The Virgin's Lover

  “It comes from every convinced Papist,” Cecil said bluntly. “The Pope’s declaration, when it is published, will make her a lamb for the slaughter as she has never been before.”

  “She cannot dine in public anymore,” Sir Francis said thoughtfully. “We will have to refuse permission for people to come in and see her at her dinner.”

  Cecil hesitated. Access to the monarch, or even to the great lords in their halls, was part of the natural order, the way things had always been done. If that were to be changed, then the court would have signaled very clearly to the people that they trusted them no more, and that they were retreating behind locked doors.

  “It will look odd,” he said begrudgingly.

  “And she can hardly make any more public processions,” Sir Francis said. “How can it be done?”

  Before Cecil could stop him, Sir Francis beckoned Robert Dudley, who excused himself from the group around him and started to come toward them.

  “If you add him to our councils I’m away,” the duke said abruptly, and turned aside.

  “Why?” Sir Francis asked. “He knows how this can be done better than any of us.”

  “He knows nothing but his own ambition, and you will rue the day you ever include him in anything,” Thomas Howard said rudely and turned his back as Dudley joined the others.

  “Good day, Sir William, Sir Francis.”

  “What ails young Howard?” Sir Francis asked as the duke pushed past another man and strode away.

  “I think he mourns the rising of my little star,” Dudley said, amused.

  “Why?”

  “His father hated mine,” Dudley said. “Actually, Thomas Howard arrested my father and my brothers and me and marched us into the Tower. I don’t think he expected me to come marching out again.”

  Sir Francis nodded, taking it in. “You must be afraid that he will influence the queen against you?”

  “He’d better fear that I will influence her against him,” Dudley replied. He smiled at Cecil. “She knows who her friends are. She knows who stood as her friends through the years of her troubles.”

  “And the troubles are not over now,” Sir Francis said, turning to the matter in hand. “We are talking of the safety of the queen when she goes abroad. Sir William here has news that the Pope has sanctioned the use of force against her by ordinary men and women.”

  Dudley turned a stunned face to the older man. “It cannot be true? He would never do such a thing? It is ungodly!”

  “It is under consideration,” Cecil said flatly. “And we shall hear the confirmation soon enough. And then the people will learn of it.”

  “I’ve heard nothing of this,” Robert exclaimed.

  Oh, have you not? Cecil hid his smile. “Nonetheless, I am sure of it.”

  Dudley was silent for a moment, shocked by the news, but noting at the same time that Cecil had a spy in the very court of the Bishop of Rome. Cecil’s network of intelligencers and informers was growing to impressive proportions. “It is to overthrow the natural order,” he said. “She was anointed by one of his own bishops. He cannot do it. He cannot set the dogs on a sacred person.”

  “He will do it,” Cecil said, irritated by the young man’s slowness. “Indeed, by now, he probably has done it. What we are considering is how to prevent anyone obeying it.”

  “I was saying that she must be kept from the people,” Sir Francis said.

  A bright laugh from the throne made all three of them break off, turn, and smile at where the queen was flirting with her fan and laughing at Ambassador Feria, who was colored up—torn between frustration and laughter. They all three smiled at her, she was irresistible in her joy, in her playfulness, in the brightness of her energy.

  “The people are her greatest safety,” Dudley said slowly.

  Cecil shook his head, but Sir Francis checked him with a hand on his sleeve. “What d’you mean?”

  “The Pope makes this a matter of the common people, he invites them to attack her; but he does not know this queen. She should not hide from the few men or women who would do her harm; she should go out and draw the love of all the rest. Her greatest safety would be if every man, woman, or child in this country would lay down their lives for her.”

  “And how would we achieve that?”

  “You know it already,” Dudley said bluntly to Cecil. “You saw it. In the coronation procession she won every single heart in that crowd. We have to take the risk to take her out to the people and know that they will be the ones that protect her. Every Englishman should be one of the queen’s guard.”

  Sir Francis slowly nodded. “And when it comes to an invasion they would fight for her.”

  “A single man with a single poignard is almost unstoppable,” Cecil said bleakly. “She may win over a hundred, but if one is against her, and he is the one with the knife, then she is dead, and it is at our door.” He paused. “And a Catholic queen inherits, and England is a cat’s-paw of France, and we are ruined.”

  “As you say, unstoppable,” Robert rejoined, not at all overwhelmed by the gloom of this picture. “But your way, you give her twenty guards, perhaps thirty. My way: I give her the whole of England.”

  Cecil grimaced at the younger man’s romantic language.

  “There will still be some places that we cannot admit the people,” Sir Francis pursued. “When she is dining, when she goes through the halls to her chapel. There are too many and they press too close.”

  “That, we should restrict,” Robert concurred. “And we can serve her dinner without her being there.”

  Cecil drew breath. “Without her being there? What is the purpose of that?”

  “The people come to see the throne and the plate and the great ceremony,” Robert said airily. “They will come anyway. Provided that there is a good show they don’t need to see her in person. High days and holidays she must be there to show that she is well and in good spirits. But most of the time she can eat in private with her friends, in safety. As long as it is grand enough and the trumpets play and it is served in state, then the people will go away feeling that they have seen a good show. They will go away knowing that the country is wealthy and secure. That is what we need to do. We need to give them the show of the throne. The queen need not always be there herself, as long as everyone can feel her presence.”

  “Serve her dinner to an empty throne?” Cecil demanded quizzically.

  “Yes,” Dudley replied. “And why not? It’s been done before. When the young King Edward was sick they served his dinner on gold plates every night to an empty throne and the people came to watch and went away satisfied. My father ruled it so. We gave them a great show of grandeur, of wealth. And when they do see her, she has to be beloved, reachable, touchable. She has to be a queen for the people.”

  Cecil shook his head but Sir Francis was persuaded.

  “I shall speak with her about it,” he said, glancing back at the throne. The Spanish ambassador was taking his leave, he was handing over a letter sealed ostentatiously with the royal coat of arms of the Spanish emperor. With the eyes of the court upon her, Elizabeth took it and—apparently unaware that everyone was watching her—held it against her heart.

  “I think you will find that Elizabeth understands how to put on a show,” Robert said drily. “She has never disappointed an audience in her life.”

  Robert Dudley’s own steward came himself from London to escort Amy for the short journey to Bury St. Edmunds, and to bring her a purse of gold, a length of warm red velvet for a new dress, and her husband’s affectionate compliments.

  He also brought a lady companion with him: Mrs. Elizabeth Oddingsell, the widowed sister of one of Robert Dudley’s old and faithful friends, who had been with Amy at Gravesend and then went with her to Chichester. Amy was glad to see the little dark-haired, brisk woman again.

  “How your fortunes do rise,” Mrs. Oddingsell said cheerfully. “When I heard from my brother that Sir Robert had been appointed Master of Horse I
thought I would write to you, but I did not want to seem to be pushing myself forward. I thought you must have many friends seeking your acquaintanceship now.”

  “I expect my lord has many new friends,” Amy said. “But I am still very secluded in the country here.”

  “Of course, you must be.” Mrs. Oddingsell cast a quick glance around the small, chilly hall which formed the main body of the square stone-built house. “Well, I hear we are to make a round of visits. That will be pleasant. We shall be on progress like a queen.”

  “Yes,” Amy said quietly.

  “Oh! And I was forgetting!” Mrs. Oddingsell unwound a warm scarf from her throat. “He has sent you a lovely little black mare. You are to name her as you please. That will make our journey merry, won’t it?”

  Amy ran to the window and looked out into the yard. There was a small escort loading Amy’s few trunks into a cart, and at the back of the troop was a sweet-faced black mare, standing quite still.

  “Oh! She is so pretty!” Amy exclaimed. For the first time since Elizabeth’s coming to the throne she felt her spirits lift.

  “And he sent a purse of gold for you to settle his debts here, and to buy yourself anything you might like,” Mrs. Oddingsell said, delving into the pocket of her cape and pulling out the money.

  Amy took the heavy purse into her hand. “For me,” she said. It was the most money she had held for years.

  “Your hard times are over,” Mrs. Oddingsell said gently. “Thank God. For all of us, the good times have come at last.”

  Amy and Mrs. Oddingsell started their journey a little after dawn on a cold winter morning. They broke their journey at Newborough, and rested two nights, then they went on. It was an uneventful journey marred only by the cold, the wintry darkness, and the state of the roads. But Amy enjoyed her new horse, and Mrs. Oddingsell kept her spirits up as they rode down the muddy lanes and splashed through icy puddles.

  Mr. and Mrs. Woods at Bury St. Edmunds greeted Amy kindly, and with every appearance of pleasure. They assured her that she was welcome to stay as long as she liked; Sir Robert had mentioned in his letter that she would be with them until April.

  “Did he send a letter for me?” Amy demanded. The brightness drained from her face when they said “No.” It was just a brief note to tell them when to expect her and the duration of her stay.

  “Did he say that he was coming here?” she asked.

  “No,” Mrs. Woods said again, feeling uncomfortable at the shadow that passed over Amy’s face. “I expect he’s very busy at court,” she continued, trying to gloss over the awkward moment. “I doubt he’ll be able to get home for weeks.”

  She could have bitten off her tongue in irritation at her own clumsiness as she realized that there was no home for this young woman and her husband. She fell back on the good manners of hospitality. Would Amy like to rest after her journey? Would she like to wash? Would she like to take her supper at once?

  Amy said abruptly that she was sorry, that she was very tired, and she would rest in her room. She went quickly from the hall, leaving Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Oddingsell alone.

  “She is tired,” Mrs. Oddingsell said. “I am afraid she is not strong.”

  “Shall I send for our physician at Cambridge?” Mr. Woods suggested. “He’s very good, he would come at once. He’s very much in favor of cupping the patient to adjust the humors. She is very pale; is she of a watery humor, d’you think?”

  Elizabeth Oddingsell shook her head. “She is in much discomfort,” she said.

  Mr. Woods thought that she meant indigestion, and was about to offer arrowroot and milk, but Mrs. Woods, remembering the glimpse she had seen of Robert Dudley, dark-eyed on a black horse at the coronation procession, riding behind the queen as if he were prince consort himself, suddenly understood.

  It was Cecil, not Dudley, who was at the queen’s side after dinner. She had been served with all the grandeur of the Tudor tradition, great plates passed down the long dining hall of Whitehall Palace, checked by the taster for poison, and presented to her on bent knee. Three of the servers were new and clumsy. They were Cecil’s men, spies put in place to watch and guard her, learning how to serve on bended knee at the same time.

  Elizabeth took a very little from each plate and then sent them to her favorites, seated in the body of the hall. Sharp eyes watched where the best dishes went, and when a dish of stewed venison was sent to Dudley there were a few muttered complaints. The loud, joyful rumble of the court at dinner filled the great hall, the servants cleared the tables, and then Cecil was beckoned up to the dais and stood before the queen.

  She gestured that the musicians should play; no one could hear their quiet conversation. “Any news of any hired killers?” she asked.

  He saw the strain on her face. “You are safe,” he said steadily, though he knew he could never truly say that to her again. “The ports are watched, your gates are guarded. A mouse cannot come in without us knowing.”

  She found a weak smile. “Good. Tell them to stay alert.”

  He nodded.

  “And as to Scotland: I read your note this afternoon. We cannot do what you propose,” she said. “We cannot support rebels against a queen, that is to subvert the rule of law. We have to wait and see what happens.”

  It was as Cecil had expected. She had a mortal terror of making a mistake. It was as if she had lived on the brink of disaster for so long that she could bear to step neither forward nor back. And she was right to be cautious. Every decision in England had a hundred opponents, every change had a thousand. Anything that threatened a man’s individual prosperity made an enemy of him, anything that was to his benefit made him a grasping, unreliable ally. She was a queen newcome to her throne and the crown was dangerously unsteady on her head. She did not dare consider anything that might undermine the power of queens.

  Cecil made sure that no sign of these thoughts showed on his face. It was his deep-rooted belief that the intelligence of a woman, even one as formidably educated as this, could not carry the burden of too much information, and the temperament of a woman, especially this one, was not strong enough to take decisions.

  “I could never support a rebellion against a ruling queen,” she specified.

  Tactfully Cecil avoided mentioning the years when Elizabeth had been the focus and sometimes instigator of a dozen plots against her pure-blood, anointed half-sister.

  “It is all very well you wanting us to support the Scots Protestants against the regent, Queen Mary of Guise, but I cannot support any rebels against a ruling king or queen. I cannot meddle in another’s kingdom.”

  “Indeed, but the French princess will meddle in yours,” he warned her. “Already she has the arms of England quartered on her shield, she considers herself the true heir to England, and half of England and most of Christendom would say she has the right. If her father-in-law, the French king, decides to support her claim to your throne, the French could invade England tomorrow, and what more useful stepping-stone than Scotland and the north? Her mother, a French-woman, holds Scotland for them as regent, already the French soldiers are massing on your northern border; what are they doing there, if not waiting to invade? This is a battle that must come. Better that we fight the French army in Scotland, with the Protestant Scots on our side, than we wait for them to come marching down the Great North Road when we do not know who might rise up for us and who might rise up for them.”

  Elizabeth paused; the appearance of the English leopards on the shield of the daughter of Mary of Guise was an offense which went straight to her jealously possessive heart. “She dare not try to claim my throne. No one would rise up for her in preference to me,” she said boldly. “No one would want another Catholic Mary on the throne.”

  “Hundreds would,” Cecil said dampeningly. “Thousands.”

  That checked her, as he had known it would. He could see that she lost a little color.

  “The people love me,” she asserted.

  “Not all of
them.”

  She laughed but there was no real merriment in her voice. “Are you saying I have more friends in Scotland than in the north of England?”

  “Yes,” he said bluntly.

  “Philip of Spain would stand my ally if there was an invasion,” she declared.

  “Yes, as long as he thinks that you will be his wife. But can you keep him thinking that for much longer? You cannot really mean to have him?”

  Elizabeth giggled like a girl and, unaware of betraying herself, glanced across the room toward Robert Dudley, seated between two other handsome young men. Effortlessly, he outshone them. He tipped back his head to laugh and snapped his fingers for more wine. A servant, studiously ignoring other thirsty diners, leapt to do his bidding.

  “I might marry Philip,” she said. “Or I might keep him waiting.”

  “The important thing,” Cecil said gently, “is to choose a husband and get us an heir. That is the way to make the country safe against the Princess Mary. If you have a strong husband at your side and a son in the cradle, no one would want another queen. People would even overlook religion for a safe succession.”

  “I have been offered no one I could be sure to like as a husband,” she said, warming to her favorite, most irritating theme. “And I am happy in my single state.”

  “You are the queen,” Cecil said flatly. “And queens cannot choose the single state.”

  Robert raised his goblet in a toast to the health of one of Elizabeth’s ladies, his most recent mistress; her friend nudged her and she simpered across the room to him. Elizabeth apparently saw nothing, but Cecil knew that she had missed none of it.

  “And Scotland?” he prompted.

  “It is a very great risk. All very well to say that the Scottish Lords Protestant might rise up against Mary of Guise, but what if they do not? Or if they do, and are defeated? Where are we then, but defeated in a war of our own making? And meddling in the affairs of an anointed queen. What is that to do, but to go against God’s will? And to invite a French invasion.”