Royal Courtship Page 2

  'Thomas, that's far worse treason than anything I've said! You know he cannot abide any mention of his death. I suppose he imagines he's immortal.'

  'It might be for just a few years, a few months,' Thomas urged.

  'One day – or night – would be a lifetime in Hell!'

  'You are a foolish and ungrateful wench! Here is a magnificent opportunity to advance the Davenports, and you have ridiculously childish notions! No one marries to please themselves, Bella. It's a matter of family advancement, suitable alliances such as I was planning when Sir John Talbot proposed a marriage with you. If you hadn't had the chance to come to Court you could have been married to him by now.'

  'It may be no more than a political alliance for kings, and my poor Lady Mary who has been promised to so many but never had the chance of marriage. I am thankful I am not royal, for I mean to marry a man I can love and respect.'

  Thomas rose. 'I shall ask Jane to speak with you.'

  'She may talk all day – which is nothing unusual for your dear wife – but I will not be persuaded,' Bella declared.

  Sir Thomas, with a final despairing glare at her, turned and strode away.

  'Pompous, unfeeling fool!' Bella muttered, and then almost fell off the log in surprise as a deep chuckle answered her.

  'Who – what?' she exclaimed, springing up in alarm. She hadn't realised before how close the log was to a thick clump of bushes. As she stared in fright, wondering whether to call for Thomas or take to her heels, the Comte de Nerac emerged and walked slowly towards her.

  'I beg your pardon, Mistress Bella, but I was sitting on the far side of the bushes, and when I realised what was happening, it seemed better not to embarrass you by announcing my presence. Do please sit down again. You look white with shock.'

  'Did – did you hear it all?' Bella asked, breathless with apprehension. It was all very well to express treasonable opinions in private, or to a brother who, however exasperated he might be, would never betray her. It might be fatal if this man, a Frenchman, wished to cause trouble.

  He took her hands and urged her to sit on the log beside him, retaining her hands in a comforting grasp.

  'I heard enough. Do not be afraid. I won't betray you. He was your brother?'

  'Yes. And as you heard, all he cares about is family advancement. His wife is even more ambitious. She is delighted Lady Mary is in favour now, welcomed at Court, but I never dreamed I might find the King so attentive to me.'

  'Why not? You are very beautiful. Any man might wish to possess you, even a King.'

  She could not suppress the tremble that shook her, as he tightened his grip.

  'I could not! I know it is my duty to marry well, and obey my brother, but – I cannot! There is something about the King which terrifies me! I mean his person, not just the fear he might order my death with as little thought as he would trap a rabbit.'

  'That is not surprising, Bella. He's old and fat and ill, and a woman as lovely as you deserves a mate more fitting. Is there a man you prefer?'

  Bella gave a shaky laugh.

  'Almost anyone!' she said vehemently. 'No one I like enough to marry, although several men have asked Thomas for my hand.'

  She thought of Pedro. Did she wish to marry him? She didn't know, so she was telling the truth.

  'I have a good dowry, adequate rather than ample,' she continued. 'So far he hasn't considered any of them important enough, although he was tempted by an offer from a man who lives near our home, and who owns land which adjoins ours. I think he would have accepted that if I had not been given the chance to serve the Lady Mary. So I've been spared the necessity of refusing them. I cannot even escape into a nunnery like my Aunt Anne did now the King has closed them!' she added bitterly. 'But I am making too much noise. The King has merely shown his admiration for me, and he has been casting sheep's eyes at many ladies since he mur- that is, since Catherine Howard was beheaded. I doubt he will remember me in a few days.'

  'That is something to hope for,' the Comte said, but there was an odd note in his voice which disturbed Bella.

  'You will not betray me, will you?' she asked shyly. 'I know it is a great deal to ask, but – '

  'A great deal? To protect a lovely girl from the wrath of a spurned and ugly old lecher? You must think Frenchmen are fools or villains! Of course I will say nothing about your indiscretions. Though I could wish you might be indiscreet enough to reward me with a kiss! I am neither old nor, I trust, ugly.'

  Bella laughed, but her blushes betrayed her confusion, and with a laugh the Comte rose to his feet.

  'Come, it will soon be time for dinner. I will escort you back to the palace. And be content, my beautiful one, I will forget all I overheard.'

  ***

  Chapter 2

  On the following morning, the King commanded Bella to join his riding party. It was a sedate affair, compared with Henry's early years, one of the older men, William Eames explained as they rode through the Tiltyard into the Park.

  'The King is too old and heavy for the exciting chases we once enjoyed,' he said regretfully. 'You should have seen him then. None could match him for beauty and strength and courage.'

  'Not even King Francis or the Emperor?' a new voice enquired.

  Bella felt her cheeks burning, and dared not look up at the Comte de Nerac, who had brought his horse alongside hers. Would he read in her eyes the admission she had been thinking of him continuously since the previous day? Would he see how guilty she felt at having thought so little about Pedro?

  William Eames laughed. 'It was a glorious sight to see the Kings of France and England, both young and vigorous, together at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. And the Emperor with Henry, too, but that was more than twenty years since. Age attacks us all. It has some compensations. We grow wiser, ride quietly and let the young and the huntsmen do the work.'

  The group of courtiers spread out across the Park. None was incautious enough to outride the King, so progress was slow. Bella nevertheless found herself enjoying this ride more than previous ones. Perhaps it was the presence of the Comte de Nerac at her side, the impression he provided of a shield from the King's unwelcome attentions.

  Eames had left them to join a crony, and Bella realised the Comte had gradually edged them away from the main group.

  'We could wait unseen behind these trees,' he suggested, bringing his mount to a halt.

  Bella looked back at him, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling.

  'Why should we do that?'

  'Do you not long for a good gallop? We could let these beasts stretch their legs. My poor mount is fidgeting as though he hasn't gone at more than a trot for years, and yours is restive, too.'

  'We might not be back in time for dinner,' she said slowly. It was so tempting to escape for a while from the imposed decorum and underlying threats at Court.

  'We can eat at a tavern somewhere, and make some excuse afterwards if anyone enquires. Well, Mistress Davenport, are you not willing to take a risk?'

  Suddenly she decided. 'Yes! Oh, I feel like a naughty child escaping from the nursery. I shall be sent to bed without supper!'

  They slipped behind the trees and watched the rest of the party vanish.

  'Come. We have not been missed,' the Comte said. 'We can safely take our own way.'

  They set off, in high spirits, and when they came to an open stretch, let the horses have their heads.

  'I haven't done that for years!' Bella laughed as they slowed at last.

  'You were brought up in the country?' the Comte asked.

  'Yes, in Oxfordshire, by my grandmother.'

  'Your parents?'

  'My mother died a year after I was born, and my father three years ago in a hunting accident. Grandmother is my father's mother, for my mother was Spanish.'

  'Which explains the lovely brown eyes. How did she come to England?'

  'With Queen Catherine of Aragon. She was one of her ladies. It was for her sake that the Lady Mary took me into her household,
though now I could wish she had not.'

  'It seems ungallant to say it, but perhaps the King will turn his attention to another soon.'

  'I hope he does, though I pity her with all my heart!' Bella said fervently.

  'Forget him, we came here to escape the Court. Tell me more about your childhood. I have met your brother, but I understand Signor de Mendoza is your cousin.'

  'Yes, his mother and mine were sisters. Pedro lived with us for a year when he was about twelve, to improve his English since he was destined for the diplomatic service. I do not recall much as I was only about three at the time.'

  He was so easy to talk to, Bella found, that soon they were behaving as old friends. While she described her home in the Cotswolds he responded by telling her about his family's chateau in the Loire valley.

  When their horses were tired they turned back, and the Comte led her to a small tavern on the banks of the river. He was obviously known there, and the innkeeper swiftly produced savoury tongue pie for them which was followed by apple mousse, washed down with cool ale.

  They returned to the palace laughing together, conspirators, and in the following days, the Comte sought her out frequently.

  Bella was surprised how quickly the time sped past, so when Pedro returned from London and she met him in one of the galleries she greeted him with an astonished look.

  'You are back soon, cousin,' she said smiling. 'I am pleased to see you.'

  'I am a few days later than I said,' he replied with a sudden frown. 'You have contrived to amuse yourself while I have been away?' he asked, and then lowered his voice. 'Meet me in the usual place early tomorrow morning. I have missed you, my dear Bella.'

  When she reached their trysting spot, however, she found him in a black mood. He was staring out across the river, and turned slowly when she hesitantly spoke.

  'Pedro? Is all well?'

  'You are faithless, so how can all be well with me?' he replied. 'When you were surprised at seeing me yesterday I suspected something was wrong.'

  'Faithless? What can be wrong? I do not understand. Surely you cannot think I am reconciled to the King's attentions?' she replied indignantly.

  'Not the King, no. I have heard much about your infatuation with the handsome Frenchman. It is the talk of the Court, and I am surprised the King has not heard of it. He will be furious when he does.'

  'There is nothing to hear! Am I to ignore everyone else at Court just because the King pays me attentions!'

  'You spurn a crown, but perhaps being a French countess is better than marrying a Spanish cousin, a younger son with no prospect of inheriting my father's title!'

  'I am not infatuated with anyone!' she declared, her cheeks burning and her eyes flashing. She tried to hold on to her fiery temper and speak reasonably. 'If you mean the Comte de Nerac, he is kind, and we can talk together easily,' she tried to explain.

  'Talk? You must think me gullible if you wish me to believe that is all you do!' he retorted.

  'It is, Pedro. I cannot complain to any Englishman about the King, for fear they will betray me, but the Comte owes him no loyalty and seeks no favours. He is sympathetic. But there is nothing else, I swear. He has no more thought of marrying me than I have of marrying the King.'

  'Then marry me! Let us announce our betrothal, and it will put an end to the King's importunity.'

  'Marry you?' she said slowly. 'I – I have not thought of it.'

  'But we know one another well, do we not, and what could be more fitting? Thomas would agree, and you would be in no more danger from the King.'

  'Henry would be furious,' she replied, and shivered with apprehension. 'Even if he has no intention of marrying me himself, he would be angry with us all. And Thomas grows more certain every day his attentions are becoming most marked. If I appeared to spurn him by becoming betrothed to someone else I would be banished from Court '

  'You would leave in any case to live with me, and he cannot punish me. We can go straight to Spain. Say yes, Bella. Do you not know how much I want to call you my own?'

  She shook her head. 'We might escape punishment, but Thomas would be disgraced. I cannot bring that on him.'

  'Thomas was willing to sell you to Henry for his own advancement,' Pedro reminded her. 'He knows young Prince Edward is not expected to live. He believes if you had a son and Henry died, he would become Regent and rule himself. He cares so little for your happiness, why should you consider his?'

  'Just because he puts ambition before my welfare does not mean I have to behave with the same lack of family regard,' Bella said slowly. 'I could not do it, Pedro. Besides, it is more than just his happiness at stake. His very life might be in danger if the King felt slighted!'

  'Then you do not wish to marry me?' he asked in an offended tone.

  'I do not know! Pedro, I like you. I enjoy your company, but apart from risking the King's displeasure, I do not know whether I love you!'

  'Love? Women are not supposed to consider irrelevant feelings like love when a marriage is proposed. It is enough I find you desirable, for I will make you love me. It will be our duty.'

  'But until the King's interest in me declines, I cannot answer! It would be too dangerous.'

  He shrugged and began to talk of his visit to London. Bella was relieved, for she genuinely did not know her true feelings. Was the excitement she felt when Pedro kissed her the sort of love she craved in a husband? She had nothing to compare it with. Her mother having died when she was a baby meant she had not experienced real, family affection, and she knew her brother Thomas had married Jane for the sake of her large dowry and her father's influence at Court. They regarded marriage as the sort of business arrangement Bella was determined to avoid, for she considered it an arid, joyless condition. She dreamed of something better for herself, and yet she doubted her ability to recognise it if it appeared.

  During the next few weeks, Bella was in a ferment of emotion. The King continued to pay her lavish compliments and keep her at his side during the dancing and carousing in the Great Hall after supper, and his attentions were marked enough to cause a wave of gossip. Several times the other ladies stopped speaking abruptly as Bella entered a room, and many cast her sympathetic glances.

  She knew they had no envy. They pitied her, but were also relieved that while the King was enamoured of her they might themselves be safe.

  Bella was, below the surface, perturbed, however calm she tried to appear. Pedro took every opportunity to urge her to accept his offer of marriage, and when she resisted making a decision he eventually accused her of being flattered by the attentions of the Comte de Nerac.

  'He has turned your head,' Pedro said angrily one morning when they were riding with the King, and he had contrived to come alongside her mare. 'You are become capricious. You are not the gentle, sensible Bella you were a few weeks ago. The King's favour and the Comte's good looks have encouraged in you a flightiness I did not suspect.'

  Angrily Bella denied it, and left him fuming. Her anger was fuelled by guilt, however, for her thoughts dwelt more on the fascinating Comte than was seemly. Every day she caught herself wondering when their next meeting would be. She grew restless if a day passed and he forbore to speak to her.

  Amy saw the restlessness and at last Bella confided in her friend.

  'So Pedro wishes to marry me, but I don't know if that is what I want. Surely if I loved him I would never look forward to seeing the Comte as I do? Yet I'm sure I don't love him! I just enjoy his company.'

  'I don't think you do love Pedro, whatever your feelings for the Comte,' Amy said slowly. 'You would not have these doubts if you did.'

  Recalling earlier remarks which had indicated Amy was in love and unhappy about it, Bella changed the topic of conversation. For some reason Amy could see no hope for achieving happiness. Probably the man was already married or betrothed, or Amy's love was not returned. It was even possible her family considered him an unsuitable match. Whatever the cause, if Amy did not wish to con
fide in her she could not burden her friend with her own worries. Somehow, she thought optimistically, everything would be resolved.

  Early one morning, when she was walking near the bowling alley beside the Privy Orchard, the Comte joined her. Bella struggled to suppress her pleasure and reply composedly to his remarks.

  'The Lady Mary looks ill,' he said after a while.

  'She is unaccustomed to Court life. It wearies her,' Bella explained.

  'If she marries she will have to endure it,' he replied. 'She has lived a retired life, I believe?'

  'Yes, at Syon or Havering-atte-Bower mostly. But since Catherine Howard was disgraced, she has been summoned to Court. Isn't that why you are in England, for the negotiations about a marriage to Charles of Orleans?'

  It was common knowledge that now the French King and Charles of Spain were once more at loggerheads, both were trying to win Henry's support. The marriage of his daughter was one way of securing an alliance.

  'It is being discussed,' he agreed lightly.

  'The King would not arrange a marriage when she was banished from his sight.'

  'Poor lady. It must be a very unsettling existence. I understand she has often been ill.'

  Another time he asked about the medicines Mary was given, and gradually Bella began to wonder at his concern over her mistress's health. The possible reason for this she discovered talking to Mary's other ladies.

  'King Francis doubts her ability to bear healthy children. Her mother had so many stillbirths and miscarriages, and my lady is old at six and twenty to begin the business of childbirth.'

  'Those damned French spies have been asking the most impertinent questions,' another said. 'They've approached the cooks in the Privy Kitchen, and even sunk so low as to question my lady's laundress.'

  Bella felt as though a hammer had thudded against her stomach. Was that why the Comte had sought her out? His compliments, which made her think a handsome young man found her attractive, had after all been no more than a clandestine way of winning her confidence. He'd no doubt hoped by this stratagem to gain knowledge for his master which might, in some devious manner, be used against her own mistress.