Secrets of the Tudor Court Boxed Set (88 page)

Nan’s oldest sister, Philippa, was also on hand. She, too, was accompanied by a husband and a son. The youngest Bassett girl, Mary, as yet unmarried, sniffled into a handkerchief, but she managed a watery smile for her sister.

Elsewhere in the chapel, Nan caught sight of Lucy Somerset, now Lady Latimer, and Cousin Mary, who had remarried and was now Countess of Arundel. Most of the maids of honor Nan had served with in Mary Tudor’s household, both before and after Mary became queen, were also present to celebrate with her.

Nan took her place beside Wat, standing at his left hand. The queen herself blessed their union and gave Nan into the keeping of her future husband.

Throughout the solemn, scripted ritual that followed, Nan could only think how glad she was that this moment had finally come. She did not regret her time at court, but she was ready to leave the service of royalty behind. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life at Farleigh Castle as Lady Hungerford.

Wat took her right hand in his right hand, his grip firm and confident. He’d never once doubted that they belonged together.

“I, Walter, take thee Anne to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forth, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death us depart, if holy church will it ordain, and thereto I plight thee my troth.”

As the ceremony demanded, Wat withdrew his hand and Nan took it back again to make her own vows: “I, Anne, take thee Walter to my
wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forth, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to be bonair and buxom in bed and at board, till death us depart, if holy church will it ordain, and thereto I plight thee my troth.”

Bonair and buxom,
she thought, smiling slightly, words that meant courteous and kind. She would have no difficulty with either. Not with Wat as her husband.

The priest blessed the ring, which had been placed on a book along with a monetary offering. When he’d sprinkled it with holy water, Wat took the ring in his right hand, using three fingers, and held Nan’s right hand in his left. Then he repeated the priest’s solemn words: “With this ring I thee wed and this gold and silver I thee give; and with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly cattle I thee honor.”

He placed the ring on Nan’s thumb, “in the name of the Father,” moved it to the second finger—“and of the Son”—and on to the third finger: “and of the Holy Ghost.” When he placed it on her fourth finger, he concluded with, “Amen.”

Nan looked down at her hand, wondering if it were true that in the fourth finger there was a vein that ran straight to the heart. Overwhelmed by the emotion she felt at this moment, she was certain there must be a connection.

Together, Nan and Wat moved to the step before the altar for the nuptial Mass and blessing that would precede a wedding breakfast in the royal apartments—another mark of favor from the queen. Nan scarcely heard a word for the haze of happiness that surrounded her.

When all the prayers were done, Wat received the pax from the priest. The final act of the ritual was to convey it to Nan by kissing her. “At last,” he whispered just before their lips met.

At last,
Nan thought, relishing his touch, basking in her sense of belonging and the sheer joy of mutual love and respect.

The kiss Nan gave Wat in return told him everything that was in her heart.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

I chose to end Anne Bassett’s story on a happy note. Sadly, she did not live long after her wedding. In common with many sixteenth-century wives, she bore her husband two sons who died young and was dead herself sometime before June 7, 1557, the date of Walter Hungerford’s remarriage.

For those who want “the real story,” it is to be found in M. St. Clare Byrne’s excellent six-volume edition of
The Lisle Letters.
I have drawn my own conclusions about certain events in Nan’s life and about Lord Cromwell’s involvement in the Botolph conspiracy, but overall I have worked within the historical record. I did choose to omit a number of details of the Botolph conspiracy simply because they made the scheme too preposterous for a modern reader to believe.

Maids of honor may have waited on the queen in shifts, with two on duty for each eight-hour period, but since no one knows for certain, I often have all six in attendance on the queen at the same time. The identities of these “damsels” are also open to question. Many more women are said to have held the position than is possible, even with a great number of them marrying and leaving the ranks. Some young ladies, like Elizabeth Brooke, as the daughters or sisters of courtiers, lived at court without having any official position.

For more information on the real people who populate this novel, see the Who’s Who section that follows this note. You will find more mini-biographies of Tudor women at my website, KateEmersonHistoricals.com. The only characters in
Between Two Queens
who are entirely products of my imagination are Nan’s maid, Constance; the midwife, Mother Gristwood; Jamie and his adoptive parents; and Ned Corbett’s violet-eyed wife.

A WHO’S WHO
OF THE TUDOR COURT
1537–1543

Anna of Cleves (1515–1557)

Henry VIII married his fourth queen on January 6, 1540. She was persuaded to accept an annulment on July 9 of that same year. She retired to Richmond and Bletchingley, properties granted to her in a generous settlement, and was thereafter treated as “the king’s sister.” A false rumor, circulated in 1541, claimed she’d given birth to a child. She was present at ceremonial occasions throughout the reign of Mary I. She was buried in Westminster Abbey. Her portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger still makes her appear, to modern eyes, the most attractive of King Henry’s wives.

Arundell, Jane (d. 1577)

Jane Arundell, older half sister of Mary (below), was one of Queen Jane’s maids of honor when Anne Bassett first came to court. She was at least thirty years old at the time, since her mother had died before 1507. After Queen Jane’s death, Jane Arundell joined her half sister’s household. Nothing further is known of her.

Arundell, Mary (Countess of Sussex) (1517?–1557)

Mary Arundell was Anne Bassett’s cousin. Their mothers were sisters.
She was at court as a maid of honor to Queen Jane Seymour until she became the third wife of Robert Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex, on January 14, 1537. Mary remained at court as one of Queen Jane’s ladies until Jane’s death and returned to court as one of the great ladies of the household under Anna of Cleves and Catherine Howard. She had at least one son by Sussex, born in March 1538, but he seems to have died young. After the earl’s death, Mary became the second wife of Henry FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, marrying him on December 19, 1545. She was once thought to have translated Greek and Latin epigrams, but it is now believed that scholars confused her with her stepdaughter, Mary FitzAlan.

Astley, Jane (Mistress Mewtas) (1517?–1551?)

Jane Astley was a maid of honor to Queen Jane Seymour until she married Peter Mewtas. The wedding took place after Easter but before October 9, 1537. Jane is the subject of the sketch by Hans Holbein the Younger labeled
Lady Meutas.
Jane and Peter had several children—Cecily, Frances, Henry, Thomas, and Hercules. Anne Bassett lived with them in their house in London after she left the Countess of Sussex’s household.

Bassett, Anne (1521?–1557?)

Anne was the third daughter of Sir John Bassett and his second wife, Honor Grenville. When her stepfather, Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle, became deputy of Calais in 1533, Anne was sent to Pont de Remy to live with the family of Tybault Rouand, Sieur de Riou, and complete her education. In 1537, she became one of Queen Jane’s maids of honor but her stay at court was short. She was sworn in only one day before the queen went into seclusion to await the birth of Prince Edward. Following the queen’s death from complications of childbirth, Anne went to live in the household of her cousin Mary Arundell, Countess of Sussex. Later she resided with Peter Mewtas and his wife and then, at the king’s
suggestion, with Anthony and Joan Denny. The king took a particular interest in Anne and at one point gave her a horse and saddle as a gift. Upon Henry VIII’s marriage to Anna of Cleves, Anne resumed her post as a maid of honor. She entered the household of Queen Catherine Howard after the marriage to Anna was annulled. When Queen Catherine’s household was dissolved, the king made special provision for Anne Bassett, although exactly what provision is unclear. At the time, her mother and stepfather were both being held on charges of treason in connection with a plot to turn Calais over to England’s enemies. Their continued imprisonment did not seem to affect the king’s fondness for Anne. At a banquet where he entertained some sixty ladies, she was one of three singled out for particular attention, leading to speculation that the king might marry her. When Kathryn Parr became Henry’s sixth queen, Anne resumed her accustomed post as maid of honor. She left court during the reign of Edward VI, but returned as a lady of the privy chamber to Queen Mary in 1553. In June 1554, Anne married Walter Hungerford of Farleigh, a gentleman some years younger than herself, in the queen’s chapel at Richmond. The queen granted the couple a number of properties that had been lost when Hungerford’s father was attainted and executed in 1540. Anne bore her husband two sons who died young and had died herself before June 1557, when Hungerford remarried.

Bassett, Catherine (1517?–1558+)

The second daughter of Sir John Bassett and Honor Grenville, Catherine was in competition with her sister Anne for one position as a maid of honor to Queen Jane in 1537. When Anne was chosen, Catherine was taken into the household of Eleanor Paston, Countess of Rutland. There was talk of placing her with Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk or with Anne Stanhope, Countess of Hertford, but Catherine apparently preferred to remain where she was. A marriage was proposed for her with Sir Edward Baynton’s son, but the Bayntons thought Catherine’s dowry was too small. In 1540, she joined the household of Anna of Cleves, but
by then Anna was no longer queen. In 1541, Catherine was heard to wonder aloud how many wives the king would have. This comment led to her examination by the Privy Council but she does not seem to have been charged with any crime. On December 8, 1547, she married Henry Ashley of Hever, Kent. They had a son, also named Henry. The date of Catherine’s death is unknown, but took place sometime between 1558 and 1588.

Bassett, Mary (1522?–1598)

The youngest daughter of Sir John Bassett and Honor Grenville, Mary was, according to Peter Mewtas, the prettiest of the four sisters. She joined the household of Nicholas de Montmorency, Seigneur de Bours, in Abbeville in August 1534. Her stepfather, Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle, attempted to find her a place in the household of the young Elizabeth Tudor, but nothing came of it. Mary suffered from ill health and returned to Calais in March 1538 to be nursed by her mother. Gabriel de Montmorency, who had become Seigneur de Bours on his father’s death in 1537, paid a number of visits to her there and eventually proposed marriage. They kept their betrothal secret, with disastrous consequences. When her mother and stepfather were arrested and all their papers seized, Mary attempted to destroy Gabriel’s love letters by throwing them down the jakes. She was caught and her unsanctioned engagement to a Frenchman was taken to be one more proof of treason in the household. It was a crime to conspire to marry a foreigner without the king’s permission. It is not clear where Mary was confined in Calais or when she was released. The next record of her is her marriage to John Wollacombe of Overcombe, Devon, on June 8, 1557.

Bassett, Philippa (1516?–1582)

This oldest Bassett daughter remained in Calais with her mother. There was talk of a marriage to Clement Philpott, but nothing came of it. She
was arrested with her mother and sister but it is not clear where she was held or when she was released. She had married a man named James Pitts by 1548.

Botolph, Sir Gregory (d. 1540+)

Botolph is the mystery man of the story. He was a younger son from a respectable Suffolk family and became a priest. He was a canon at St. Gregory’s in Canterbury in the mid–1530s and later confessed that he stole a plate from the church during that time. He went to Calais in April of 1538 to become one of the three domestic chaplains employed by Lord Lisle. There he shared quarters with Clement Philpott, who joined the household at the same time. He has been described as both a fanatic papist and an unscrupulous rogue. He was known in Calais as “Gregory Sweet-lips” for his ability to talk people into doing what he wanted. He claimed to have made a very fast, very secret trip to Rome to meet with the pope and Cardinal Pole in early 1540, but there is no evidence to back up his story. He was, however, clearly the instigator of a plot to deliver Calais to England’s enemies in “herring time” and he did recruit Clement Philpott and Edward Corbett, among others, to help him. The plan probably would not have succeeded even if Philpott had not betrayed the conspirators. Botolph escaped being arrested when his coconspirators were taken by English authorities because he was already in “the emperor’s dominions.” He may have been taken into custody there, briefly, but he was never returned to England to stand trial for treason. He disappears from history after August of 1540. Further details about the Botolph conspiracy can be found in volume six of M. St. Clare Byrne’s
The Lisle Letters.

Bray, Dorothy (1524?–1605)

Dorothy Bray was either the youngest daughter or the fifth of six daughters of Edmund, Baron Bray, and was at court as a maid of honor to
Anna of Cleves in 1540. She served Catherine Howard and Kathryn Parr in the same capacity. She was involved in a brief, passionate affair with William Parr, brother of the future queen, in 1541, but during Kathryn Parr’s tenure as queen, Parr’s interest shifted to Dorothy’s niece, Elizabeth Brooke. Dorothy later married Edmund Brydges, Baron Chandos, by whom she had five children. After his death she wed Sir William Knollys, a much younger man. Late in life she was known as “old Lady Chandos.”