Alas, he moved away and put more space between us; I recalled to mind the woman he had kept company with the night before and wondered if there was an agreement between them.
“I admire that you are young and life has not leached the mettle out of you nor tempered your free speech. But you must have a care, mistress, to whom you speak your mind. London is a merry town, a glittering city, a place to enjoy oneself, and I intend to do just that.” He paused. “A ship, as you know, is great in size, but is turned by a small helm. In the same way, the tiny tongue can bring great damage to the whole body if not controlled.”
“Saint James.” I recognized the passage. “Have you read it for yourself?”
He smiled. “I confess I have not. But what kind of man would I be if I did not read the words of him for whom my father named me? And all sailors know the sailing analogies in holy writ.”
He stood up then, as the rest of our hunting party rallied to begin the hunt back to Charterhouse. “I admit to being grieved that our time together is over, mistress,” he said.
“Juliana,” I reminded him.
“Juliana,” he said softly. “We’ll be taking our leave tomorrow to war.”
“I shall pray for you,” I said. “That you meet with success.”
He held out his hand so I might steady myself afore mounting my horse. After I did he pressed my hand to his lips for much longer than was strictly necessary and yet not nearly long enough.
Later that night Lucy and I heard a knock on my door whilst I was in my chamber, dressing. I slipped into her room whilst she opened the door. ’Twas Jamie’s voice! I hurriedly dressed myself but by the time I had finished and opened the door he had taken his leave.
“’E’s gone,” Lucy said. “But he left this for ye.”
She handed over a small basket in which were ten perfect strawberries and a note. “Thank you for a charming afternoon, beautiful Juliana, and for your prayers.”
“Who was tha’?” Lucy asked.
“A boy I was introduced to last night.”
“Tha’ is no boy, mistress,” Lucy said. “Pardon my correcting your sore eyesight, but tha’ is a man.”
“That is not talk befitting a servant!” I chided her, but she ducked and grinned and I grinned back at her as she left to mend my kirtle.
He found me beautiful.
Was the note an indication of his feelings? Or naught more than courtly manners? It did prod me toward some courtly manners of my own, though. I sent a finely wrought hairnet to one of my especial favorites, Lady Margaret Neville, along with a note thanking her for her many kindnesses. I also sent a ribbon to Mistress Dorothy, because I knew she read, and I enclosed a note indicating that I hoped that it might be of some help for her to save her place.
Dorothy sent back a small posy. We had found a common ground, and mayhap a truce, which delighted me.
The next day, I watched from my window as Sir Thomas and his men gathered on the green before setting out. I spied Jamie near the middle and could not withdraw my gaze from him, glad that he could not see me staring in such an unseemly manner.
That is a man.
Mayhap that is why I’d felt so different with Jamie, why he wound through my thoughts in a quiet moment. He was the full man, whereas Matthias was half-watered.
The fair tidings that autumn were that Lord Latimer returned from Scotland, having proven himself in the service of the realm. After the Pilgrimage of Grace, in which Lord Latimer, a staunch Catholic at heart, unwittingly took sides against the king, Lord Latimer must have felt the need to prove himself and his loyalty. The poor tidings were that he returned home in very bad health. Most often he kept to his chambers and illness whittled him week to week from a virile man into the thin shape to be angled inside a shroud.
Occasionally he dined with us, or Lady Latimer had some of us join them in his chambers so that our youth and frivolity might lift his spirits. One night near Christmastime, she invited me along.
I mostly made small talk with Margaret, his daughter, attempting to distract her from the forthcoming inevitable, but I was well acquainted with the Angel of Death; he had become a familiar during my own father’s ill health and I thus recognized him when he made himself comfortable at Charterhouse.
“The king is completing the renovations on the Lady Mary’s apartments,” Lord Latimer said. “I hear that they are fine and on the river. It seems he has forgiven her and has reinstated her in his affections.”
“I am glad of it,” Lady Latimer said. Her mother had served the Lady Mary’s mother, Katherine of Aragon, as a lady in waiting and indeed, she had been named for that very queen.
“I am glad of it too,” Lord Latimer said. “The king has extended an invitation to us to visit the court after New Year’s, and for you to call upon the Lady Mary.”
We grew quiet, no one wanting to give voice to the obvious.
“I shan’t be well enough to go.” Lord Latimer said it for us. “But you, my dear, you must go. It would not do us well to have him think we shy away from the honor. I’ve agreed on your behalf.”
At that, he succumbed to a fit of coughing from which he was not able to quickly recover. All of us save Lady Margaret Neville and Lady Latimer left the room. That night I wrote a note to Lady Latimer telling her that I was praying for her lord and for herself. I sealed it with wax and handed it to Lucy.
“Please deliver this to one of Lady Latimer’s maids. They shall know when to hand it to her.”
“Are ye certain, mistress? I do na hear of tha other mistresses writing to the lady.”
I nodded and kept my hand, and the note, firmly held in her direction. Reluctantly, she took it.
Two weeks after New Year’s, Lady Margaret Neville came to tell me that Lady Latimer had requested that I come to court with her and a small group of attendants. It was a singular honor and Dorothy was invited too. We would room together.
“I am glad we shall share a chamber,” I said to her.
She grinned. “I too. We can perhaps share our combs and slippers. I’ve noticed that our feet are of a size.” She stuck her right foot out from under her gown and I came alongside her and put my left right next to it.
“Nearly a perfect match!” I said, and then laughed, happy to have a true friend come along on this most unusual adventure. We would depart immediately.
THREE
Winter and Early Spring: Year of Our Lord 1543
The Palace of Whitehall
Charterhouse
Hampton Court Palace
Whitehall was a magnificent square palace of stone with slate roofs the color of ash. Its huge windows drank in the view of not only the tidal Thames but the city tops of London. The splendidly dressed were so many in number that they paid me no mind as I gaped at them. Lady Latimer had fine chambers near where the Lady Mary, the king’s daughter, resided, and we settled in quickly.
One day soon after we arrived, I came to Kate’s reception chamber to find that I was the only one in attendance aside from her lady maid.
“B-beg your pardon, Lady Latimer, did I mistake the time for your reading?” I stammered.
“I leave for the Lady Mary’s in one hour. I’ve canceled my reading today because the king especially invited me to assist the Lady Mary with ordering fabric for dresses and with her jewelry. We have that in common, you know,” she continued with a smile. “She and I both like finery and dancing.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, then,” I said, and began backing away.
“Stay yourself for a moment,” Kate requested. “I do feel as if I could use a reading before meeting with the Lady Mary and I know you to be an excellent reader, mistress lector.” She waved toward a large oak cupboard in the corner of the expansive chamber. “My books are in there. Turn the key to unlock it and then choose one and you can read aloud whilst my hair is being done.”