A Dangerous Inheritance

‘I have received a letter from Edward’s tutor,’ A

‘Oh, so would I!’ cried Kate.

‘Well, after the coronation, we will think about it,’ A

But today she had do

She took with her her maid Mattie, a plump and comely Londoner with a lively nature and a spirit of adventure that chimed with her own. Despite the difference in their status, they were fast becoming friends. Kate enjoyed having a girl near her own age as a merry companion, and she had been delighted to discover that she and Mattie were kindred souls in many ways.

Mattie was fourteen, a year her senior. Happily, just as the Duke had decided his daughter was of an age to need a maid, Mattie’s father, a member of the Vintners’ Guild, which supplied the Duke’s household with wine, had enquired if there might be a place for his daughter at Crosby Hall, anticipating that service in the Gloucester household might lead to an opening at court and preferment, and secure Mattie a prosperous husband one day. But Mattie was unconcerned about that: let an apprentice lad whistle at her, and she was smitten. Plain-spoken like most Londoners, she had an earthy appreciation of the opposite sex, and did not bother to mince words about it. She was also full of the lore of the city that had nurtured her, loved pretty clothes, good food, singing and dancing, and laughed out loud at merry or bawdy jests. She and Kate were doing very well together, and Kate was firmly of the opinion that her father could not have chosen a better maid for her.

With Mattie at her heels, she sped along Cornhill, weaving through the London crowds who thronged the narrow thoroughfares, and so into Poultry and Cheapside, where Master Hayes had his shop. He greeted her obsequiously, for she had told him whose daughter she was to impress on him that she was not wasting his time. But there was a faint edge to his ma

It lay on a bed of black silk, a diamond-shaped gold pendant set with a brilliant sapphire stone. On its obverse the goldsmith had masterfully engraved a tableau of the Trinity with the crucified Christ at the centre, and surrounded it with a border of burnished gold. On the reverse, when she turned it over, Kate found a finely delineated nativity scene.

She counted out her gold coins and handed them over.

‘See, it is hinged here,’ Master Hayes pointed out. ‘You can open it and use it as a reliquary. There is space inside for a small relic.’

‘My father the Duke owns several relics. I will ask him for one. Thank you.’

Master Hayes stiffened. ‘I will have it wrapped for you, my lady,’ he said abruptly.

Kate’s delight in acquiring the pendant was muted by the goldmith’s barely veiled animosity. As she and Mattie walked back along Cheapside, Mattie chattering away and steering her towards a stall selling gingerbread and lavender cakes, she was asking herself why her father should have so many enemies.

He was at the Tower even now, for that important council meeting, and she still had the feeling that something evil was afoot. Suddenly, she knew what she must do: she must set aside her silly fears of the place, go to the Tower, and wait for her father to emerge from the council chamber. Then she would be the first to hear any important news he had to impart.

She swung left into Gracechurch Street. ‘Let’s walk down to the Tower,’ she said.

‘Yes, my lady.’ Mattie, who had demolished the gingerbread, bought two apples from a fruit seller to stay them until di

As they walked down Tower Hill, they passed a raised wooden platform surrounded by a fence.

‘What’s that?’ Kate asked.

‘It’s the public scaffold, my lady. It’s where traitors are beheaded or gutted. The executions here always draw a goodly crowd.’

Kate shuddered. Men had died here, horribly, bloodily. And the unwelcome thought came unbidden, that her own beloved father was in danger of meeting such an end. It would take only one twist of fate …

She recovered herself. ‘Have you ever been to an execution?’ she asked.

‘No, there haven’t been any here for years,’ Mattie replied.

‘Then I pray God there will not be for many more.’ Kate made herself walk forward to the Tower.

Katherine

June 1553. Baynard’s Castle, London.

My lord of Pembroke ca

My every whim – but one – is gratified. Do I but express a wish for a bunch of cherries or a cup of cordial, it is there, in my hand, within minutes. My wardrobe is stuffed with gorgeous gowns of every hue, rich furs, embroidered kirtles and costly velvet hoods – for now that I am a wife, even though I am still a virgin, I must bind up and cover my hair. That crowning glory is now for my husband alone, or it would be, were he allowed to be with me when I take my hood off. The Herberts did not have to provide me with such attire, for I brought a fitting trousseau with me when I married, but they dismiss such largesse as the least they can do for a daughter-in-law in whom they are well satisfied.

Daily I feast on the choicest foods served on gold and silver-gilt plate; I drink from glasses of the best Venetian crystal. I attend divine service in a lofty chapel plainly appointed, as befits the house of a good Protestant, but hung with arras and paintings of scenes from the life of Our Lord. Musicians while away my evenings on lutes and virginals, as I beat my lord at chess and tables, or read my book.

It seems strange not to have my days governed by the strict round of lessons that my parents decreed for us. At home, even before we were old enough to put away childish things like the baby dolls dressed in crimson satin and white velvet, we had to get up at six and eat our breakfast before we visited my lord and lady for their daily blessing. Then, when our proper tutoring began, we had lessons in Latin and Greek, which lasted all morning. I struggled, God help me I did, for I was nowhere near as good at mastering those ancient tongues as Jane. She even learned Hebrew, at her own request.