Love, Remember Me (4 page)

"You do have rather attractive golden lights in your hair," her aunt told her. "Your father did not."

"I do look like him, Heartha says," Nyssa noted. "Sometimes I stand before his picture in the gallery and just stare, but he seems a stranger, Aunt. Still, I can sometimes see the resemblance I bear to him."

"He was a wonderful man," the Countess of Marwood said. "You can be proud that you were born of his loins, Nyssa, and thank God you have his nose, not that little retroussé one of your mother's."

Nyssa laughed. "Mother's nose is sweet," she said, "but I agree with you, Aunt. I like my nice straight nose quite well."

The Countess of Marwood chose fabrics of velvet, taffeta, brocade, silk, satin, and damask weaves for her niece's gowns. Some were plain, and others woven with metallic threads. Lengths of black, gold, and white lace were selected to trim the gowns. There was silk, wool, cotton, and linen for undergarments. Nyssa's hose would be of silk, or wool, cut and sewn for a perfect fit. She would have cloaks of silk, wool, or linen, some lined in fur. There would be delicately embroidered nightrails of linen and cotton; nightcaps, caps, and hoods of velvet. Her newly made shoes and boots were of the best leather, and to her great excitement, some of her shoes were decorated with real jewels. She would have jewelry not only sewn to her apparel, but jeweled ribbons, necklaces, and rings of her very own as well.

"I have never had such magnificent clothing!" she exclaimed when at last her wardrobe was completed. "Do people at court really dress like this all the time?"

Blaze, who had recovered from the twins' birth, laughed. "You will be a little sparrow amongst peacocks, my darling," she told her eldest child. "It is not required, however, that you outshine the mighty. You are a beautiful young girl, Nyssa, and your clothing is exactly what it should be, thanks to your aunts' kindness."

"Ohh, Mama!" Nyssa told her mother, "I am so confused! One moment I am excited to be leaving
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for court, and the next moment I am absolutely terrified over the prospect. I've never been anywhere in my whole life. What if I make a mistake before the king? What if I disgrace the family by my actions? Perhaps I should not go." Nyssa was suddenly pale.

"Did you know that your aunt Bliss took me to court when I went for the first time?" Blaze told her daughter. "Your father had died in late autumn. I loved him so much. His death and that of your infant brother were a terrible shock to me. Your aunt, however, decided I must not mope about. Shortly after New Year's I went with Bliss and your uncle Owen to Greenwich. The farthest from Ashby that I had ever been was
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. I cried. I was very frightened. I felt awkward and quite gauche, despite the fact I was a widow, not a maiden. I just wanted to hide, but your aunt would not let me.

"Bliss had taken to court after her marriage to Owen FitzHugh like a busy duck takes to a millpond. It is her natural milieu. She will guide you safely through the maze of manners and morals there. If you are wise, Nyssa, you will trust her, and listen well to what she has to say."

Blaze put an arm about her daughter. "There is one piece of advice that I must give you, however, my dear. Guard your reputation carefully. Your virginity is the greatest treasure that you possess, Nyssa. The gift of it is yours alone to give, but I would hope you should give it to the man you will marry one day, for he will appreciate it far more than any other. Because I was the king's mistress for a short time, there will be fools crass and coarse enough to believe that you are an easy prey. Remind them sharply, for I know you will not have to remind yourself, that you are the virtuous daughter of the Earl of Langford, not some common drab. You are not to be trifled with by any."

"Was the king in love with you, Mama?" Nyssa asked. She had never before dared to voice the question.

"He was
enchanted
with me for a brief time," her mother replied, "but I do not believe he was ever really
in love
with me. We became friends, however, which was to the good, Nyssa. I have ever been the king's most loyal servant. So I hope you will be as well."

"I had always heard it said, Mama, that the king was the handsomest prince in Christendom, but I do not think him handsome. He is quite fat, and the stink from his sore leg the day he visited us was quite dreadful. I do not imagine even a crown could make me want to marry such a man. I do not envy the Princess of Cleves, poor lady. Yet I could see the king thinks himself quite grand. I cannot believe you loved him."

Blaze smiled. The young were apt to be quite harsh in their judgments of their elders. "The king has gained a great deal of weight since our time together, Nyssa. He was in his youth a very handsome man. Time, I fear, has not been particularly kind to him. We do not see ourselves age as others see us. In his own mind the king still thinks himself as a very dashing gentleman. It would be wise for those about him to treat him as such. No one enjoys getting older, my daughter, and even a king is not safe from the ravages of time."

"I shall miss you, Mama, and Papa too!" Nyssa told Blaze.

"I shall miss you also, my darling," the Countess of Langford replied, "but it is time that you began your journey into life. Court will offer you wonderful opportunities. You are certain to find a husband there, Nyssa. He might be a man of stature, or perhaps the brother of a friend that you will make. There is so much ahead of you!"

"I will only marry for love, Mama," Nyssa said.

"Love often comes after marriage, my dear," her mother replied. "I laid eyes on your father only once, and quite briefly at that, before I married him. I didn't even know him, but Edmund was so good. I very quickly fell in love with him. He was an easy man to love."

"But what if you hadn't fallen in love with him?" Nyssa said with firm logic. "It would have been horrible for you! I think I should rather love the man before I marry him, and not leave such things to chance, Mama. Mistress Fortune can be a fickle creature."

"As long as he is a suitable match," her mother said. "It must be a proper marriage that you make, Nyssa."

"But I will first love him," Nyssa insisted.

Blaze smiled at her eldest child. "He will be a very lucky gentleman," she said.

CHAPTER 2

T
HE
king was planning a gala Christmas wedding. His mood was gayer than many had ever seen it. The festivities would be held at the monarch's favorite palace of Greenwich. There would be twelve full days of joyous celebration following the marriage ceremony. The new queen would make her formal entry into the capital city of London on the first day of January. Her coronation was already tentatively planned for February second, the feast of Candlemas. Westminster had been chosen as the site for the coronation ritual.

The king was currently at Hampton Court. Each day he issued more orders regarding his wedding and the convivial days that would follow it. Henry Tudor had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the preparations. Several times each day, and always in the presence of others, he would draw Holbein's miniature of the Princess of Cleves from his tunic, where it nested against his heart, gaze dramatically upon it, and sigh gustily like a young lad seriously involved with a woman for the very first time. The king fancied himself in love again. This Anne, he declared to his intimates, would be far different from the other Anne. This Anne would be gentle, wise, and loving. She would ease his old age when it finally arrived in some far distant future. Perhaps he would even have more children by this pretty German princess with her sweet face. That would be to the good, he assured them. Some among the court wished the king well in this new marriage. Others silently thought him a fool that he continued to believe in romantic love at his age.

A messenger arrived at Hampton Court on the fifth day of November. The Princess of Cleves had departed her brother's ducal seat at Dusseldorf, and would arrive in approximately three weeks, or by the end of the month at the latest, according to all reports. She traveled with a large, stately retinue of 263 people, along with 228 horses. There were coaches for the ladies, and over fifty baggage carts. The progress of so great a retinue was very slow, however. The king finally sent to Calais for news of his bride's arrival when word came that she was overdue. Now it was believed she would reach Calais by the eighth of December. The king's brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and the lord admiral, the Earl of Southampton, Sir William FitzWilliam, departed for Calais to escort the bride across the Channel to England. The Duke of Norfolk and the king's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, were ordered to stand by to greet Anne of Cleves at Canterbury.

Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was not pleased by the match. Most, including Bishop Gardiner, believed it was because the bride was a German Protestant. Actually, Duke Thomas hated Cromwell, and equally disliked being out of the intimate power structure surrounding the king. The Duke of Norfolk was England's premier noble. He was used to being part of the decision-making process of the Privy Council. He had opposed this marriage from the start, for it was Cromwell's great plan. It would be Cromwell, responsible for lifting this German princess from obscurity, who would influence this new queen, not Thomas Howard, whose foolish niece, Anne Boleyn, had once worn England's crown. If Anne had but taken his advice, she would yet have her crowned head.

He sighed deeply. Was it not bad enough that he had seen Anne replaced by that whey-faced Jane Seymour? That he had been forced to endure the arrogance of Jane's two brothers, Edward and Thomas Seymour, those upstarts from Wolf Hall? That he had seen a Seymour succeed where a Howard had failed? At least this bride was royal. It was his only consolation. That, and the fact he had miraculously managed to retain his position as Lord Treasurer, despite his family's failures and the king's displeasure.

The retinue from Cleves did not reach Calais until December eleventh. They were escorted into the town with much grand celebration, but once there, they were detained for the next two weeks by storms of horrendous proportions that were wracking the coasts of France and England. It was simply not possible until December twenty-sixth to make the comparatively brief crossing from Calais to Deal.

Anne whiled away her time learning to play cards. She did not know how, but quickly picked it up. Her teacher, the Earl of Southampton, had told her that the king loved to play cards. Anne was eager to learn all things that would endear her to her husband. The court of Cleves had been a somber one. Cards and music and dancing were considered frivolous. Anne wondered about it. She found gaming, particularly for money, most stimulating.

T
HERE
had been hundreds of applications for the designated places in the new queen's household. More were disappointed than pleased by the king's appointments. Nyssa Wyndham, arriving at Hampton Court on the fifteenth of November, could scarcely contain her excitement. It fortunately overwhelmed her nervousness, which had grown with each passing mile that took her from
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. She watched her aunt Bliss carefully, aping her every move; and refused to be disconcerted by her young male relations, who found her new behavior hilarious, to say the least.

Knowing that there would not be room for them at the palace, Owen FitzHugh had rented a small house in the village of Richmond. Decent lodgings were at a premium. He had had to outbid several others to obtain it. When he and Bliss had been younger and very much involved with the court, it had been different. There had always been a place for them. It had been years, however, since they had been a part of all of this. He grimaced. Court was too damned expensive these days, it seemed to him. Not only had he had to rent lodgings for them here in Richmond where Hampton Court Palace was located, but he had had to rent a house near Greenwich as well. At least his two brothers-in-law had contributed generously to the expenses he would incur with all of this. After all, he would not have come had it not been for Nyssa and the lads.

"Will we live here while the court is here?" Nyssa asked her uncle as they arrived in Richmond-on-Thames.

"You will live at court," Bliss answered before Owen even had the chance to think. "Philip and Giles will live there as well, but our young Owen and Edmund Kingsley will live here with us."

" 'Twill not be easy," the Earl of Marwood told his niece. "You'll be lucky to have a bed, and will probably share one with another girl. You'll have little space for your possessions, and will have to leave most of them here with us. You'll be on call to the queen 'round the clock, and have little time to claim for your own. You'll eat and sleep on the run. Your brothers too. 'Tis not easy to be in the royal service."

Nyssa paled slightly, her look plainly asking why no one had told her all this before. Being a maid of honor suddenly sounded awful! She wished now that she had stayed at home.

Bliss, divining her thoughts, said, " 'Tis hard, I'll not deny, my child, but ohh, the advantages to being here at court!
Everything
happens at court. 'Tis where the power and the excitement lie, Nyssa.
And the gentlemen
. " Bliss drew her hood up, and taking the hand proffered by the footman, stepped from their carriage. She looked hard at the residence her husband had rented for them. "Surely this cannot be right, Owen. It is practically a cottage, my lord. Are you certain this is the house that you obtained for us?" Nyssa had alighted from the vehicle, and took her aunt's hand in hers. Bliss gave her a quick smile.

"We are fortunate to have any lodgings at all," the Earl of Marwood replied testily. "Coming to court under normal circumstances is not easy. Coming to court when the king is about to remarry is impossible, madame! I know several who fought over accommodations in barns. Perhaps you would prefer to share your quarters with the cows?"

Nyssa giggled. Uncle Owen could be so forceful when he chose to be. Usually he pretended to allow Aunt Bliss her way in all things, not fully realizing that Bliss had wrapped him about her little finger years ago. The young girl strove to ease the situation. "I think the house sweet. I have never lived in town."