace of gold. She then reached into a box on a side table and drew out a pearl-and-ruby necklace, and bade me try it on. So I did.

The red ruby drops drew close around my throat in the fashion of the time.

"I can't take these things, Mary," I said.

"You can and you shall. If I know your parents,

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they won't dress you properly. And you are so pretty, Jane, and deserve to look like a princess in your own right."

We kissed. She was good to me and we chatted longer, sharing secrets, and I felt a warmth inside me I hadn't felt since Katharine was alive.

"No reason we can't be like sisters," she said. "We must help each other against the common enemy."

Beaulieu, her country seat, was a beautiful place, a stone mansion with three turrets, a wonderful cherry orchard, streams, and well-ordered gardens and stables. Not only that, but Mary had her own household here, maids and grooms, her own chaplain who said mass daily in the beautiful chapel.

Inside the house were a grand staircase, handsome furniture, carpets from Turkey, paintings, draperies from Florence. But still, I felt sorry for Mary. She was still an outlander here, far from court, although it did seem that she had her spies to keep her informed.

She would be Queen someday. I was sure of it. But when I left, I envied her not.

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The reception for Mary, Queen of Guise, was held in the enormous hall of Westminster Palace. There were enough tables to serve five hundred, tables set with white linen and gold plate. The season's plenty was served, everything from huge platters of spiced pork and roast swans to special iced cakes made in the shapes of all the King's palaces.

The Master of the Revels had designed a special entertainment. King Edward loved entertainments almost as much as his father had. And though pale, he was recovered from the measles, for which I was most relieved and thankful. How good to see him up and about again. After the entertainment there was dancing.

Had I not trusted Mary, I would have said she gave me the dress to put me in a better light with Guildford Dudley, son of Northumberland. For that is exactly what happened at the reception. Everyone complimented me on the dress, on how lovely I looked, until I wanted to hide in a far corner of the room, behind the music players.

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"You look so beautiful, Jane. I'm so proud to be betrothed to you," Edward said as he led me out to dance.

Mayhap it was because my Edward was shy, besides being good looking, that I liked him. I did not love him, no. I did not expect to love him right off in the beginning. Love would come later, I was told. Since our betrothal he had sent around gifts for me, mostly books, which he knew I liked. He was tender and sweet, and I felt safe and even saucy dancing with him.

But then Guildford Dudley came over and took my hand. "May I have the honor?" he asked.

Guildford was fair, unlike his dark-haired brothers, John, Henry, Ambrose, and Robert. I had heard they were a close family, that they never fought or even disagreed, that there was perfect harmony in the Northumberland house.

It made me suspicious. Nobody had perfect harmony in his house. And if he did, it was because one member held sway over the others, and of course I knew the "one" was Northumberland, their father.

"I'm dancing with Edward, my betrothed," I

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told Guildford. "You know Edward. His father is Lord Protector."

"You know what my father says*" Guildford said. "Out of twelve who kneel, seven would willingly cut the throats of both the King and the Duke of Somerset."

"You speak treason, surely."

He smiled, as he insinuated himself between us and smoothly guided me into the dance, leaving Edward openmouthed on the sidelines.

"What mean you by that?" I asked him when the dance brought us close together.

"That you might think on it and decide you'd like to be betrothed to the son of he who will soon be the real Lord Protector."

"I don't decide to whom I wish to be betrothed," I snapped.

"Pity. I do." And he glided with me through the steps of the dance as if he'd been born to it.

"You know, my grandmother, Elizabeth de Lisle, is a descendant of Warwick the King-Maker," he told me as we danced.

"And your mother?"

"A delightful lady, I am sure."

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"I hear she spoils you, that you run to her every time you can't get what you want."

"I am her favorite, yes."

"And so? What is that to me?"

"Mull it over, Lady Jane. You do look lovely in that dress. Like a princess in your own right."

"I have no desire to look like a princess," I said.

"A queen mayhap?" And he laughed. There was something maniacal in the laugh, I decided, but of course I kept up the pretense. To do anything less would be an insult to everyone assembled. But before the evening was over, I had decided that Guildford Dudley, though fair of hair and blue of eye and one of the handsomest men in the room, was a stuffed prig. And I would never be betrothed to him. Never.

The next day was Saint George's Day, the twenty-third of April, so there was a special service in Westminster Abbey. I went. King Edward looked so very small and so very far away from me, taking part, wearing his heavy velvet Garter robes. I thought he looked lost in them.

Afterward I was able to see him alone--

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something I hadn't been able to do the previous night.

"How are you, my liege?" I asked.

"If you don't call me Edward, I'll have you put in the Tower," he joked.

He made me smile. "Are you truly well now?" I asked.

I'm in fine fettle."

"I'm so glad of your good escape out of the perilous disease."

"I've been tilting at the quintain, running at the ring, hawking, and I am going this afternoon on a trip on my royal barge down the river."

"Don't take on too much."

"Tomorrow I attend a goodly muster of my men-at-arms. And tonight we're having acrobats and high-wire artists perform."

"And then there are your public duties," I said.

"Yes. Next week I must inspect the naval dockyard at Portsmouth. And in June I go on my Progress. I'm riding all through London and touring my entire kingdom. We'll put up at the houses of the great nobles all along the route in the southern and western counties."

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"It's too much of a schedule for you, Edward. Who says you can do all this?"

He leaned close to me. "Northumberland. I like the man. He doesn't coddle me, but treats me as if I've already come into a man's estate."

Oh, I wanted to tell him to beware. But one did not say such things to a king.

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FOURTEEN

I

was still living at home, which was, in comparison to court life, quiet and countrified. In spite of my parents' lavish entertainments, there were quiet days that pleased me, days without revelry and games and jousts.

So being home was not all bad. I spent time with my tutor, whom I liked, and my sisters, whom I liked on occasion. I rode my horse and I wandered about the place at will.

I liked, best, to wander around the farm part of the manor. There were all sorts of wonderful things to see, the chickens and roosters in their pens, the sheep, the cows and their calves. Everything about the farm was orderly, thanks to Drumson, who ran it for Father. He

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was interested in roosters, in breeding new types, and I'd go to see what new birds he had in his cages.

On one particular spring morning I was admiring a rather cocky fellow who was new, when Drumson and I both looked up toward the front of the house. A thundering of hooves announced a whole party of men who came into the courtyard and dismounted. Their colors were green and white. And there were at least twelve yeomen of the guard.

"Looks like you have an important visitor, Lady Jane," Drumson said, half in jest. Everything he said was half in jest. "Mayhap you'd best get into the house and see."

"I'll stay here," I said.

I went on to the buttery, where Sally and Margret were just putting a crock of cream into a churn. Sometimes they'd let me have a go at it. I loved churning butter, though I swore them to secrecy. Mother would have beaten me if she'd seen me doing it.

I didn't ask to churn that morning, though. Truth to tell, I was hiding. I did not know from

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what, but I knew I had to hide as long as I could.

I hid in the buttery, listening to the chatter of Sally and Margret, until a whole churn of butter was finished, and until the swarm of men had departed. When that happened, I heard my name from a page, likely sent to find me.

"Lady Jane! Lady Jane, are you in there? Your mother wants you. Now!"

Margret gave me a taste of the newly made butter. I pronounced it the best I'd ever tasted and then went out to answer the page's call.

"We are breaking your troth to Edward," my mother told me. "Henceforth you are betrothed to Lord Guildford Dudley."

I felt as if they'd thrown cold water into my face. "Northumberland's son! But why?"

"He is the better match," Mother said.

"How so?" I demanded. "He's conceited and spoiled."

So they told me how so. "The Lord Protector is no longer in power. He's been accused of treason and conspiracy. He's been sent to the Tower."

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I had no reply. It did not surprise me. Nor did their decision.

"He's been accused of wanting to take control of the, kingdom. Of wanting to poison the entire council at a state banquet."

"I've always known him for a schemer. He put his own brother to death. But I don't trust Northumberland, either," I told them.

"Just because you were at court, doesn't mean you know things," my mother scolded. "You're still a child. And as such, will obey your parents."

"I won't be betrothed to Guildford Dudley. He's despicable."

"He's handsome, gallant, and respectful to his elders. He and all his brothers are loyal to their father in every way. You could do worse."

"I won't!" I stamped my foot then, a childish reaction. But Father would have none of it.