Secrets of the Tudor Court Boxed Set

14

In a battle at Leith in May, the Scots were soundly defeated. Right after that, all the English troops were ordered to Calais for the invasion of France. Even the Earl of Surrey went, at the head of his own company. And my father, who had been in Scotland, attached to the Earl of Hertford, was appointed lord deputy of Calais.

In late June, Lord Lisle and his son returned to court, which was then at Greenwich Palace, so that they could travel to France in the king’s retinue. Harry Dudley sought me out soon after they arrived.

“Walk with me,” he invited, and we set off on the path along the riverfront. The Thames was crowded with large ships. A few were headed upstream to London with the usual cargoes, but most were part of the Royal Navy on their way out to sea to join the fleet.

Harry regaled me with stories of his time in Scotland and I could tell he was looking forward to the coming campaign against France. He expected to return home with a knighthood.

“I am to leave soon, too,” I said. “Your lady mother intends to retire to Halden Hall to await the birth of her child.” She was not the only one of the queen’s inner circle who was breeding. Lady Hertford had gone to her new house near Richmond, called Sheen after the religious house that had once stood there, and Lady Herbert—sister to both Will Parr and Queen Kathryn—was at Hanworth Manor, one of the queen’s dower properties, for her lying-in.

Harry made a face. “One more addition to the brood. I’d have thought there were enough of us already. Will you miss life at court?”

“I like being at the center of things, but with all you gentlemen off fighting the war, the court will be a very dull place.”

“Not even Jack is staying.” Harry scooped up a flat rock and sent it skimming across the water.

“Is he bound for France, too?” Jack would be pleased if that were so. He’d chafed at being left behind when his father and brother set off for Scotland.

“Have you not heard?” Harry asked with a slightly superior air that annoyed me. “Prince Edward is to have his own establishment at Hampton Court. Jack has been assigned to His Grace’s new household.”

“That is a great honor,” I said, although I suspected that Jack would have preferred to go and fight. The prince was only six years old, the same age the Duke of Richmond had been when Will Parr joined his household.

We reached the dock, turned, and started back the way we had come.

“Will you miss me, Bess?” Harry asked, suddenly serious.

“I am sure I will think of you as often as you think of me,” I quipped.

“Give me something before I go, then, to keep you daily in my thoughts.”

“A token? What would you have? I suppose I could cut off a lock of my hair, or—”

Harry caught my hand to pull me to a halt. When he took me in his arms and lowered his head, I went up on my toes to kiss him. He’d been practicing, I thought, enjoying the feel of his lips moving expertly on mine.

“Lie with me, Bess,” he whispered.

I jerked back.

“Just one time before I leave. What if I die in battle without our ever knowing the joy of coupling?”

That he was risking his life in a war frightened me, but I sent him off to France with no more than another kiss or two and a few stolen caresses to remember me by.