A servant in Warwick livery, emblazoned with the emblem of the bear and ragged staff, darted across the garden to whisper in Jane’s ear. For just a moment, her composure seemed shaken. “Go inside and tell the earl,” she said. “All the councilors must hear this.”
“Hear what?” I asked.
Jane sank down onto a stone bench. When I sat beside her, I saw how pale she had gone. She drew in a deep, steadying breath.
“It has begun. There is no going back now. That messenger brought word that the Duke of Somerset has moved the king into his own lodgings at Hampton Court. As if we would hurt His Grace! Somerset plans to take King Edward and move into the Tower for greater safety.”
“You have a spy at court.”
Jane looked at me as if I were mad to doubt it. “Several. Including three of my sons.”
BY EVENING IT was the Privy Council, not Somerset, who had control of the Tower of London. That night Somerset fled with the king to Windsor Castle, as it was better fortified and easier to defend than Hampton Court. At once, the Earl of Warwick, with Will at his side, began negotiations for the return of His Grace. No one wanted bloodshed, but we all knew it might come to that. Even if there was no battle for possession of the king’s person, there would likely be executions after.
I remained at Ely Place with Jane Warwick while our husbands rode out of London to lay siege to Windsor Castle. We women took comfort from each other’s company, and chafed at having to sit and wait while others decided our fate and the fate of those we loved.
“Will the council execute the Duke of Somerset?” I asked Jane. We sat in her solar, pretending to sew. Neither of us had taken more than a few stitches.
Jane shuddered. “I hope not. Our families have been friends for a long time. You know we talked of having Jack marry Anne Seymour, Somerset’s oldest girl.”
“The lord protector did not hesitate to have his own brother beheaded,” I reminded her. “I doubt he’ll show any mercy to either of our husbands if he is victorious.”
“Executing Tom Seymour is yet another example of his poor judgment. And we will prevail. Somerset cannot. He has too many enemies ranged against him.”
I prayed she was right, and as I sat there, a sunbeam playing over my neglected embroidery, I wondered if there might be something we could do to bring an end to the standoff at Windsor. Somerset, Warwick, even Will were hotheaded individuals accustomed to settling matters with violence. Men were trained for warfare, even if they never expected to see a real battle.
“Is Lady Somerset with her husband at Windsor?” I asked.
“She is still at Beddington,” Jane said, naming one of the many properties Somerset had claimed for himself since he’d come to power. “When this began, the lord protector had only just returned to Hampton Court after spending a few days hunting with his wife in Hampshire. She went to Beddington, which is nearby, to oversee the progress on renovations to the house.” The Duke of Somerset had begun many such projects, and had ordered the destruction of no fewer than three churches to get building stone for Somerset House, the great mansion he was erecting on the Strand.
“Do you think she might be more apt to listen to reason than he is?”
Jane laughed. “You know Anne Somerset as well as I do. More likely she is the reason the lord protector pursued such an unwise course. Anne’s sudden rise to prominence at court went straight to her head. Her husband had not been regent for a month before she began to assume the privileges of royalty. Only remember how badly she treated the queen dowager.”
“But if she could be made to understand that now, for the good of the realm, the duke must step down—”
“She would sooner see him dead.”
I thought of the way the Duke and Duchess of Somerset were in private, as I had once seen them when they did not know I was there. Had it all been manipulation, or did she truly love her husband, as I loved Will, as Jane loved John Dudley, Earl of Warwick? I sighed. Even if she did, the lord protector’s wife was not a likely candidate to act as the voice of reason. And yet, if there was a chance she could help avoid bloodshed, how could we not ask for her cooperation?
A few hours later, accompanied by our ladies and a few armed guards, Jane and I left Holborn and rode posthaste to Beddington.
“This is outrageous!” the Duchess of Somerset shouted when we explained the situation. “My husband is the most powerful man in the realm. Lesser men do not make demands upon him. He gives orders and they obey.”
Both Jane and I were physically bigger than the duchess, but she had not lost the knack of looking down her nose while looking up. I started to back away, then remembered that she was no longer my mistress. I held my ground, refusing to be cowed.
“Your husband has kidnapped the king,” I said.
“Edward went willingly with his uncle.”
“So, you know already that they went to Windsor.” Did her arrogance know no bounds? “I am surprised you have not already joined them there. I am sure your venom could be a useful weapon to repel troops sent against the duke.”
If she was so determined to retain her place and his power, then she would have to be removed along with her husband. All the wretched things the Duchess of Somerset had said and done to me and to Will came back in a rush. If she had not been so much smaller and weaker, and if she had not suddenly looked stricken, I might have been tempted to do violence to her person.
“Windsor?” Lady Somerset asked. “Not the Tower?”
“A slight change of plans.” Jane stepped deftly between us, bringing calm with her. “King Edward only went with your husband the duke because he was intimidated by Somerset’s position as lord protector. You know this to be true, Anne. And you know that Somerset’s day is over. But with your help, matters can still be settled peaceably.”
“What if I do not want peace? What if I’d prefer to see your husbands tried for treason? If they overthrow the duly appointed lord protector, that is no less a crime than what Tom Seymour plotted.”
“It is the lord protector who imitates his brother,” Jane said, “not the earl or the marquess. And like his brother, he will fail. Let us pray Somerset does not follow Tom to the block. I know your husband is a good man at heart, Anne. Out of fear of harming the king, if for no other reason, he will eventually give in. Then he will be arrested, and with him your two eldest sons, who are with him at Windsor. Will you not try to save your boys, at least?”
Lady Somerset blanched at the threat to her children but would not yield.
“If you could but persuade your husband to surrender the sooner—”
The door to the chamber flew open and banged against the wall, cutting short Jane’s plea for sanity. Will stood in the opening, a dozen armed men at his back. His eyes widened when he saw me, but he spoke first to the duchess. “I regret to inform you, Lady Somerset, that your husband is in custody at Windsor Castle. He has been deprived of his office as lord protector and removed from his lodgings next to the king’s bedchamber.”
A look of cold hatred removed every vestige of beauty from the duchess’s face. With a howl of rage and frustration she hurled herself at Will. She clawed at his face, leaving a trio of long, deep scratches in one cheek. She beat on his chest, shouting invective. With surprising gentleness, he caught her wrists to stop her attack and eased her back toward her waiting gentlewomen. When they helped her to a chair, she collapsed, sobbing.
I went to Will’s side. Jane tried to comfort Anne Somerset.
“When I left Windsor,” Will continued, as if there had been no interruption, “Somerset was under guard in the Beauchamp Tower. He will shortly be removed to the Tower of London. I have orders to escort you there to join him, Lady Somerset.”