Love, Remember Me (29 page)

"There is but one scandal attached to Lord de Winter's name," the more practical Giles said patiently to his elder brother, "and it happened years ago. Lady Marlowe and her friends simply refuse to allow the tale to die a natural death. Perhaps if the Earl of March were not such a handsome fellow, it would have done so."

"I want to know how this marriage came to be," Philip Wyndham repeated stubbornly. "If Nyssa had been planning to wed, she would have certainly told us. Besides, she would have wanted to go home to
RiversEdge
to marry."

Philip's first glimpse of their sister did not particularly comfort him. There was something very different about her. Something he could not quite put his finger on; a new lushness. She did not look like an unhappy woman. Indeed she was more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

Philip, Viscount Wyndham, and his younger brother, Giles, made their most courtly bows to their sister and her bridegroom. "Good morrow, Nyssa," Philip said tightly. "Good morrow, my lord." His young face was serious.

"May I present my husband, Varian de Winter, to you, my brothers," she responded.

Philip exploded in anger, much to Giles's disgust. "And just how did this man become your husband, Nyssa? What am I expected to tell our parents? The gossip is not pretty, sister! What explanation can you offer me for your behavior?" He glowered at her.

"How dare you, Philip," Nyssa replied angrily. "You have no right to question me. I am your elder by four years. Have you forgotten it, or has your service at court gone to your foolish head?"

Giles snickered, and was glared down by both his siblings.

"Despite the disparity in our ages, sister, as heir to Langford it is my duty to oversee your behavior," Philip said pompously. "It is reported your behavior was wanton, Nyssa."

"By whom?" Her look was scornful. "Philip, you are a fool," his sister told him bluntly. "Being at court has done nothing to improve you, I fear. For your edification, I was married in the Chapel Royal by the archbishop and Bishop Gardiner. Uncle Owen and Aunt Bliss were there. There is nothing else you need know about it. Where, I should like to ask you, is the scandal in a lawfully contracted marriage?"

"They say he raped you and forced the match," Philip said furiously. "I do not care if he is a Howard, I will kill him if it is so!"

"I did not rape your sister," Varian de Winter said quietly, seeking to calm the boy's anger. "And although my mother was a Howard, I am a de Winter, my lord."

"I am Giles Wyndham, my lord, and right glad to make your acquaintance," the younger of the two brothers interrupted, holding out his hand.

The Earl of March shook the lad's hand and smiled gravely down at him. "How do you do, Giles Wyndham," he answered.

"Well, actually, my lord, I do rather well," Giles said chattily. "The queen has asked me to stay on with her after the matter of her marriage is settled. I quite enjoy the court, you know," he explained with an infectious grin. He was doing his very best to defuse a difficult situation. Philip had always adored Nyssa, and looked practically near to tears. My brother is making a damned fool of himself, Giles thought, disgusted.

"You are truly all right?" Philip anxiously asked his sister.

She hugged him hard. "Aye, I am fine, Philip."

"Why did you marry him?"

"I will not tell you now, Philip, but you must trust me that everything is perfectly fine. The earl is a good man. He is most kind to me. I understand this is a shock to you, but never again take such a tone with me, brother, or dare to question my behavior. You should know I would never shame our name. Had I been born a boy, 'twould be I who was Earl of Langford today,
and not your father
. Remember it in the future, Philip. Now kiss me, and greet my husband properly."

Viscount Wyndham kissed Nyssa's cheek and then held out his hand to the Earl of March. "You have my felicitations upon your marriage to my sister, my lord," he said stiffly.

"Thank you, my lord," the earl replied. The boy was still obviously confused and angry. It would take a little time to win him over. Philip Wyndham's devotion to his sister was quite touching.

"Has anything exciting happened at court?" Nyssa asked her brothers. "It seems we have been away forever, and yet we have had really very little time to ourselves. I must report to the queen in the morning." She smiled at her husband, and then asked her brothers, "Will you go home with us when we leave court?"

"I will," Philip said. "I am not particularly enamored of the court, although I should not have missed the experience of coming."

"And I," Giles replied to his sister, "will remain in the lady Anne's service. Were you not listening when I told Lord de Winter?"

"You must call me Varian, Giles," the earl told him. "And you also, Philip. After all, we are family now."

"You asked for gossip, Nyssa," Philip said, ignoring his brother-in-law. "Mistress Catherine Howard was seen walking with the king in the Knot Garden. They were alone, and unchaperoned. Lady Ferretface could scarcely wait to spread the news to all the other ladies in the queen's apartments. The creature has missed her calling, I think. She would make an excellent pimp. Her instincts are quite base considering her bloodlines."

"
Lady Ferretface
?" The Earl of March was intrigued, and then his face lit up. "Of course! 'Tis Lady Rochford you speak of, is it not, Philip? What a perfect name for her. I have often thought she resembled a weasel, or a ferret." He chuckled. "Your eye is very sharp, sir. I congratulate you."

Philip softened. He said honestly, "I have never liked her. She is always lurking about, and listening."

"Nor do I like her," Varian de Winter agreed.

"Varian thinks we should tie Lady Marlowe's tongue in a knot to stop her gossiping," Nyssa told her brothers.

They whooped with laughter, and suddenly the tenseness in the room was dispelled. A servant brought in wine and cakes. The two boys remained with Nyssa and her new husband for over an hour before taking their leave of the couple. Each departed richer by a gold piece, pressed upon them by the Earl of March.

"What a pity we don't have more brothers-in-law," Giles noted.

"I suppose he is not as bad as I had anticipated," Philip admitted.

"You were very good with them," Nyssa told Varian when her brothers had finally gone. "Giles is a diplomat, but Philip is prickly."

"Philip adores you," he noted.

"Aye, I was almost four when he was born, and he was my baby from the beginning. Giles didn't come for another three and a half years. For that time it was just Philip and me. The bond between us is a strong one too. He is hurt I do not tell him the whole truth of our marriage, but I will not until we return home to tell Mama and Papa of it. Philip is very hot-headed. It would be just like him to call your grandfather out for his part in this matter. It could do no good, of course. Besides, now that the king has set his sights upon your cousin, he would not like to be denied his greatest desire, or find himself in the midst of a scandal caused by a thirteen-and-a-half-year-old boy. Philip could easily end up in the Tower, and then poor Mama would have to come to plead his case."

"This family I have gained by my marriage to you, madame, are they always involved in each other's business?" he queried her.

"Aye," she told him, nodding her head. "When you wed me, Varian de Winter, you wed the Wyndhams of Langford, and all their kith and kin. You are now related to Lord James Alcott, and his sons the Marquis of Beresford, the Marquis of Adney, and the O'Briens of Killaloe, and their wives. And of course there are my grandparents, the Morgans of Ashby Hall, Aunt Bliss and Uncle Owen, Lord and Lady Kingsley, as well as all my cousins. You will never be alone again, Varian, though I suspect there will be times when you wish you could be," she finished with a chuckle. "Oh, yes. Christmas is always kept at
RiversEdge
. Mama does it so well."

It would be a country life for them, he thought, not in the least displeased by the notion. His new relations would advise him on how to restore his estate to its very best. Nyssa's cousins would marry, and there would be hordes of children. A whole new generation to grow up surrounded by a large and loving family. Celebrating holidays together. Coming together for the weddings and the christenings. Sharing not just their joys, but the sorrows that were a part of life as well.

He remembered his step-grandmother, Lady Elizabeth, once saying to him, "Do not let Duke Thomas convince you that the power and the glitter are all important, Varian. Family is most important. We gain our strength in the hard times from the love of our family. Remember it."

He had not forgotten, although there had been little warmth in his grandfather's house. Now he had found that warmth that he had sought, and the family he had always longed for.

They returned to court the following day. Nyssa reported immediately to the queen, who told her privately, "He has gifted Mistress Howard vith several substantial land grants, and a gold pomander ball. I think my time here grows short, Nyssa. If you vould like, you may return to your home vith your bridegroom as soon as you vish."

Nyssa shook her head. "I will remain with you, madame," she told her mistress, and then she smiled. "Giles tells me that you have asked him to remain in your service. He is very pleased."

"He is a goot boy," the queen said with a smile. "He and Hans get along quite vell. I vill need only two pages, as Hendrick has already told me privately that my household vill be considerably reduced."

"Will you mind, dear madame?" Nyssa asked her.

"Nein," was the reply. "I do not really enjoy all the pomp and ostentation of this court, although I vill admit to enjoying the dancing, the cards, and my new clothes. I haf chosen Richmond for my home. Hendrick has said he vill gif me another house or two as vell. I haf left it to him to decide. Richmond is a pretty place, and I enjoy the river. It reminds me of the Rhine River in my homeland. I vill be happy there. I vill entertain the Princess Mary, who has become my friend, and Hendrick has promised me that little Bess may come to stay vith me from time to time. She is such an intelligent child. I do luf her."

"You will be content then, madame, and are not unhappy to remain in England?" Nyssa asked her. "Will you not miss your family?"

"Vhen I came to ved the king, I left my family behind," the queen said. "I vould far prefer to remain in England than to go back to my brother's court. Our father vas a stern man, but he had a sense of humor about him. My brother Wilhelm is too dour a man. Once he is satisfied that I am happy, he vill let it be. I am freer in England than I vould be if I returned to Cleves. I vill never haf to marry again, Nyssa. I think I prefer it that vay. But vhat of you? Is your husband satisfactory? Despite the circumstances of your marriage, I vould hope that you could find happiness in it."

"Varian is a man of humor," Nyssa replied with a smile.

"And you enjoy his . . ." The queen stopped a moment, nonplussed.

Nyssa realized immediately what she was asking, and replied, "Aye, madame, I do enjoy his attentions. Although I am unable to make any comparisons, I will admit that he gives me great pleasure in our bed sport. I believe that I like him."

"Vell then," Anne replied, "it is a goot beginning."

The attentions now lavished openly upon Catherine Howard by the king removed Nyssa and her husband from the gossipmongers' minds. They had far better fodder to chew upon now than the impetuous midnight marriage of the Earl of March and Lady Nyssa Wyndham. Lord Lisle, the father of Anne and Katherine Bassett, had been arrested on Cromwell's orders. The sisters were terrified. Then Gardiner's ally, Bishop Sampson, was sent to the Tower. Every day brought a new revelation, and the king was behaving like a lad of twenty instead of a man facing his forty-ninth birthday.

The king and queen appeared together on May Day, and for the next five days at the jousts at Westchester. They were seen at the banquets following the jousts that were held at Durham House. These banquets were open to the public, who came to view the king, the queen, and their court. Anne of Cleves was very much liked by the common people, who saw in her a royal princess of charm and dignity. If Henry Tudor was uncomfortable knowing this, he hid it well. He entertained the victors of the jousts, rewarding them with purses of one hundred marks each and houses in which they might live. Henry and Anne were never again seen together at a public function as man and wife after the May Day week festivities.

The month passed quickly. Catherine Howard, officially still one of the queen's maids of honor, was seen less and less in the Maidens' Chamber, or in Anne's presence. It was a difficult situation. Anne pretended, as she had secretly promised Henry, to be in ignorance of her situation. The queen, however, saw that things were coming to a head when on June tenth Thomas Cromwell was arrested at the council table in the Privy Council by the Captain of the Guard.

Upon being informed of his arrest, the chancellor snatched the bonnet off his head and threw it angrily upon the table. "God help and save my master, the king!" he cried as a triumphant Norfolk, aided by the Earl of Southampton, stripped him of his badges of office and his seals. "You play at power, my lords, but you have no idea of how really dangerous a game it is you play," Cromwell warned as the Captain of the Guard took him in his charge, escorting him to the waiting barge that would take him down the river to the Tower.

Thomas Cromwell's arrest order was filled with allusions to his low background, and everyone knew that to be the work of the Duke of Norfolk, who hated the fact that a man of humble background could have climbed so high. The chancellor was accused of treason. There were generalities about his maladministration and abuse of power, none of which was provable. It was said he had usurped the royal power by setting traitors free; that he had granted passports, and drawn up commissions without royal permission. Worse, he was accused of supporting heresy by two of his enemies, Sir George Throckmorton and Sir Richard Rich. The latter had perjured himself shamelessly at the trial of Sir Thomas More.