“So I deceived you, eh. You Kate and you Mary, and you Margaret! Well, you have been away, but Kate and Mary… well, methinks they should have known their King.”
Katharine said quickly: “But now we know the truth, we wonder we did not guess, for never have we seen such skill except that of Your Grace.”
“So you have a fair opinion of my skill, eh?”
“And the greatest pleasure this joust has given me,” went on Katharine, “is to learn that my King is the champion.”
“Well, well, ’twas done in your honor.”
And so the masquerade was played as it had been many times before and would be again and again.
Henry was in high spirits. At the banquet he drank freely and his voice could be heard above all others. He called for music and played the lute himself; and one of the singers sang a song of his composing.
How he loves his life, thought Margaret. How lucky he is. How different his fate from mine. And yet he lacks that for which he most longs; and although I am parted from him at this time, I still have my little James. And though he be in Stirling and I in Greenwich, he is still my beloved son.
The summer had come and Margaret was anxious, although she could never have enough gaiety, and the entertainment to be enjoyed at her brother’s Court delighted her. She missed Angus, and she believed that if he had come to her in England she would have been ready to forgive his desertion; she was longing to see little James; and she reminded herself that her reason for coming to Henry’s Court was not to pass the time in pleasure.
Henry, she had discovered, was not eager for friendship with Scotland; he knew full well that while Albany remained Regent, Scotland would be the close ally of France; he hated François as much as ever, being jealous of his successes in war and the reports he heard of his adventures both at home and abroad. His little mouth would grow prim at the mention of the French King’s amorous conduct; he often remarked that he did not believe God would long favor such a man. He was now seeking friendship with the Emperor Maximilian, for he believed that if the two of them stood together they could foil François’s ambitious dream of bringing Europe under his rule.
He was however deeply desirous of removing Albany from the Regency; and he wrote to the Scottish Parliament telling them that he did not care to see his nephew in peril; and that if any harm were to come to the King — as he regretted it had to his little brother — all men would suspect Albany. Therefore it was imperative that Albany should be sent back to France without delay.
The Parliament’s reply that the King was well, healthy, and in no danger, and that they had no intention of removing Albany, filled Henry with rage.
But Albany, whose great desire was for peace, wrote to Henry saying he believed that if he came to England he could convince Henry of his honest intentions.
When Henry received this note he came to Margaret’s apartments in Greenwich Palace and laid it before her.
“Ha!” he cried. “Once the fellow comes to England he will be at our mercy. Then I shall insist on his obeying my will.”
“You think the King of France will allow that, Henry?”
“The King of France!” Henry’s face grew a shade more scarlet. There was no name in Christendom that angered him more than that one. “Nay, sister,” he went on, giving her a baleful look which was alarming when she considered how much she hoped for from him, “I do not consider the wishes of the King of France. I will instruct my Lord Cardinal how he is to treat Master Albany when he sets foot in my realm.”
“You will act with your usual wisdom, Henry,” answered Margaret, “but I do not think that, when Albany considers this matter, he will come to your Court. He is a shrewd man.”
“I shall couch my invitation in honeyed words,” retorted Henry.
Margaret was right and Albany did not come to England. Instead he sent as his emissary a certain François de la Fayette, who promised that if Margaret would return to Scotland she should have her dowry returned to her, and that her husband, Angus, and his clan should retain their privileges as Scottish subjects — providing they did not revolt against the government.
The terms seemed fair enough, thought Margaret; and as that year passed she began to feel homesick for Scotland. She wanted to see her son; she was anxious to be with Angus again; she was not sure of her feelings for him and although she did not think of him very tenderly, she wanted to be in his company again so that she could analyze her emotions. Moreover, Albany would be there; she told herself that she hated that man, but she thought of him often and had a great desire to come face-to-face with him. Often when his name was mentioned she would abuse him, calling him the murderer of her child; but secretly she did not believe this.
Albany was a Royal Stuart; and ever since she had met her first husband, she had been fascinated by that clan. She wanted to see Albany again, to live close to him; perhaps to discover her true feelings regarding him.
Henry had put at Margaret’s service that palace known as Scotland Yard, which was the residential quarters of the Kings of Scotland when visiting London. From the bay windows of the Queen’s Treasury she could look out on the river. Not far away was Charing Cross and the Palace of Westminster where the Court was in residence.
Christmas was almost upon her and it was more than a year since she had left Scotland. Young Margaret, now over a year old, was a lively little girl with a personality of her own; it seemed long to be away from home.
Moreover she was in financial distress. She needed money for servants and for gowns since Henry still insisted that the entertainments he gave were in her honor, and she could not attend them wearing garments which had been seen many times before.
She had no recourse but to turn to Cardinal Wolsey and plead for money, which she found very humiliating; but she pointed out that if she could not get it from the Cardinal she must needs approach the King, and that she asked only for loans as, when she regained what was hers, she would pay back all that she had borrowed.
And although she did succeed in getting a portion of the money for which she asked, and that meant that she had more fine gowns which could always put her in good spirits, still she thought with nostalgia of Scotland.
“James will forget his mother,” she told her friends, “if he does not see her soon. He is over-young for such a long separation.”
She did not mention Angus but she wondered what he was doing during her absence. She did hear that he had entered into an alliance with Albany and was working with him.
There was news too of Albany himself. His wife’s health had grown worse since her husband’s stay in Scotland and she was said to be dying. Albany, who wanted to be with her, had stood up in the Tolbooth when Parliament was assembled there and explained with anguish his desire to be at the bedside of his wife.
“There is a husband a woman would be glad to have!” sighed Margaret, for how could she help comparing such devotion with the desertion of Angus who had left her when he thought her to be on the point of death?
But the Scots could not let Albany go at this point and, although it was agreed that he should return to France, it was pointed out that he must only go when the affairs of Scotland permitted.
So Albany remained in Scotland and Margaret continued to think yearningly of that land.
Christmas had come and was celebrated at Greenwich.
There must be entertainments in honor of his sister, declared Henry, for it seemed she would not be with them much longer.
So Margaret sat in state with her brother, sister, and sister-in-law while an artificial garden was wheeled into the great hall. It was, Henry whispered to them, keeping his eyes on Margaret all the time to make sure she was suitably impressed “the Garden of Esperance.”