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‘I thank your grace most honestly for supper.’ I curtsied deeply.
He inclined his head haughtily. ‘Go, then.’
‘Please,’ I said to the King of England, and proffered my basket. ‘Would you like to take these back to the palace for your children?’
‘Where have you been?’ growled Shore, as I came in through the yard door.
‘Taking cakes to the poor.’ To a man poor in humility! God have mercy! What a fool I’d proved. I must be the laughing stock of Westminster.
‘Without a basket?’
‘Oh bother, I left the cursed thing behind.’ Was my face scarlet?
‘Tell me where you left it and ah’ll send one of the boys.’ By his tone, he was determined to make a liar of me.
‘Lordy, I cannot remember.’ I turned away, tucking my waistcloth into my belt.
‘Like that, is it? ’
I closed my eyes, knowing the lid was off the seething pot. Was truth the best way, slid in cleanly like a dagger rather than administered in a slow poison? But it was he who astonished me. I knew all week that he had something on his mind and here at last came confession.
‘There’s summat ah have to tell you, wife. There was this cherrylips came into the shop last week when ah was serving on my own. Tricked out in finery she was like a real lady. She swished abaht in her furs and trinkets, and when she’d made her choice, she offered to pay for t’cloth by spreadin’ her legs. Ah said, yes, but she’d better be quick. Anyroad, ah locked the door and led her to t’stairs so as no one could see us from the street. She bared her breasts and eased her skirts slowly above her thigh. Had me in a raight sweat …’
Please Heaven, it never rose, I prayed, imagining my argument for a divorce evaporating with Shore’s resurrection. ‘Did you …’
‘No, No, damn it, ah could not manage it, even with her! Christ!’ He smote so hard upon the board that the inkpot jumped and then he grabbed the alejack and hurled it furiously at the wall. I stared open mouthed at the liquid, pale as urine, trickling down the whitewash.
He was breathing hard, staring at me like a cornered beast. I feared he might strike me. His mouth arced into an ugly loop of pain and tight slits of skin swallowed his eyes. ‘O Jesu, Jesu, Jesu!’ He sank to his knees, cradling his ribs and began an anguished keening.
I flung myself on my knees and drew him to me. ‘There, there!’ I soothed, stifling his howls against my bosom. I rocked him until the shudders ceased.
‘Ah’m so sorry, Elizabeth,’ he sobbed. ‘All these years. Ah’m so sorry.’ He tried to pull away but I held him fast.
‘There is more to a man than his prick, William Shore. The whole world knows that. You should not judge yourself so cruelly.’
‘But ah’m no true man. I am cursed by God.’
‘Then we both are, William.’
Still reeling from Hastings’ betrayal, I needed a few moments to grasp the implications of Shore’s confession. He was no longer blaming me for not giving him a child. I was unsaddled at last. No more guilt to carry like a weary packhorse.
‘There is something I should tell you,’ I said, holding by his sleeves so he could not pull away. ‘I went with another man.’ His reaction was a fierce start to free himself but I held on. ‘So, you see, you must forgive me also. Two weeks ago for the first time. Just once. I wanted to know what it was like.’
‘An’ what was it like?’
‘It was satisfactory. There was no commitment.’
‘Yer tuphead,’ he snarled. ‘Dinna you make sure he was … clean?’
My heart lurched. Whore’s pox as well as a broken heart? By Heaven, I hoped not.
‘Can you forgive me, William?’
His face was as chill as a Derby winter. ‘Does it matter if ah can’t?’
VII
‘You ignored my messengers.’ Hastings came striding up into my solar. It was the first time he had visited upstairs. He sounded peevish, great lord peevish. Not a surprise; I had ignored three notes and two nosegays. Shore followed him in, mumbling about broadcloth.
‘Broadcloth, be damned!’ The Lord Chamberlain neatly slammed the door in my husband’s face. Then he opened it again. ‘Oh, Hell take it! Forgive the discourtesy, Shore. I thank you for your offer of assistance but pray don’t let me detain you. My steward will deal with the order.’ He waited until my stunned husband was downstairs before he dropped the latch. ‘Well?’
‘My lord.’ I rose from my curtsy, smoothed my skirts and looked up at him with my best businesslike face. ‘There was intervention.’
The frost melted slightly. He folded his arms and his elegant black sleeves flashed their amber taffeta linings.
‘Him?’ A condescending jerk of head towards the door
‘No, my lord, your friend, the one who charged in on us.’
‘That friend! I see. My abrupt departure annoyed you!’ He tossed his hat onto the small table and surprisingly donned the manner of sackcloth and ashes. ‘Well, I cannot blame you and I do apologise, but the Breton diplomats were anxious to sign the treaty and get back to Duke Francis.’
‘Your pardon, I did not understand that at the time.’ I poured him out some wine in a forgiving fashion.
He grinned sheepishly at me across the rim of our best goblet. ‘Just as well “my friend” interrupted, my luscious Elizabeth. I do not think I could have managed a fourth coupling.’ At least he had remembered the other three. ‘Anyway, I ask you to excuse my friend’s churlish manners. Sometimes he needs a boot on his arse.’
‘Do you bow, my lord, before you kick him?’
My question caused a little silence. He chewed his cheeks before he answered.
‘Ah. Clever of you to realise.’
‘I didn’t, my lord. Until I had a command from you to meet me at Gerrard’s Hall. Except you did not arrive, he did.’
Although Hastings seemed to be considering the revelation, I wondered if he had already known. ‘I see,’ he murmured with the cool worldliness that was still so alien to me, ‘and I daresay my “friend” usurped my favour with you.’
Such a conclusion mightily annoyed me. The bed-swapping habits of the palace might be commonplace to him but they were unacceptable to me.
‘He did not usurp anything, my lord, save two little oatcakes. I declined his request.’
Hastings’ beautiful eyes widened and emotion returned to his face, even if it was merely surprise. ‘Is my hearing amiss, Elizabeth? You said “no” to the King?’
‘Of course,’ I exclaimed passionately. ‘I do have some honour.’ Did he think of me only as fresh city meat? ‘I assure you I am no whore to be prancing in and out of gentlemen’s beds.’
‘Just so.’ His mouth was a grave slash now. Oh, such a diplomat, shifting position to accommodate my vehemence. A token flurry of jealousy would have been more acceptable. ‘Was that your only reason, Elizabeth?’
‘I felt some loyalty to you, my lord.’ Some – my fledgling attempt at Westminster nonchalance. ‘Please do not mistake me,’ I added swiftly to reassure him that I was not infatuated. ‘I certainly do not seek to put any obligation on you. We had an agreement – just you and I.’
‘Elizabeth, I hope you are not thinking that I put his grace up to this?’
‘No, of course not,’ I lied, resolving to sieve my feelings later. ‘He—’ I cleared my throat. ‘His highness explained you were at Ashleigh.’
‘Ashby,’ he corrected. ‘My castle at Ashby-de-la-Zouch.’ His hand rose in a flourish as to how I should find it. ‘West of Leicester.’
‘Oh, west,’ I echoed dryly.
‘We were celebrating my stepdaughter’s name day. I bought the jewelled girdle for her, remember?’
‘Yes.’ I was not a jealous person but I felt it now. Unreasonable of me. I desired his affection. But I had no right. I did not own him. What else had I expected?
‘Cecily was introduced to her future husband.’ With a scowl, he took a sweet wafer from the platter and carried his goblet to the window, where he stood, his back turned. With King Edward active on the board, perhaps, like me, he was uncertain of the next move in this game of seduction. If there was a next move? At the moment, trust lay between us like a bleeding corpse.
His fidelity was a matter of geography. I must accept that. And did Lady Katherine up at Ashby accept that? By Heaven, if his marriage vows could be bent, what rules did he play by? His loyalty to his king? Was that the only standard in his world? If King Edward said, ‘Give me that bread you are eating, that ring from your finger, that woman you are escrewing!’ Did he ever refuse? If his royal master wanted to sample Lady Cecily, his stepdaughter, what then?
‘Was she pleased, my lord?’
He turned. ‘Your pardon, she?’
‘Your stepdaughter. Was she pleased by her future husband?’
A sneer spoilt his face. ‘Yes, for now. That’s one hedge that won’t need jumping. His horns and the forked tail will only come out after they’re married.’ He took an angry swig of wine.
‘Who is he?’ I probed gently, seating myself on the footstool.
‘Queen’s eldest boy by her first marriage. Tom Grey, Marquis of Dorset. Cecily is a great heiress – vast estates in Devonshire. Fly in the web, poor child. If lightning strikes Tom Grey dead, there’s still his brother to snaffle her up.’
‘Can you not withhold your consent?’
Hastings shook his head. ‘I might as well piss in the wind.’ He downed the wine and slammed the goblet on the small table. ‘And what is so ironic, sweetheart, is that before Ned married Elizabeth Grey – Baroness Ferrers of Groby, as she called herself – she and I had a neighbours’ agreement that if Kate and I had a daughter, Tom would marry her.’
God’s mercy, before the poor mite was even born!
I refilled his wine cup, flattered he felt free to speak his mind or was this a means to lull me back to trusting him?
‘So Grey was not considered for Lady Cecily back then?’ I asked.
‘Hell, no. A landless nobody, son of an attainted traitor? No, Cecily was far too wealthy for the likes of him. It was sheer charity on my part to have any dealings with “the Widow Grey”.’ He took a gulp of wine. ‘Of course, once Elizabeth became queen, she set her sights on Cecily’s inheritance.’
‘But you could delay the marriage, my lord. If Cecily is only fifteen, I beg of you, don’t let her go to him yet.’ I should not have spoken so but Hastings did not take offence.
With a fond look, he reached out a hand and caressed my cheek. ‘You speak from the heart, do you not, sweetheart?’
I nodded and felt the tears pricking behind my lashes at the kindness of the gesture. I kissed his palm. ‘My lord …’ I began but his mind had moved on.
‘So have you’ve begun rattling the bars of Holy Church yet for your divorce?’
‘Rattling, yes. I’ve made a start.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. These matters take a millennium. If you don’t start proceedings straight away, you’ll still be waiting at the Second Coming.’ Then he realised his improper choice of words.
I pleated my lips trying not to giggle and then we both laughed. He rose to his feet and slid his arms about my thighs and drew me to him. ‘Let’s go and sup at Gerrard’s Hall. Time for another lesson, my beauteous scholar.’
Such cunning I learned from the tryst that evening: the act of love does not have to be with the woman underneath; a woman may straddle a man and, what’s more, a man and woman may lie busy tip to tail.
‘It is about power as well as passion, Elizabeth, conquest and surrender. A game of subtlety and strategy until you bring the protagonist to their knees, so to speak.’ That disarming smile. He encouraged me to use my imagination and to play out one of my fantasies. I had thought that the reality would spoil it, but with Hastings, I was wrong.
‘Soon there will be nothing left to teach you, mercer’s daughter.’ He whacked my behind playfully as I lay on my front after we had sported, and kissed the hollow of my back. ‘And now I desire to ask a favour. Remember I told you one of my duties was to organise revels for the court.’
‘Yes, my lord. You were considering The Siege of Troy.’
‘Well, the damned siege ladders are going up the walls tomorrow after supper if I haven’t fallen on my sword by then.’
Ah, if only he would give me a pass to witness such a spectacle. ‘I’m sure it will be a marvel, my lord.’
He gave a humpf. ‘Not with the citadel unfinished and Helen of Troy breaking his ankle in the palace yard last night.’ His gaze swerved to meet mine. ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to take the part?’
‘Me? You’d be better with a duck from the Thames. The last time I was in a pageant I had lost my two front teeth and was warned not to smile or the Devil would carry me off. No, I lie. I did dance once before Queen Margaret. Goodness, you are serious.’
‘You can be a damnably acute mimic when it pleases you.’
‘Yes, but that’s just between us. Shore’s hair would stand on end if I said yes.’
‘I’m glad we would get a rise out of him somehow.’
I clapped my hand to my lips. ‘That was unkind, my lord.’ I spluttered, battling my guilt anew and ignoring his beseeching expression. ‘Absolutely no. It would be like taking hemlock. Why, Shore and I could be struck off the guest list for next year’s mayor-making.’ I tried to keep a straight face but dissolved into laughter.
‘Worse than death, eh? But seriously, Elizabeth Lambard, you’ll enjoy yourself, I promise. It’s very simple. Prince Paris watches you dance, scoops you off to Troy and the rest of the time you are on the Troy battlements watching the duels until Menelaus, your husband, carries you back to Greece. Not much to it.’
‘If she’s “carried off” most of the time, I shouldn’t think the broken ankle matters.’ I turned away from him. ‘And it doesn’t have a happy ending if she has to go back to her husband.’ I cradled my body, wondering how long these snatched moments with Hastings could last. ‘I’m a real Helen and tonight I have to go back and there’s no happy ending.’
‘There will be if Catesby keeps your proctor’s nose to the grindstone.’ He kissed my shoulder. ‘Humour me, play Helen. You said you would like to see the court.’
‘See them, not hop around in front of them like a demented rabbit.’
‘You can dance, my dear. I saw you in the shop and it was most charming.’
‘I’m a mercer’s wife, my lord, not a handmaiden from the court of Solomon.’
‘Hmmm,’ he put a hand on my backside again and shook me playfully. ‘We could disguise you and it’s a very pretty costume. I took your advice and got rid of the breast cones. Except.’
‘No!’
How many times can a woman say no? Clearly, denial was not a word in Hastings’ vocabulum. Next day at three o’clock, the shop had two visitors. The first was a servant of Sir Edward Brampton’s requesting Shore to bring sample cloths to his house without delay. The second was one dainty Master Matthew Talwood, who carried an urgent letter from the Lord Chamberlain asking me how he could put on The Siege of Troy without the Lady Helen? What’s more, Hastings pledged he would buy me a wagon of lawyers and a score of girdles if I saved his reputation as Master of the King’s Revels.
Ha, I did not believe a word but Talwood was insistent: my lord’s barge was awaiting me at Puddle Wharf beside Beaumont’s Inn. His barge! He’d sent an entire barge?
‘A word for the wise, Mistress Shore,’ said my visitor, flicking back his long grey locks. ‘Save for his grace the King and his royal brothers, Lord Hastings is the most powerful nobleman in England. That letter is not a request, it’s a command. There are plenty like you, Mistress Shore, but only one of him.’
VIII
