“How can he do that? He is not on the direct line.”
“It is rather complicated. It is an Irish peerage. The Earl took up his residence in England because he was tired of the continual conflict reigning in Ireland. Sir Piers is something of a brigand. He is suspected of having murdered another member of the family who might have a claim, so his intentions are obvious. He had been taking care of the Irish property and is one of the few lords there who can be trusted to work for the English against these tiresome people who have always—and always will—created trouble and mischief. So Sir Piers is in high favor at Court. In his will the Earl rewarded Sir Piers for his services but left his estates to his daughters’ heirs. The case was brought forward and Sir Piers was commanded to come to England and state his claims before a court of law. His reply was that he was too busy fighting the King's wars. This was true and as Ireland was—as usual—on the verge of rebellion and Sir Piers was one of the few men on whom Henry could rely, the King was loath to offend him. As a result, the case has hung fire while Sir Piers continues to use the land and revenues as though they belonged to him.”
“What has this to do with my marriage?”
“A great deal. Sir Piers has a son—James Butler. The King wants Sir Piers to stay working for him in Ireland. Therefore he must keep him happy. He was in a dilemma until our uncle Surrey came up with the suggestion that marriage was the answer to this dispute. Sir Piers has a son; our father has a daughter. If those two were brought together in matrimony, their offspring would naturally inherit the estates. Simple, it seemed to Surrey… and the King. It has been decided and, as Master Wolsey gives his approval to the plan, it is as good as accomplished.”
I was furiously angry. I said: “They have settled it without asking the opinion of those two to whom it means most.”
“It is the way of the world, sister.”
“George, I will not have it. I will not be bartered like this.”
“You will find it hard to stand against it, Anne.”
“I will tell our father when I see him.”
“It is not only our father. It has become a political matter. The King wishes it. Wolsey wishes it.”
“What could they do to me if I refused?”
“I do not think it would be wise to attempt to find out.”
“But I won't have it, George! I won't have it!”
He tried to soothe me. “Some arranged marriages work out very well. One man is very like another. You will make this James dance to your tune, I do not doubt.”
“Among the Irish bogs?”
He laughed. “A far cry from the Court of France, I'll swear.”
“I'll not do it.”
“Don't despair. It may be something will happen. You never know. Often life does not turn out the way it was planned.”
“This is certainly not going to.”
What I had learned had considerably dampened my pleasure in being home, although I had expected to hear something like this. Ireland! I had not thought of that. I could not imagine myself, after having grown accustomed to the elegance of the French Court, exiled into a savage land. I had read somewhere that it was populated by barbaric chiefs who roamed about the country bare-footed, wrapped in saffron-colored robes, making war for no reason at all except that it was a state they reveled in.
I was shocked because my father was profiting from Mary's degradation. I remembered how violently he had spoken against her in France, how he had reviled her for her immoral conduct; now, it seemed, when it suited him, he applauded it.
I thought of all the good that had come to him through his daughter's shame. True, he had been advancing in favor before Mary came along to help him on his way. I remembered hearing how he had been one of the four people to carry the canopy over the Princess Mary when she was christened. That was quite an honor. Soon after that he had been appointed Sheriff of Kent. All this before Mary. He had pleased the King and proved an able ambassador.
I felt I wanted to escape from the cynical attitude to life where an action was deplored only when it did not bring material advantage.
A few days later Thomas Wyatt came riding over from Allington.
I was in the courtyard. He dismounted and, coming toward me, lifted me in his arms and held me, looking up at me.
“Anne! So my lady deigns to return to us at last.”
“You haven't changed, Thomas,” I told him.
“Did you expect me to? I'd always be the same to you.”
He set me down and we stood for a moment regarding each other.
He was tall and, if not exactly handsome, very attractive. Memories came flooding back. I remembered how much I had cared for him.
“As soon as word reached me that you were here, I had to come,” he said.
“How is everyone at Allington? Your sister Mary?”
“Mary is well. You will see her soon. But I was impatient. I had to come at once.” His eyes ranged over me. “So elegant,” he said. “Indeed the Court lady. So this is what the French have done to you.”
“I was a long time there, Thomas.”
“To our loss.” He took my hand—the one with the sixth nail—and kissed it. “Do not leave us again,” he said.
“Come into the house.”
“One moment…Let us be alone… for a while.”
We sat on one of the benches close to the wall where the creeper grew. It was like going back in time to be there with Thomas.
“George is here?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And rejoicing to have his sister home, I doubt not.”
“He says so.”
“We were a pleasant company, were we not? I often think of the old days in Kent and Norfolk.”
“It seemed like fate that our two families should be together in the two counties… almost as though it had been arranged.”
“Whoever arranged it grew careless… sending you to France. You must never go away again.”
“They are planning to send me away now. I won't have it. Do you know about this Butler affair?”
He nodded. “It is not just a family affair. It's political. The King wants the Butlers to fight for him in Ireland.”
“Therefore I and this poor young man have been chosen to unite the warring factions.”
“It's an old story, Anne.”
“It may be but I do not intend to be taken up and used to bring it to the required ending.”
“If your sister had not married, she would have been the one.”
“Perhaps Mary would not have minded,” I said bitterly. “This James Butler is a man… that is all she would ask.”
“Well, Mary has gone her way and that leaves you. But Ireland! It is a wild and savage place.”
“I have made up my mind not to go.”
“Your father will insist, I fear.”
“And so shall I.”
“They will force you, Anne.”
“Can people be forced to take marriage vows?”
“It has been known. What of all the princesses who have been brought to their stranger bridegrooms and all the young men who have been presented with their brides. It is the penalty of position. It is one of the burdens which families like ours are called upon to bear.”
“I will not bear it.”
“Have you seen your prospective bridegroom?”
“Oh, they did not think it necessary that I should! They plighted my troth in my absence.”
He turned to me and taking my chin in his hands looked searchingly into my eyes. “There is no one like you,” he said. “So perhaps you will succeed where others have failed.” Then he kissed me on the forehead. “Anne, why did you not come back sooner?”
“To be thrust into marriage at an earlier age?”
“No. That I might have shown the same spirit as you will. Now that you have come back, I remember so much. When I came, whom did I look for first? It was always Anne with the serious probing eyes and the wild black hair. George and I were the blustering braves, were we not? We looked down on our little girls… but my heart was always lifted at the sight of you… and so will it always be.”