She looked so wobegone, he reached out a hand to ruffle her hair. “Cheer up, Firebrand—most of the things we worry about in life never come to pass.”
When a knock came upon the chamber door, Heath swung his legs over the casement and disappeared before she opened the door. It was the king’s lord chancellor. She dropped him a pretty curtsy, and he raised her immediately. “Forgive me, dearest Lady Kennedy. I had no notion you were here as an ambassador from His Majesty’s beloved sister in Scotland. The chamberlain has treated you most shabbily. The king hunts this afternoon, so it will be our opportunity to move you to chambers more fitting to a lady with your high connections.”
“These rooms are quite adequate, my lord chancellor,” she demurred. Heath would have to find her again if she was moved.
“I insist, my lady. If I left you here, it would bring down the king’s wrath upon my head.”
Tina shrugged an elegant shoulder and consented sweetly.
“I shall present you to King Henry tonight in the banqueting hall.”
“Ah, thank you, my lord! It is a pleasant change to meet a gentleman.”
The new rooms were exceptionally lovely. The larger chamber was a bed-sitting room paneled in golden oak. The bed-hangings and carpet were Tudor green, and there was a carved fireplace with a small fire burning to keep out the damp of the river. Before the fire was a small table with a pair of cushioned chairs, while the adjoining chamber was designed to be a dressing room with a gilt screen and slipper bath and a trundle bed for a maid.
Since she was finally going to be presented to the king, Tina decided to wear the elegant black and silver creation Ram had purchased for her in Glasgow. It was the latest fashion, with its enormous bishop sleeves and low-cut square neckline. Ada fastened a small silver lace ruff about Tina’s neck and assured her that her vivid hair was far too beautiful to hide beneath a coif.
Tina realized she may only get one opportunity to speak with the king, and when so much depended upon his goodwill, the first impression she made upon him would be vital. This was the fifth day since Ram had been taken. He must have arrived here in London by now. Perhaps the king had already been informed that Lord Vengeance was his prisoner and had given orders to hang him.
Tina closed her eyes and offered up a silent prayer, then sent Ram a silent message to keep up his courage. Her stomach knotted painfully whenever she thought of him, and since this afternoon’s close encounter she hadn’t been able to catch her breath. “Ada, I need air. Walk with me to the stables, and I’ll speak with the men who gave us escort. At tomorrow’s revels I want them to stick close, for even the gardens and park are not safe for unescorted women here at Greenwich.”
They had almost reached the stable doors when there came such a baying of hunting dogs and pounding of hoof-beats that it sounded like the hounds of Hell had been let loose. All of a sudden the courtyard before the stables overflowed with the returning royal hunt and its carnage. A master of hounds shouted orders to the kennelmen and fewterers who brandished whips among the unruly dogs. The hunt master sounded his horn over and over, half-deafening any who were unfortunate enough to be on hand. The men of the court and a sprinkling of women were laughing and congratulating the king for taking down the most game
The king’s beaters had a score of deer trussed, not all of which were dead. The king’s arrows had left some of the stags and does wounded in their haunches, and now to great cheers of encouragement, Henry bent to dispatch them with his knife. He was covered with blood, totally oblivious to his magnificent clothes. He was so immersed in his task, the blood dripped from his elbows, forming great dark pools on the flagstones of the courtyard
Valentina stepped inside the dimness of the stables and swayed. Ada saw that her face had gone chalk white. She took Tina’s arm to steady her “Take a deep breath.”
Tina shook her head, “I can’t breathe—I feel as if I’m suffocating.” Henry Tudor was the coarsest man she had ever seen. Everything he did, he managed to turn into an obscenity. Even the Highland chiefs like Angus and Argyll, though rough and uncouth, were not this repulsive. The King of England did everything to excess. He was oversized, overindulgent, loathsome, and offensive. All those about him fawned upon him to such a degree it made Tina want to spew.
As she slipped from the stables, Lord Howard caught a glimpse of her from the tail of his eye and sent his groom to learn where she was lodged at Greenwich. She was an alluring creature, no longer virgin since her hand-fasting, and the thought of her beneath him sent the blood beating in his throat.
Chapter 33
Tina returned to her chamber and stood at the open casement with unseeing eyes. She shuddered at the thought of going to the banqueting hall to dine, but it would be her only opportunity to be presented to the king and give him the letter. She would have done almost anything to avoid meeting Henry Tudor, but circumstances did not afford her such a luxury.
She stood pensively recalling how she had once hated Ram Douglas. If only he could somehow be there with her now to watch over her, she would have felt completely and totally safe. She sighed and told herself to stop her silly, wishful daydreaming. She had a job to do, and she vowed to do it to the very best of her ability.
A dark shadowed figure appeared at the casement, but before she could be alarmed she heard Heath’s low, reassuring voice: “I saw them take Ram off the ship. He’s in the Bloody Tower which is part of the inner curtain wall That’s the place they’ve reserved for Scots prisoners.”
“Was he chained and manacled?” she demanded.
“Tina, he was alive! For Christ’s sake, stop torturing yourself! Concentrate on getting Howard’s permission to see him. I’ll take care of everything else. We need an official paper.”
“You have a plan!” she cried with renewed hope.
“Aye, but you are better off in ignorance. Just get the paper.” His shadow merged with the darkness of the gardens beyond her window, and though she had a hundred unasked questions, she felt better able to face the task ahead of her.
She brushed her hair until it crackled, picked up her silver-handled black lace fan, and walked to the banqueting hall with feline grace. Ada took her place at a servants’ table, while Tina waited politely for one of the stewards to seat her. He had instructions to find her a place close by the chamberlain so that he could hand her over to the chancellor for presentation to His Majesty after the meal.
Music floated down from the minstrels’ gallery, while pages and squires rushed about the hall doing their masters’ bidding. Finally, Henry Tudor and his so-called gentlemen arrived, and the servitors started carrying in their laden-down trays.
Tina crumbled some bread absently as she sipped a little watered wine. Her nostrils pinched together to keep the smell of the roast venison at bay, and she tried to forget the does’ eyes, which had been liquid with fear. Of course these were not the same animals, but it would be a long time before Tina would be able to eat anything that had been hunted down.
Ada had told her that the queen, Catherine of Aragon, and her ladies had taken up residence at Richmond, farther along the river, so that she could politely turn a blind eye to the king’s pleasures.
Tina paid more attention to the rich garments the courtiers wore than to the people inside them. As a result she did not see the narrowed eyes of Lady Howard, the Countess of Surrey, upon her, nor was she aware of that woman’s son, Edmund, observing her from another part of the hall. She was studying a crimson doublet with a white lace shirt pulled through its slashes when her eyes slowly rose to the closely trimmed beard above a frilled collar, and she looked into the familiar eyes of Lord Howard.
Apparently he had been watching her. Tina was so relieved to have made eye contact with him that she sent him a brilliant smile across the room and received a warm nod from him in acknowledgment. For the first time that day, Tina was able to take a deep breath.
Edmund Howard saw the look his father sent the vivid beauty and cursed bene
ath his breath. He knew better than to compete with his father for a woman’s favors. Mercifully, Tina had no notion that Lord Howard had just saved her.
Finally the board was cleared except for the wine cups and sweetmeats. Henry Tudor took pride in eating and drinking his gentlemen beneath the table each night. The chamberlain bowed before Valentina, then handed her over to the chancellor. He hurried forward with her toward the raised dais before the wrestlers came out to claim Henry’s attention. The king was diverted from his victuals as his eyes took in the exquisite face and figure of the young woman who had eluded him since mass this morning.
Tina swept down to the floor as if she were paying homage to a deity. Henry’s close-set eyes lit with greed as they licked over her half-exposed breasts beneath the delicious silver ruff.
“Lady Valentina Kennedy has brought a message to Your Majesty from Queen Margaret of Scotland.”
Henry held out his beringed hand so that the lady might kiss it, but Tina slipped the letter from between her breasts and placed it upon the King’s massive palm. Henry was far more interested in the female his sister had sent him than her missive. He tossed it negligently upon the table and invited the lady to sit with him. With a wave of his hamlike hand, he removed the earl who occupied the seat beside him as if he were the meanest lackey.
Henry splashed malmsey into his large, gem-encrusted goblet and placed it in Tina’s hands. She repressed a shiver at the thought of sipping from the same rim where the gross mouth of Henry Tudor had quaffed and covered her hesitation with a shy smile.
“Don’t be overwhelmed, sweeting,” said the fatuous Henry, patting her knee in a pretense of fatherly affection. “We would share more than our cup with you”
Two strapping wrestlers bowed before the king, wearing nothing but skintight hose. The king’s champion wore Tudor green, while the challenger’s hose were a disconcerting yellow. They were both large, heavy men, and Tina thought all that exposed flesh most distasteful. Henry bent toward her intimately. “I wager a kiss that my champion pins your challenger.”
“Sire, he is not my challenger. I know naught of wrestling.”
“That is not very sportive of you, my lady. I will teach you all you need to know of wrestling.” He threw back his head and laughed at his own wit, then smoothed down the golden curls of his beard. Henry, like an overgrown boy, wanted to shine before this attractive woman. “My champion is the best. None can match him—save myself, of course.” His eyes lit with zeal. “Would you like to see me take him?”
Tina could think of nothing she would like less. Her lips opened as she gasped for breath, and Henry thought she was overcome with awe of him.
“Come sweeting, wager on me, and win a prize of your own choosing.”
Tina immediately thought of the letter she wanted him to read and murmured, “No lady ever had a more exalted champion, sire.”
Henry threw his doublet and velvet cap to one of his gentlemen and climbed from the dais to a chorus of encouraging cheers. Tina was most relieved that he would wrestle in his shirtsleeves. She had no desire to see the gross Tudor stripped to the buff.
Tina thought the spectacle before her grotesque. Two oversized bodies, with arms and legs entwined, heaved and huffed until both men were red in the face and sweating profusely. She raised her fan to cover her expression of distaste. The king’s champion was good at charades. He made a show of being a match for the king until the last split-second, when he went down like ninepins. The courtiers cheered and applauded and banged their goblets on the table in approval.
Henry raised his arms in acknowledgment, lapping up the adulation. He was England’s undefeated champion whether the sport was wrestling, tennis, jousting, or hunting. He was about to add seduction to the list. His gentlemen helped him back into his ostentatiously ornamented doublet, and he leaned toward Valentina with his sausagelike fingers stretched before him. “Choose a bauble, sweeting—don’t be shy!”
“I ask no jewel, Your Majesty,” Tina said softly. “All I ask is that you read the letter I have brought.”
Henry broke the seal and scanned the contents. Suddenly his lips pursed peevishly. “I’ve had no word that this self-styled Lord Vengeance has been taken.”
“He has not been taken, Your Majesty. Lord Douglas is not the murdering pirate!”
Henry’s eyes became covetous as he looked at her mouth, then her lovely breasts. The thought of Douglas fucking her titillated his imagination, as a schoolboy enjoys a dirty picture. His mouth went prudish as he asked, “You are hand-fasted to this Douglas?”
“I am, sire,” she said softly.
“A licentious Scottish custom—against the law here in England. ‘Tis fornication pure and simple. You live together and share his bed without benefit of clergy.” He licked his lips. “Do you deny you are his mistress?”
Tina fanned herself furiously. “It is a time-honored tradition. He is my husband in every way.” As she said the words, Tina knew she spoke the truth. Ram Douglas was her husband, and she knew she could never be unfaithful to him.
Henry captured her hand and held it fast when she tried to withdraw it. He whispered huskily, “Wife and whore in one—a tempting combination! Are you rewarding in bed?”
Tina’s cheeks were hot, yet it was not shame she felt but anger. Henry enjoyed teasing her. He began to tickle and stroke the palm of her hand with his finger in a suggestive manner, then lifted her hand to his mouth and tickled and licked it with his tongue. Tina’s gorge rose, and for a moment she feared she would vomit on his royal person. She swallowed rapidly and prayed she would not disgrace herself.
The Countess of Surrey was worried. She had watched the chancellor present Valentina Kennedy to the king and seen her hand him a letter. It could be from either the King or Queen of Scotland, and it could be filled with lies about the Howards. She lost no time informing her husband of her suspicions and urged him to join the king on the dais. The moment Henry saw the Earl of Surrey approach, he beckoned him with an all-powerful finger Howard knew a moment of misgiving as his monarch’s beady eyes fastened upon him.
“Why was I not informed of the capture of the elusive Lord Vengeance?” Henry asked silkily.
“Your Majesty, I had word from my son Thomas only today that the Revenge had been spotted off Flamborough Head. He has an informant who has divulged that a raid on Kingston is imminent, and the admiral has laid plans to trap Lord Vengeance and his ship the Revenge in the Humber River.”
Henry tapped his fingers thoughtfully. “Your information seems to tally with Margaret’s. Apparently Dacre arrested Lord Douglas and had him shipped to London. How could he have bungled so badly?” asked Henry.
Since Lord Dacre was Howard’s rival, he took the opportunity offered to blacken his reputation. He shrugged. “Your Majesty offered a great reward for the capture, I believe?”
Henry’s fingers tapped faster. “I should have been informed the moment such a prominent Scot arrived at the tower. Though he is obviously not the elusive Lord Vengeance, he could nevertheless prove to be of great value at the bargaining table.”
A cold hand clamped around Tina’s heart.
“I believe you are acquainted with the delightful Lady Kennedy?” Henry asked, watching the earl’s face intently.
“Indeed, sire,” said Lord Howard, executing a smart military bow before the lady. “She is one of Queen Margaret’s favorites,” he improvised. “Her beauty is legendary.”
Henry knew lust when he saw it, and it amused him that Surrey coveted the girl at his side. “We want Lady Kennedy’s visit to be a most pleasurable one. We charge you, and your lady wife,” Henry emphasized, “to do all in your power to serve the lady.”
Howard knew he was being warned off the quarry, so the moment Henry dismissed him, he made a show of attending his wife. “She brought messages from the queen. We have nothing to worry about. He asks that we keep an eye on her.”
“Henry seems to be doing that without our aid,” she s
aid dryly. “He looks like a dog with a bone.”
“That’s a tasteless remark,” snapped Howard, and immediately his wife trimmed her sails as the wind blew. Her husband wanted Flaming Tina for himself and expected her to allay the king’s suspicions.
Lady Howard joined Elizabeth Blount and sowed a small seed of disquiet. “Elizabeth, His Majesty neglects you shamefully, but you mustn’t be angry with him. Lady Kennedy has quite a reputation for being a honeypot.”
“Really?” murmured Bessie. She had been half-hoping Henry’s insatiable needs would be met elsewhere tonight, but she was damned if she was going to allow him to humiliate her by openly courting the Kennedy bitch. She took hold of the Countess of Surrey’s arm, and they strolled toward the king. Bessie sank down before him, displaying her opulent décolletage.
“Your Majesty dazzled everyone with that superb display of physical strength. Sire, you are unmatched in all of England.”
Tina thought the flattery laid on so thickly would be considered insincere, but Henry lapped it up.
“You are often in a position to see me perform, Bessie, and as you can testify, I am tireless.”
A tableau from the maze sprang full-blown into Tina’s mind. She turned to the king and said breathlessly, “Please excuse me, Your Majesty. I am feeling quite faint. I am sure Lady Howard will be kind enough to see me to my chamber.”
Henry looked into her eyes with deliberation and said, “Until later.” Then he relinquished her to the Countess of Surrey, called for more wine, and placed a familiar hand on Bessie Blount’s buttocks.
Tina sank into a chair before her chamber fire and kicked off her shoes. She felt drained. The tension in Henry Tudor’s presence had been unbearable. When his piggy eyes slid all over her, she had felt unclean, but when he actually touched her, she had felt violated. Still, it was a small price to pay for Ram’s sake.
Ada undid the laces of her gown. “You look like death warmed up. Have you eaten anything at all today?”