A Dangerous Inheritance

‘I know I did not,’ I insist, ‘and I am never going near that fountain again.’

Several lawyers are going in and out of Westminster Hall, where the courts sit, and some glance at us curiously. We are very exposed here.

Ned looks anxious. ‘We should not be seen together. Listen, I have received orders to go to France in two days. I know this news is as unwelcome to you as it is to me.’ He sounds formal and stiff, as if warding off another storm of weeping on my part. But I am frozen in misery, knowing myself powerless against the might of the Queen and her ministers.

Ned regards me with concern. ‘I will send letters to you by the common packet,’ he says. ‘I will entrust them to my servant Gly

‘I am not sure,’ I say dully, ‘but Mrs Ellen says I could not be pregnant and still have my courses. I pray she is right.’

‘So do I,’ Ned agrees fervently. ‘Well – I must go then. But if it proves otherwise, my Katherine, send for me at once. I will not tarry abroad; I will defy the Queen and come home to support you.’

‘I ca

‘It will be hard for us both,’ he shrugs, with a helpless gesture. ‘I would we could lie together before I leave, but how could we manage it?’

‘I do not think I could bear it,’ I tell him, ‘for then I could never let you go.’ I have felt like that every time we have bedded together: the pleasure has always been marred for me by the awareness that a parting inevitable as death must follow – and that was when we had some prospect of seeing each other again in a matter of days or weeks. But this parting will be worse, for we have no idea when we will be reunited. I am bowed down by it, burdened by a heavy sense of loss, and by the fear of pregnancy that yet nags at me. Was this what those terrible sensations at the fountain presaged?

‘You are punishing me for leaving you,’ Ned protests. ‘That is unfair and cruel. Would you have me defy the Queen and face ruin?’

‘Nay, nay,’ I say wearily. ‘Forgive me, my dear heart. I know you are not to blame.’

Ned holds me close and our mouths meet. His body moves against me, and I can feel mine responding. Yet even at the height of desire, we are looking out for eavesdroppers. And with desire unsatisfied, we tear ourselves apart and go back to our separate lives, knowing it will be a long time ere we will behold each other again.

Kate

1484–5. Raglan Castle.

News from court filtered through only slowly; often it was days old by the time the royal messengers reached Raglan. The King wrote that he had now designated Lincoln his heir, and Lincoln was now practising for kingship, presiding over the Council of the North and the royal household at Sheriff Hutton. How Kate wished she could be there, with her brother John and her royal cousins – and her dear love!

As Christmas approached, she felt especially homesick. They would be preparing for the twelve days of revelry at Westminster – and she would not be there to enjoy them. Her father and stepmother would be facing their first Yuletide season without the Prince, and that would go hard with them, she knew. And then came a letter that really upset her: Queen A

In the early spring, Richard Herbert came visiting again. He had been to London, and William and Kate were eager to hear all about it. For her, it was a tenuous link with all that she held dear, and she hoped he might have tidings of the Queen. But the news he brought was not the news she wanted to hear.

‘It was being said in the City, a few days after Epiphany, that her Grace had fallen extremely sick,’ Richard reported. ‘I am sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings, my lady.’

Kate felt near to tears. A

She found it impossible to make conversation and excused herself, leaving the men to their wine and their desultory talk. It being a cold night, a heavy curtain had been drawn across one end of the parlour, to conserve the heat from the fire, and after she had closed its folds behind her, she heard Richard speaking in a low voice.

‘I didn’t like to say too much in front of your wife, William, but there is more to this business of the Queen, and I think you should know it.’

William grunted. ‘You’d better tell me, then.’ Kate stood very still in the darkness beyond the curtain, hardly daring to breathe.

‘There’s no chance of the Queen bearing another child. It’s said the death of the Prince broke her last year, poor woman, and that she’s been in a decline ever since. But the King needs an heir, and it seems he would marry again.’

‘He has an heir, the Earl of Lincoln,’ William pointed out.

‘Like all men, he wants an heir of his own body,’ Richard Herbert said. ‘And it seems he now lusts after his own niece, the late King’s daughter Elizabeth. She and her sisters were at court for Christmas, and there’s talk about her all over the City. It’s said King Richard made her appear in the same apparel as Queen A

‘It’s disrespectful to the Queen, at the very least,’ William agreed.

‘God knows what that poor lady made of it. I know what everyone else did. It’s being widely bruited that the King anticipates her death and is bent on marrying Elizabeth. Some even speculate he will divorce the Queen in order to marry the girl. It’s said he has sufficient grounds, because he never obtained a proper dispensation for his marriage, even though he and A

Kate almost put her hands over her ears. She could not bear to hear more of this – this treason!

‘But his own niece!’ William was scathing. ‘That’s disgraceful.’

‘He is said to be motivated by political concerns. Believe that if you will. But think of it in practical terms, brother. Over a year ago, Henry Tudor vowed to wed Elizabeth of York to make good his weak claim to the throne. But if King Richard were to marry Elizabeth himself, that would scupper the Tudor’s plans.’

William chimed in: ‘The King had all his brother’s issue declared illegitimate. How then can marrying Elizabeth make good anyone’s claim? And even if she were trueborn, she ca

‘If they live!’ Richard interjected, and Kate began to tremble.

‘Well, we’ve all heard the rumours,’ William murmured. ‘But there’s no evidence that the King has had them killed.’

‘Is there not? Why has he not exhibited them alive? God knows, he has cause enough for doing so. And wanting to marry their sister – it’s a tacit acknowledgement that that precontract story was a load of nonsense. He knows his title is unsound, so he seeks to bolster it by marrying the true heir – and in doing that, he effectively admits that her brothers are dead!’

Kate thought she might faint, hearing such cruel, hard-nosed logic. It had brought all her buried fears about her father crawling to the surface.

‘There’s more to this than politics, I hear,’ Richard Herbert continued. ‘The girl herself is said to be willing, and the King, according to the gossips, is pursuing her for her own sake. She isvery beautiful. But when his determination reached the ears of the people, he was castigated for it. No one wants or approves of this marriage. It is condemned unanimously as unlawful and incestuous.’

‘Is it unlawful?’

‘I’m no canon lawyer, brother, but I have heard of uncles marrying nieces before. No doubt if enough money changed hands, a dispensation might be obtained. But I tell you who willbe put out by the news – Henry Tudor! He must be shitting his nether hose.’