My Enemy, the Queen (15 page)

rejoice to see Your Majesty in good health and recovered from your sickness,I said.

h, they believed me to be near to death and I confess there were times when I fancied it myself.

o, Madam, you are immortal. So must you be, for your people have need of you.

She nodded and said: ell, Lettice. I like to see you with us. You still have some beauty left. Essex will have to do without you for a while. He is making a fair hash of things in Ireland. His judgment is not good, I fancy, but his heart is. I trust he will meet with better fortune over there. We shall be leaving Greenwich ere long.

our Majesty tires of the place?

ay. was always a favorite. I suppose one would feel thus about one birthplace. But I have to humor my Lord Leicester. He is in a fever of impatience to show us Kenilworth. I hear he has made it into one of the finest residences in the country. He will give me no rest until he has shown it to me.

I suddenly bent forward and, taking that most beautiful white hand in mine, I kissed it. If Robert was in a fever of excitement to show the Queen Kenilworth, I was in like state to see him.

I looked up and tried to express fear at my forwardness, but Elizabeth was in a sentimental mood and after all I was a member of the family.

adam,I said, am presumptuous. I was overcome by my pleasure to be back with you.

The hard eyes softened momentarily. She believed me.

t pleases me to have you here, Lettice,she said. ake your preparations for Kenilworth. I doubt not you will wish to have some new dresses for the event. You will have your seamstress with you. There is some scarlet velvet enough for a gown. Tell them I have said you may have it.Her mouth turned up at the corners. e shall all have to look very fine for my Lord Leicester, I trow.

She loved him. I could hear it in her voice when she said his name; and I wondered whether I was setting out on a dangerous road. Even to think of him made my pulse race. I knew that if he had changed I was still going to want him.

If he looked my way, if he showed in the smallest manner that he was ready to revive his desire for me, I would not hesitate to become the Queen rival.

will take a little of the Alicante wine,she said.

I mixed it with water as she liked it. She always ate and drank very sparingly and rarely took wine, preferring a light ale; and when she did take it, it was liberally mixed with water. Sometimes she would grow impatient of food and on informal occasions would rise before the rest of the company was finished. We deplored this because it meant that we had to leave the table, for none of us could stay when she had left; and as we were served after she was, it often meant a hurried mealo we were not very anxious to eat with the Queen.

But on this occasion she lingered, and all were able to have their fill.

Sipping the wine, she smiled softlyhinking of Robert, I knew.

It was July when we set out for Kenilworth, which is between the towns of Warwick and Coventry and about five miles from each, so it was a far distance from London and we were to take a leisurely journey.

It was a brilliant and large cavalcade which set out, comprising thirty-one of the leading men of the country, and all her ladies, of whom I was one, and four hundred servants. The Queen planned to stay at Kenilworth for more than two weeks.

People came out to watch us pass and there were the usual cheers for the Queen and those pleasant little exchanges between her and the people which she would not have missed for anything.

We had not gone far when we saw riding towards us a party of horsemen. Even from a distance I recognized him at their head. My heart beat faster. I knew how I should feel even before he reached us. How well he sat his horse. He had qualified for the role of Queen Horse Master in every way. He was older yes little more corpulent than he had been eight years before; his face was a shade more ruddy and there was a touch of white in the hair at his temples. In his blue velvet doublet with slashings arranged in a pattern of stars after the new German fashion, and the feather in his hat of the same tone as the doublet, though of a paler shade, he looked magnificent, and I saw at once that the old magnetism was still there. I doubted Elizabeth loved the middle-aged Robert less than she had the young man. I could see it would be the same with me.

He pulled up within a very small distance of our party, and I noticed the faint color beneath the Queen white skin which indicated her pleasure.

hy,she said, t is my Lord Leicester.

He was at her side. He took her hand and kissed it, and as I saw their eyes meet as he raised her hand, the wildest pangs of jealousy overwhelmed me. I could only control this by consoling myself that he was merely paying tribute to the crown. If she were not the Queen he would have eyes for no one but me.

He brought his horse close beside hers.

hat do you mean by coming thus unannounced, you rogue?she demanded. The rogue, as I had heard it before, was a term of endearment said in that manner.

could not allow any but myself to conduct you to Kenilworth,he said ardently.

ell, since we are eager to see this magic castle of yours, wel forgive you. You look in good health, Rob.

ever better,he answered. nd that may be due to the fact that I am beside my lady.

I felt sick with fury, for he had not so much as glanced my way.

ell, we will go on,said the Queen, r wel take weeks to reach Kenilworth.

We dined at Itchingworth, where we were lavishly entertained, and as there was a forest the Queen expressed her desire to hunt.

I watched her ride off side by side with Robert. She made no attempt to hide her doting fondness. As for him, I could not be sure how much was real affection, how much ambition. Surely he was not still hoping for marriageut even if he were not, he needed to keep her favor. There was not a man in England more detested than Robert Dudley. He had come up by such leaps and bounds through the Queen especial interest and had engendered so much envy in doing so that there were thousands who hoped for his downfall, many who knew him and many who did not-such was human nature.

I was beginning to understand Robert, and looking back much was clear to me which had not been in the days of our intimacy. He had a courteous way with any who approached him, be they ever so humble, and in fact his manner sometimes belied the calculating strength which lay behind it. He had a temper which could be violent when it was roused; there were many dark secrets in his life; but those who approached him in the normal way received nothing but pleasantness from him. But of course he must tread warily, even with the Queen. If she had memories which had affected her attitude to love, so had he. His grandfather, financial adviser to King Henry VII, had been beheadedthrown to the wolves, it was said, to placate the people who were dissatisfied with the taxes imposed by the King and collected by Dudley and Empson; Robert father had lost his head after trying to put Lady Jane Grey and his son Guildford on the throne. So it was only natural that Robert should make an extreme effort to keep his own head on his shoulders. I think he was safe enough. Elizabeth hated signing death warrants even for her enemies. It was hardly likely that, in any circumstances, she would ever sign one for this beloved man.

But of course he could fall from favor, and naturally he was making a supreme effort not to do so.

He still had not noticed me when we reached Grafton, where the Queen had her own house. Elizabeth was in excellent spirits. In fact her demeanor had remained the same from the moment Robert arrived. They rode side by side, and often her laughter rang out as they exchanged secret jokes.

The weather was unusually hot and when we came to Grafton we were very thirsty. We went into the hall, Robert and the Queen leading the way, and Robert called out to the servants to bring the light ale which the Queen liked to drink.

There was a bustle and scurrying about and in due course the ale was brought, but when the Queen tried it she spat it out.

cannot drink that stuff,she cried indignantly. t too strong for me.

Robert tried it and declared it was stronger than malmsey and made him feel so heavy with drink that he would not trust his temper. He ordered the servants to find the light ale which Her Majesty wanted.

But this was not easily done, for there was none in the house, and the thirstier the Queen grew the more angry she became.

hat servants are these,she cried, hat they know not how to serve me my good ale! Is there naught to drink in this place?

Robert said he dared not let them bring water, for he could not trust it to be uncontaminated. The closeness of the privies to the house was always a menace and particularly in weather like this.

He was not a man to sit down and lament in a crisis; he sent his servants into the village and before long some light ale was discovered and when Robert brought it to the Queen she expressed herself well pleased with the drink and the bearer.

It was while we were at Grafton that Robert noticed me. I saw him start, look and look again.

He came to me and, bowing, said: ettice, it does me good to see you.

nd I am pleased to see you, my Lord Leicester.

t was Lettice and Robert when we last met.

hat is a long time ago.

ight years.

ou remember then?

here are some things one never forgets.

The adventure was there. I saw it in his eyes. I believe, as with me, that danger was a fillip to his zest. We stood there looking at each other, and I knew he was rememberings I wasntimate moments which had taken place behind the locked doors of that secret chamber where we had made love.

e must meet again alone,he said.

I replied: he Queen will not wish it.

is true,he answered. ut if she does not know she cannot be displeased. Let me say that it pleases me that you will be with us at Kenilworth.

He left me. He was very anxious that the Queen should not be aware of our interest in each other. I persuaded myself that it might be because he feared I should be sent away again.

What excited me was that it was still the same between us. I missed nothing of that magnetism. It had increased with age. I hoped my attraction had for him. We only had to be near each other to know that we both had much to give.

This time, though, it would not be given so freely on my part. He would have to know that I wanted a relationship on a firmer basis. I thought of marrying him. How could I when I had a husband? That was right out of the question. But I would not be picked up and dropped at the Queen command. I should make that clear to him from the start.

Now the days were full of excitement. We looked for each other and the glances which passed between us were significant. When the opportunity came we should be prepared to take it.

I think the tantalizing position added to our desire.

It would be easier when we were at Kenilworth.

It was the ninth of July when we reached the castle. There was a shout as it came into view and I saw Robert glance at the Queen, begging for her admiration. It was truly a magnificent sight. Those castellated towers and mighty keep proclaimed a fortress in very truth; and on the southwest side was a beautiful lake shimmering in the sunshine. This was spanned by a graceful bridge which Robert had recently had built; and beyond the castle the verdant forest was visible, promising the Queen good hunting.

t has the look of a royal residence,said the Queen.

esigned with the sole purpose of pleasing a queen,replied Robert.