‘Displeased! You and Owen! I love you both. Where is Owen?’
‘You will see him soon. He does not forget that you are the King. He holds himself aloof from royalty until he is summoned to the presence.’
‘He is my stepfather now.’
‘I can see the thought does not displease you.’
‘I must congratulate you … and him.’
‘Oh, Henry, how happy I am that you have come. How I have missed you, and how I wish that we could all be together !’
‘You must be very happy here.’ Henry’s eyes were wistful. He thought of the Court which surrounded him. The important men who bowed so obsequiously and yet were always telling him what he must do. It must be a wonderfully free life here in the country.
‘We are. And Henry. There is something else. Come with me.’
She led him to the nursery. The children were all there. Young Edmund immediately came to his mother and stared up at Henry. Jasper toddled after him.
Katherine laid her hands on Edmund’s head and picked up Jasper. ‘The little Tudors,’ she said. ‘Your half-brothers, my lord.’
Henry was bewildered for a moment or two until the truth dawned on him. Then he was smiling; he was kneeling down to talk to Edmund. He was clearly delighted with his brothers.
‘And you must not neglect Owen and even baby Jacina. They will be most put out.’
‘Dear Mother, and all this time you have been here in the country raising a family!’
He admired the children. He was clearly amused and delighted.
‘Now we have no secrets,’ said Katherine. ‘I always hated to have secrets from you.’
‘Dear lady,’ he said, ‘why is it that this marriage is kept a secret?’
‘But surely you know. They would say it is a mésalliance … I Princess of France, Queen of England, mother of the King, to marry a squire!’
‘But Owen Tudor …’ began Henry.
‘They always told me that I had a very clever son. Yes … Owen Tudor. That is the answer. The best man that ever lived, that is my Owen. Come, Henry, you know he is your stepfather now. I will ask him to join us.’
Owen was disturbed, as she had known he would be, to discover that she had divulged their secret.
‘It is time my son knew he had a family,’ said the Queen.
Henry had always liked Owen; and he was very ready to accept him as his stepfather. He talked freely and much restraint dropped from him in the company of his mother and stepfather.
He told them about his life under the guardianship of the Earl of Warwick. How the Earl had insisted on his excelling at equestrian sports and how when he went overseas he had had a harness garnished with gold made for him. He told them a great deal about his stay in France and how he hated being crowned in Paris. ‘It is depressing to feel the people don’t really want you. I didn’t want to be King of France. They already had a King in any case. He was crowned at Rheims which is the proper place for Kings of France to be crowned. Joan of Arc arranged that.’ His expression darkened, and his mother knew that he continued to be disturbed by Joan of Arc. They should never have allowed him to see her. The woman was a witch and had clearly laid a spell on him.
But his melancholy did not last long. He was so delighted to find himself in the centre of a family.
It was a sad King who took farewell of his mother and stepfather.
Humphrey of Gloucester was delighted that Warwick had been sent to France as Regent. He might have gone himself. No, that wouldn’t have been wise. Eleanor had said that he should remain in England now and as usual she was right.
The King was only fifteen – a minor still; and as the next in succession he was closer to him than any.
They had one great interest in common. Many people had been amazed at Humphrey’s love of literature. When he was surrounded by literary men his character seemed to change. He loved discourse and he seemed to throw off his arrogance and his obsessive ambitions in their company. He had amassed a collection of rare books and now and then would shut himself away to read. The scholar seemed quite apart from the sensual man of the world. It was as though two people lurked behind that countenance once so handsome and now considerably debauched.
Humphrey had undertaken the education of his nephew and had imbued him with a love of literature. It was the one ground on which they could meet, and Humphrey was delighted to discover in the King a willing pupil. Henry enjoyed the study of books rather than outdoor sports and on these grounds he and Humphrey were in tune.
‘When you have the power,’ Humphrey had said, ‘you must do all you can to promote learning. You must keep the universities rich and able to perform their function. You must encourage men of letters.’
Henry fervently assured his uncle that he would.
They had visited the universities together. They went to Oxford, Cambridge and Winchester; Henry was very interested in the new university at Caen which his uncle Bedford had founded.
So he and Humphrey could be happy together with their books, for Henry loved to handle books, loved the thrill of opening them and discovering their contents.
But he too was already aware of the other side of Humphrey, and he seemed less interested in his books since his marriage to his new Duchess.
Henry did not like Eleanor. Sometimes he felt really uneasy when she was near. He would look up suddenly and see her eyes fixed on him and there would be an expression in them which he did not understand.
It was during one of those friendly sessions with Uncle Humphrey when he spoke of his visit to Hadham.
They were in Humphrey’s library and Humphrey had talked for some time about a book which he wished Henry to read.
‘When you have read it I think you will agree with me that the author should be encouraged. Perhaps a small pension …’
Henry agreed with enthusiasm.
‘He lives in Hertfordshire,’ went on Humphrey. ‘I have sent for him to come and see me. There are one or two points I want to talk over with him.’
‘I was in Hertfordshire recently,’ said Henry. ‘I wish I had known. I might have sent for him. I was visiting my mother.’
He did not notice that Humphrey had become more alert.
‘And how was the Queen?’
‘Very, very happy …’
‘Indeed.’
‘I don’t know why there should be this secret. Owen is a good man … He is worthy in every way.’
‘I heard some talk of the Queen and Owen Tudor.’
‘He is my stepfather.’
‘Ah, there was a rumour. I knew that he was the Queen’s devoted friend … but marriage. There is a law, you know, about the marriages of people like the Queen.’
‘The knot is tied now. They are so content. They have children, too. Four of them. Young Edmund is a very bright boy and I think Jasper will be too.’
The Duke of Gloucester seemed to have forgotten the author in whom he was so interested.
‘So … you have accepted your … er … stepfather.’
‘Accepted him? Oh it was not a matter of accepting him. He exists. And he is a most interesting man. I was telling them about my coronation in France and how the people were … and he said that they love me here and that is important.’
‘It is indeed. But equally important that your French subjects should love you too.’
‘Owen said they never will do that. They see themselves as French and French they will remain. He says it is the same in a way with the Welsh. He is Welsh, you know.’
‘Your uncle Bedford never trusted the Welsh.’
‘Uncle Bedford never trusted anybody.’
‘It is often wise not to be too trustful.’