A Dangerous Inheritance

Mistress Dormer bids me follow her into her Majesty’s oratory, a closet richly decked out with blue and gold hangings, with an altar on which stands a bejewelled crucifix and a painted statuette of the Virgin and Child, and a prayer stool covered with a costly Turkey rug.

‘We can be private here,’ Dormer says, smiling kindly. ‘Do not look so anxious, Lady Katherine. There is nothing to fear. Now – Monsieur Renard has approached you in regard to the succession to the throne.’ It is a statement, not a question. My heart starts thumping with excitement. This is the moment I have waited for.

‘You can imagine how important – nay crucial – your conversion to the Catholic faith is to the Queen,’ Jane says. ‘And that of your lord and lady too. However, I am charged to tell you that your father has this day recanted, which has caused her Majesty great distress, for he has changed his coat twice now, and clearly ca

Her words strike ice into my heart. ‘I am deeply sorry to hear of my father’s offence,’ I stress. ‘I would not wish his fault to be imputed to me.’

‘Nor is it,’ she assures me. ‘But her Majesty is hoping to hear that you have now come to a decision over your own faith. I believe you have had some weeks to think about it. If you have any questions or doubts, I am here to assist and advise you.’

‘I thank you, Mistress Dormer, but I have made my decision,’ I say, feeling I am on the brink of something momentous. ‘Please tell her Majesty that I will willingly and gladly convert to the Catholic faith.’

Kate

August 1483. Warwick Castle.

When Queen A

‘My throne is not as secure as I thought,’ he said darkly, clenching his fist as it lay on the table. ‘Never mind my just title, or that magnificent coronation, or my efforts to court the favour of my subjects: they hate me. They do not cheer when I pass, or return my greetings. Instead, they mutter or call out against usurping northerners, whom they hate as a matter of principle, ignorant fools.’

‘There will always be distrust between southerners and northerners,’ the Queen said.

‘Madam, I ca

‘Gaolers? Are the Princes now prisoners?’ A

Richard frowned. ‘Madam, in the circumstances, I have had to order a close guard to be kept on the Lord Bastards.’ His emphasis reproved her for calling them princes. ‘But they are safe and well cared for. You need not trouble yourself about them.’

‘They are children! They ca

‘Nor will they,’ Richard assured her. ‘As soon as I am safely established on my throne, they will be set free, and provided for honourably.’

Kate was relieved to hear that, and she could see her stepmother visibly relaxing. Cheered, she helped herself to another slice of lark pie. Her father smiled at her.

‘In truth, it does me good to see you both again,’ he declared. ‘My lady, you have brought young Warwick with you, as I commanded?’

‘I have, my lord,’ A

‘I need Warwick under my eye, for his own safety,’ her father said. ‘Who knows what these traitors will do next? Fortunately, the late conspiracies were uncovered in time and dealt with, but there may be others.’ He got up and began pacing up and down the room. ‘Why ca

‘Buckingham?’ gasped A

The King sat down, shaking his head. He looked pale. ‘We quarrelled at Gloucester. He accused me of not keeping my promise to grant him the Bohun lands; he has been claiming they are his for a long time. He took umbrage and departed for his estates at Brecon, saying he had pressing business there.’

‘But he owes all his wealth and power to you! Without you, he is nothing.’

‘You forget I owe my throne to him, my lady. He was most eloquent at persuading people that I should be king.’ He sighed. ‘Do not worry about Buckingham. I will deal with him.’

‘What of the other lords? Norfolk, Northumberland, Stanley and the rest?’ A

‘Loyal, as far as I can tell. Stanley will always be suspect because of his Beaufort wife, but so far he has kept her ambitions in check.’

‘Her ambitions?’

‘The woman is obsessed with her son, Henry Tudor. Those two like to keep up the fiction that he is the Lancastrian claimant to the throne. Can you believe that? The Cousins’ Wars between Lancaster and York were over and done with twelve years ago. Someone should tell them!’

‘But how can Henry Tudor be the Lancastrian heir?’ Kate asked.

‘He ca

‘What of his father?’

‘He was Edmund Tudor, the son of some unknown Welshman – and Henry Tudor, as far as I am concerned, is another unknown Welshman, and not worth bothering about. Lady Stanley is welcome to her fantasies, but that’s all they can ever be. No, my Kate, the true heir is your brother, Prince Edward. And A

‘Oh, that is good news!’ A

‘That is not the only piece of good news I have for you.’ He smiled. ‘This day, there arrived at my court ambassadors from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, come to negotiate a marriage for our little Prince with a Spanish infanta. Edward will have a fit mate to match his royal status as England’s heir.’

‘A Spanish infanta?’ A

Kate’s spirits wavered. This was the moment she had been dreading. At least her father was in a better mood, beaming at the thought of those proud little infantas. She reached for the ewer and refilled his goblet, hoping to mellow him further.

‘It concerns Kate’s marriage,’ the Queen said.

‘Indeed?’ the King asked, his grin fading. ‘Has someone asked for her hand?’

‘No, but your nephew Lincoln has been paying her his addresses.’

Kate quailed as her father looked piercingly at her.

‘He has done nothing wrong, Sire!’ she hastened to say. ‘He just pays court to me, reads me poems and tells me I am beautiful.’

Richard raised his eyebrows. ‘As indeed you are, my Kate.’ He reflected for a moment. ‘In truth, I had not thought to see any man come courting you so soon, but now I perceive that I have been thinking of you only as a child. I see I must come to terms with your growing up. How long has this been going on?’