Edmund nodded gravely.
“You will always be good friends. You will always stand together. You will, Edmund, I know.”
“Yes,” said Edmund. And he repeated, “Brother Jasper.”
He hunched his shoulders, smiling, as though it were a great joke that he now had a brother.
THE MAID
Peace continued for a few weeks. Of course, we knew it could not last. We were prepared, for when the Cardinal had come to see me before Jasper’s birth, he had told me of the imminent coronation in France. It was becoming more and more apparent that I should be expected to be there, in view of the fact that I was French and sister to the man who was now calling himself King of France. I was not sure what part I should be expected to play. Owen thought it would depend on the state of affairs which existed between England and France at the time. They would perhaps want me very much in evidence. On the other hand, it could well be that they would want to keep me out of the public view.
“If this should be the case,” I said to Owen, “why should they be so insistent that I must go?”
“They are taking no chances.”
“Oh, Owen…must I go?”
“I do not see how it can be avoided. Your absence from the coronation at Westminster was acceptable. When the Cardinal visited you, you appeared to be unwell, so it was logical enough to assume that you were sickening for some illness. But if you plead illness again they will probably be sending doctors down to Hatfield to give a report on you. That could be very dangerous.”
“I suppose so many people have used illnesses as excuses that it can easily become suspect.”
“It is a good one if it can be substantiated.”
“You really think I must go, don’t you, Owen?”
“I am afraid, my love, that it would be highly dangerous not to do so.”
“And you, Owen?”
“It might be that I could come as a member of your household. You will surely be expected to take some of your servants with you.”
“If that were possible, I could bear it.”
“We shall have to make it possible.”
“We will. We will. Oh, but the children, Owen …”
“We cannot take them with us.”
“No…alas. They must remain. But to be separated from them. How long, Owen?”
“It will surely be some months.”
“I won’t do it. I won’t!”
“What excuse can you give?”
“That I am unfit to travel.”
“It will not work twice.”
“I will tell them the truth, then. I will say, ‘Leave me alone. Let me live my own life. I have my husband and my children…and my family. Rule this country as you will. Rule France too. But please do not try to rule me.’”
Owen took my hands and looked into my face.
“It is no use, Katherine, my love. Such talk will help us not at all. You will have to go or arouse suspicions. We cannot risk that. There must be no excuses this time. You must go as though it is a great pleasure to see your son crowned in your native land. It is the only way. It has to be done.”
“I can’t face it, Owen. Jasper has only just come to us. To leave him…to leave Edmund…for so long …”
“We have to do it. It’s no use fighting against it. And when it is over, we shall return to this quiet, idyllic life. It will be all the more wonderful to us. You will see.”
I wept silently.
“It is so hard to leave them…when they are so young.”
He stroked my hair as he held me tightly in his arms. “Think. You will be closer to Henry.”
“Henry is already lost to me. Do you think I shall ever be alone with him? I cannot see Henry now without seeing his crown. He is not so much my son as the King.”
“Yet underneath his ceremonial robes and crown, he is only a child. Remember that. He may want to talk to you. He may need your help. It may be that he needs you more than Edmund and Jasper do. They will be left in good hands. You need have no fear for them. Katherine, we have to face this. We dare do nothing else.”
I knew he was right. I had to prepare myself for separation.
I tried to explain to Edmund that I was going away, that I hated to leave him, but this was a matter of duty. He was not quite sure what that was, and I was touched by the way in which he clung to my skirts as though to prevent my departure.
“Guillemote will be here with you. And Jasper will be here.”
That cheered him a little. He adored Guillemote, and I think that when she was around he felt safe.
It would be natural for me to take a small entourage with me. Owen was in this, and so was Joanna Courcy. The other two Joannas with Agnes were staying behind to help Guillemote with the children.
I prayed that I would soon be back, but one could never be sure; and I doubted whether I should be received in France with the enthusiasm I had enjoyed when I rode with Henry at my side. The position had changed since then. I had not heard what was happening since the siege of Orléans, but I did know that there was a new spirit among the French and that the high hopes of the English had declined, with the result that there had been several French victories.
It was late February when Henry, after attending service in St. Paul’s asking God’s blessing on the proposed journey, made his way to Canterbury, where he was to spend Easter.
I, with my little entourage, joined him there.
I was formally received by him, but I saw his eyes light up with pleasure as they rested on me, and I knew he was glad that I should be near.
I did have an opportunity of being alone with him, and it seemed then that he set aside his crown and stepped out of his ermine robes to be my little son.
“I have missed you,” he said.
If only we could all be together! I was thinking of how I would introduce him to his half-brothers, Edmund and Jasper Tudor. If only that were possible! If only we could all be one happy family!
I laughed at myself. What an absurd flight of fancy. I wondered what Henry would say. They would have molded him to their ways. I supposed Warwick was, after all, following his instructions. Kings could not be kept at their mothers’ sides. They had to be brought up to ride, to shoot, to go into battle when the time arose. They were hurried through their boyhoods to make them quickly into men before they had had time to be young. They would say that was a woman’s view.
“I have missed you so much, too,” I said. “But I heard about your coronation.”
“Oh yes, I am truly King now. The Earl of Warwick says that a king is not truly a king until he is crowned.”
“Well, you are that now, my son. How like your father you are!”
“Am I?” he asked eagerly. “I have to be like him. They are always saying that. ‘Your father would have done this. Your father would have done that.’ That is what they are always saying. If I do not please them, they say that my father would be ashamed.”
“No, no,” I said quickly. “He would have understood. He was a great soldier, but he was a good, kind man as well.”
“I wish he had not died.”
“A great many people wish that.”
“If he were alive, I should not have to be King …”
I smiled at him sadly. “Your coronation must have been impressive.”
“It was so long…and there were so many speeches…so many things to remember.”
“But I heard you did your part well.”
“Did they say so?”
“Yes…everybody did.”
He looked pleased. “I thought the banquet would go on forever, and they were all watching me …”
“Well, they would, you being the King.”
“It is a strange feeling…to be a king.”
“Yes, it must be.”
“Why do you stay shut away in the country?”
“There is little I could do at Court.”