CHAPTER 8

SHEdoes not look like a girl forced into a marriage,” Lady Adela Marlowe told her friend, Bliss FitzHugh, the Countess of Marwood.

They were seated in the gardens of the Earl of Marwood”s rented house on a lovely spring afternoon, watching as Nyssa and Varian returned from a picnic. About them the narcissus, daffodils, and primroses bloomed in a riotous display of bright color. The young couple strolled arm in arm, the basket in which their meal had been packed dangling from Varian”s free hand. Both were dressed casually, the bridegroom in dark breeches, his white silk shirt open at the neck. Nyssa affected country garb in a dark green skirt and white blouse. Her feet were bare and she carried her shoes in one hand.

”Indeed,” Lady Marlowe continued, ”they do not look unhappy to me at all. Why, your niece has the look of a cat who has swallowed a particularly tasty bird, my dear Bliss. And it is quite clear to anyone observing them that Varian de Winter is absolutely besotted by Nyssa. How can this be? They have only been married two days. All the gossip says it was an enforced union due to Lord de Winter”s bad behavior with the girl. I did warn you about him, Bliss,” she concluded in superior tones.

”It seems,” Bliss replied, ”that he has admired Nyssa from the first moment he saw her at Hampton Court last autumn. He was determined to make her his wife, Adela. Nyssa had nothing to do with him, as you well know. She was much too busy with her duties. I really know nothing more about it. The king summoned Owen and me to him the other night, and the next thing we knew, we were in the midst of a wedding. Ohh, I hope she will be happy!”

”She has made her bed, and will have to lie in it,” Adela Marlowe said sourly. She was absolutely certain her friend was holding back some delectable tidbit of gossip about the matter. It was really quite mean of Bliss, considering their long-standing friendship. ”I can only imagine what her parents will say when they learn of their daughter”s outrageous behavior and this hasty wedding,” continued Lady Marlowe meanly. ”I”m sure the Earl of Langford would wish for a better match for his stepdaughter than the one she has so precipitously contracted.”

Bliss”s temper finally snapped. ”God”s bones, Adela!” she swore. ”To begin with, my niece is certainly not guilty of any outrageous behavior. Her conduct has been exemplary. Both his grace and the queen have remarked favorably on it. As for Varian de Winter, I find him a most charming man. His estates match Nyssa”s, and, most important, he is no fortune hunter. Besides, he is a member of the Howard family. Even you cannot be so dense as to not know who the next queen is to be. Catherine Howard”s name is on everyone”s lips, and Varian de Winter is her cousin. All the Howards will soon be very high in the king”s favor. Will not my niece be sitting pretty then, Adela dear? By the way, have you found a suitable match for your little son yet?” Bliss gave Lady Marlowe one of her best smiles, knowing full well that her friend”s lack of success in finding a prospective wife for her son was quite a sore point with her.

”Look at them,” Varian murmured to Nyssa as they came across the chamomile-dotted lawn. ”They are like two old village goodwives. I wonder whose reputation they are shredding today, sweeting?”

”My aunt looks very smug,” Nyssa observed. ”She has obviously bested Lady Marlowe somehow.” Then she giggled. ”I keep thinking about your remark last night about tying Lady Marlowe”s tongue in a knot. Do you think such a thing possible, my lord?”

He waggled his bushy black eyebrows at her menacingly. ”Shall we try?” he asked her wickedly, causing his wife to dissolve into another fit of giggles. ”Do you think her tongue forked like a snake?”

Nyssa laughed harder. Her sides were aching. ”Stop, my lord!” she begged him. ”I will wear myself out laughing if you do not cease. Then you shall be left alone and filled with desire tonight. Surely you do not want that?”

”Nay, sweeting,” he said softly, drawing her into his arms, covering her face with little kisses.

”My lord,” she chided him helplessly, but she did not really want him to stop. ”Remember, my aunt and Lady Marlowe can see us.”

”So much the better,” he answered her. ”It will give them something else to chew upon, my adorable Nyssa. God”s bones, I wish we could go home to Winterhaven now. This very day! I want you all to myself, and we have but tomorrow. Then you must report back to the queen.”

”We will have most of our nights,” she told him, her eyes growing soft beneath his passionate gaze. ”I no longer have a place to sleep in the palace, nor do you, my lord. Each night we will meet here, and secrete ourselves away from the world, Varian. It is enough for now.”

”Blessed Mother!” Adela Marlowe said, scandalized. ”He is kissing her, Bliss! Why, he looks as if he would take her right there upon the lawn. ”Tis most shocking to say the least!”

”I think it rather romantic,” Bliss replied softly. ”They are newly wed, Adela, and learning to know one another. It is charming. I am so relieved! Nyssa”s happiness will certainly reassure my sister and her husband. It will take some of the sting from the situation.”

”Have you written to them about the marriage?” Adela Marlowe asked.

”Nay, Nyssa and Varian wish to tell them. When the matter of the king”s marriage to the queen is settled, they will leave court, going to RiversEdge first, and then on to Winterhaven,” the Countess of Marwood told Lady Marlowe. ”They are right to do it this way. A letter is so impersonal when dealing with such a delicate situation.”

Nyssa and Varian had now reached the seated women. They bowed, and then passed on into the house, still hand in hand, smiling.

”Where do you think they are going?” Lady Marlowe wondered.

”To bed, to make love, of course,” Bliss said with a laugh. ”I know that if I were Nyssa, married to that handsome devil, that is where I would be going. They both arrived yesterday afternoon, and did not come out of their bedchamber until after ten o”clock this morning. Tillie brought them a tray last evening. Nothing was left upon it this morning when the maid brought it back to the kitchen. Not a crumb of food, Adela, nor a drop of wine.” Bliss chuckled. ”He has the look of a man with stamina,” she observed wickedly.

”Your niece is certainly behaving boldly for a girl who purports to have been a virgin two days ago,” Lady Marlowe noted sharply. ”Why, she barely knows the man, or at least so you all claim, yet her demeanor is that of an experienced woman.”

”She was a virgin,” Bliss said, suddenly angry. ”The king insisted upon seeing the proof of the consummation. He required that Owen and I be there to see it too, so there would be witnesses to the validity of the union. The Duke of Norfolk himself brought the bedsheet from the bridal chamber. And Tillie told my May that she saw the blood on Nyssa”s thighs when she helped her to dress that morning. Do not dare to even suggest that Nyssa was not a virgin. She was! ”Then realizing what, she had in her anger, blurted out, Bliss continued, ”And if you dare to tell anyone what I have told you, Adela Marlowe, I shall never speak to you again! Nor would the king be pleased to hear you gossiping about such intimacies regarding Nyssa.”

”I just knew there was something you weren”t telling me!” Adela Marlowe crowed triumphantly. ”Do not fear, Bliss, I shall tell no one else. I just wanted to know all the details myself. Sometimes it is much more fun knowing what others do not know, don”t you think so?”

The newlyweds spent another passionate night together, after their day picnicking in the woods. The following morning, however, Nyssa”s two brothers arrived to meet their brother-in-law. Philip was plainly disturbed by the gossip he had been privy to, but young Giles, with his natural diplomatic tendencies, cautioned his elder sibling not to prejudge the Earl of March.

”You must discount more than half of what you hear at court, brother,” Giles wisely told Philip, with the aplomb of a more seasoned courtier, ”and even then you can believe only a small portion of the remainder. Surely you have learned that in our months with the lady Anne. The merest flutter starts a rumor racing.”

”But Nyssa is married,” Philip countered, tight-lipped. ”The king and the lady Anne have told us it is so. I would know why! I fear for our sister. Lord de Winter”s reputation is not a savory one.”

”There is but one scandal attached to Lord de Winter”s name,” the more practical Giles said patiently to his elder brother, ”and it happened years ago. Lady Marlowe and her friends simply refuse to allow the tale to die a natural death. Perhaps if the Earl of March were not such a handsome fellow, it would have done so.”

”I want to know how this marriage came to be,” Philip Wyndham repeated stubbornly. ”If Nyssa had been planning to wed, she would have certainly told us. Besides, she would have wanted to go home to RiversEdge to marry.”

Philip”s first glimpse of their sister did not particularly comfort him. There was something very different about her. Something he could not quite put his finger on; a new lushness. She did not look like an unhappy woman. Indeed she was more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

Philip, Viscount Wyndham, and his younger brother, Giles, made their most courtly bows to their sister and her bridegroom. ”Good morrow, Nyssa,” Philip said tightly. ”Good morrow, my lord.” His young face was serious.

”May I present my husband, Varian de Winter, to you, my brothers,” she responded.

Philip exploded in anger, much to Giles”s disgust. ”And just how did this man become your husband, Nyssa? What am I expected to tell our parents? The gossip is not pretty, sister! What explanation can you offer me for your behavior?” He glowered at her.

”How dare you, Philip,” Nyssa replied angrily. ”You have no right to question me. I am your elder by four years. Have you forgotten it, or has your service at court gone to your foolish head?”

Giles snickered, and was glared down by both his siblings.

”Despite the disparity in our ages, sister, as heir to Langford it is my duty to oversee your behavior,” Philip said pompously. ”It is reported your behavior was wanton, Nyssa.”

”By whom?” Her look was scornful. ”Philip, you are a fool,” his sister told him bluntly. ”Being at court has done nothing to improve you, I fear. For your edification, I was married in the Chapel Royal by the archbishop and Bishop Gardiner. Uncle Owen and Aunt Bliss were there. There is nothing else you need know about it. Where, I should like to ask you, is the scandal in a lawfully contracted marriage?”

”They say he raped you and forced the match,” Philip said furiously. ”I do not care if he is a Howard, I will kill him if it is so!”

”I did not rape your sister,” Varian de Winter said quietly, seeking to calm the boy”s anger. ”And although my mother was a Howard, I am a de Winter, my lord.”

”I am Giles Wyndham, my lord, and right glad to make your acquaintance,” the younger of the two brothers interrupted, holding out his hand.

The Earl of March shook the lad”s hand and smiled gravely down at him. ”How do you do, Giles Wyndham,” he answered.

”Well, actually, my lord, I do rather well,” Giles said chattily. ”The queen has asked me to stay on with her after the matter of her marriage is settled. I quite enjoy the court, you know,” he explained with an infectious grin. He was doing his very best to defuse a difficult situation. Philip had always adored Nyssa, and looked practically near to tears. My brother is making a damned fool of himself, Giles thought, disgusted.

”You are truly all right?” Philip anxiously asked his sister.

She hugged him hard. ”Aye, I am fine, Philip.”

”Why did you marry him?”

”I will not tell you now, Philip, but you must trust me that everything is perfectly fine. The earl is a good man. He is most kind to me. I understand this is a shock to you, but never again take such a tone with me, brother, or dare to question my behavior. You should know I would never shame our name. Had I been born a boy, ”twould be I who was Earl of Langford today, and not your father. Remember it in the future, Philip. Now kiss me, and greet my husband properly.”

Viscount Wyndham kissed Nyssa”s cheek and then held out his hand to the Earl of March. ”You have my felicitations upon your marriage to my sister, my lord,” he said stiffly.

”Thank you, my lord,” the earl replied. The boy was still obviously confused and angry. It would take a little time to win him over. Philip Wyndham”s devotion to his sister was quite touching.

”Has anything exciting happened at court?” Nyssa asked her brothers. ”It seems we have been away forever, and yet we have had really very little time to ourselves. I must report to the queen in the morning.” She smiled at her husband, and then asked her brothers, ”Will you go home with us when we leave court?”

”I will,” Philip said. ”I am not particularly enamored of the court, although I should not have missed the experience of coming.”

”And I,” Giles replied to his sister, ”will remain in the lady Anne”s service. Were you not listening when I told Lord de Winter?”

”You must call me Varian, Giles,” the earl told him. ”And you also, Philip. After all, we are family now.”

”You asked for gossip, Nyssa,” Philip said, ignoring his brother-in-law. ”Mistress Catherine Howard was seen walking with the king in the Knot Garden. They were alone, and unchaperoned. Lady Ferretface could scarcely wait to spread the news to all the other ladies in the queen”s apartments. The creature has missed her calling, I think. She would make an excellent pimp. Her instincts are quite base considering her bloodlines.”

”Lady Ferretface?” The Earl of March was intrigued, and then his face lit up. ”Of course! ”Tis Lady Rochford you speak of, is it not, Philip? What a perfect name for her. I have often thought she resembled a weasel, or a ferret.” He chuckled. ”Your eye is very sharp, sir. I congratulate you.”

Philip softened. He said honestly, ”I have never liked her. She is always lurking about, and listening.”

”Nor do I like her,” Varian de Winter agreed.

”Varian thinks we should tie Lady Marlowe”s tongue in a knot to stop her gossiping,” Nyssa told her brothers.

They whooped with laughter, and suddenly the tenseness in the room was dispelled. A servant brought in wine and cakes. The two boys remained with Nyssa and her new husband for over an hour before taking their leave of the couple. Each departed richer by a gold piece, pressed upon them by the Earl of March.

”What a pity we don”t have more brothers-in-law,” Giles noted.

”I suppose he is not as bad as I had anticipated,” Philip admitted.

”You were very good with them,” Nyssa told Varian when her brothers had finally gone. ”Giles is a diplomat, but Philip is prickly.”

”Philip adores you,” he noted.

”Aye, I was almost four when he was born, and he was my baby from the beginning. Giles didn”t come for another three and a half years. For that time it was just Philip and me. The bond between us is a strong one too. He is hurt I do not tell him the whole truth of our marriage, but I will not until we return home to tell Mama and Papa of it. Philip is very hot-headed. It would be just like him to call your grandfather out for his part in this matter. It could do no good, of course. Besides, now that the king has set his sights upon your cousin, he would not like to be denied his greatest desire, or find himself in the midst of a scandal caused by a thirteen-and-a-half-year-old boy. Philip could easily end up in the Tower, and then poor Mama would have to come to plead his case.”

”This family I have gained by my marriage to you, madame, are they always involved in each other”s business?” he queried her.

”Aye,” she told him, nodding her head. ”When you wed me, Varian de Winter, you wed the Wyndhams of Langford, and all their kith and kin. You are now related to Lord James Alcott, and his sons the Marquis of Beresford, the Marquis of Adney, and the O”Briens of Killaloe, and their wives. And of course there are my grandparents, the Morgans of Ashby Hall, Aunt Bliss and Uncle Owen, Lord and Lady Kingsley, as well as all my cousins. You will never be alone again, Varian, though I suspect there will be times when you wish you could be,” she finished with a chuckle. ”Oh, yes. Christmas is always kept at RiversEdge. Mama does it so well.”

It would be a country life for them, he thought, not in the least displeased by the notion. His new relations would advise him on how to restore his estate to its very best. Nyssa”s cousins would marry, and there would be hordes of children. A whole new generation to grow up surrounded by a large and loving family. Celebrating holidays together. Coming together for the weddings and the christenings. Sharing not just their joys, but the sorrows that were a part of life as well.

He remembered his step-grandmother, Lady Elizabeth, once saying to him, ”Do not let Duke Thomas convince you that the power and the glitter are all important, Varian. Family is most important. We gain our strength in the hard times from the love of our family. Remember it.”

He had not forgotten, although there had been little warmth in his grandfather”s house. Now he had found that warmth that he had sought, and the family he had always longed for.

They returned to court the following day. Nyssa reported immediately to the queen, who told her privately, ”He has gifted Mistress Howard vith several substantial land grants, and a gold pomander ball. I think my time here grows short, Nyssa. If you vould like, you may return to your home vith your bridegroom as soon as you vish.”

Nyssa shook her head. ”I will remain with you, madame,” she told her mistress, and then she smiled. ”Giles tells me that you have asked him to remain in your service. He is very pleased.”

”He is a goot boy,” the queen said with a smile. ”He and Hans get along quite vell. I vill need only two pages, as Hendrick has already told me privately that my household vill be considerably reduced.”

”Will you mind, dear madame?” Nyssa asked her.

”Nein,” was the reply. ”I do not really enjoy all the pomp and ostentation of this court, although I vill admit to enjoying the dancing, the cards, and my new clothes. I haf chosen Richmond for my home. Hendrick has said he vill gif me another house or two as vell. I haf left it to him to decide. Richmond is a pretty place, and I enjoy the river. It reminds me of the Rhine River in my homeland. I vill be happy there. I vill entertain the Princess Mary, who has become my friend, and Hendrick has promised me that little Bess may come to stay vith me from time to time. She is such an intelligent child. I do luf her.”

”You will be content then, madame, and are not unhappy to remain in England?” Nyssa asked her. ”Will you not miss your family?”

”Vhen I came to ved the king, I left my family behind,” the queen said. ”I vould far prefer to remain in England than to go back to my brother”s court. Our father vas a stern man, but he had a sense of humor about him. My brother Wilhelm is too dour a man. Once he is satisfied that I am happy, he vill let it be. I am freer in England than I vould be if I returned to Cleves. I vill never haf to marry again, Nyssa. I think I prefer it that vay. But vhat of you? Is your husband satisfactory? Despite the circumstances of your marriage, I vould hope that you could find happiness in it.”

”Varian is a man of humor,” Nyssa replied with a smile.

”And you enjoy his . . .” The queen stopped a moment, nonplussed.

Nyssa realized immediately what she was asking, and replied, ”Aye, madame, I do enjoy his attentions. Although I am unable to make any comparisons, I will admit that he gives me great pleasure in our bed sport. I believe that I like him.”

”Vell then,” Anne replied, ”it is a goot beginning.”

The attentions now lavished openly upon Catherine Howard by the king removed Nyssa and her husband from the gossipmongers” minds. They had far better fodder to chew upon now than the impetuous midnight marriage of the Earl of March and Lady Nyssa Wyndham. Lord Lisle, the father of Anne and Katherine Bassett, had been arrested on Cromwell”s orders. The sisters were terrified. Then Gardiner”s ally, Bishop Sampson, was sent to the Tower. Every day brought a new revelation, and the king was behaving like a lad of twenty instead of a man facing his forty-ninth birthday.

The king and queen appeared together on May Day, and for the next five days at the jousts at Westchester. They were seen at the banquets following the jousts that were held at Durham House. These banquets were open to the public, who came to view the king, the queen, and their court. Anne of Cleves was very much liked by the common people, who saw in her a royal princess of charm and dignity. If Henry Tudor was uncomfortable knowing this, he hid it well. He entertained the victors of the jousts, rewarding them with purses of one hundred marks each and houses in which they might live. Henry and Anne were never again seen together at a public function as man and wife after the May Day week festivities.

The month passed quickly. Catherine Howard, officially still one of the queen”s maids of honor, was seen less and less in the Maidens” Chamber, or in Anne”s presence. It was a difficult situation. Anne pretended, as she had secretly promised Henry, to be in ignorance of her situation. The queen, however, saw that things were coming to a head when on June tenth Thomas Cromwell was arrested at the council table in the Privy Council by the Captain of the Guard.

Upon being informed of his arrest, the chancellor snatched the bonnet off his head and threw it angrily upon the table. ”God help and save my master, the king!” he cried as a triumphant Norfolk, aided by the Earl of Southampton, stripped him of his badges of office and his seals. ”You play at power, my lords, but you have no idea of how really dangerous a game it is you play,” Cromwell warned as the Captain of the Guard took him in his charge, escorting him to the waiting barge that would take him down the river to the Tower.

Thomas Cromwell”s arrest order was filled with allusions to his low background, and everyone knew that to be the work of the Duke of Norfolk, who hated the fact that a man of humble background could have climbed so high. The chancellor was accused of treason. There were generalities about his maladministration and abuse of power, none of which was provable. It was said he had usurped the royal power by setting traitors free; that he had granted passports, and drawn up commissions without royal permission. Worse, he was accused of supporting heresy by two of his enemies, Sir George Throckmorton and Sir Richard Rich. The latter had perjured himself shamelessly at the trial of Sir Thomas More.

It was all a fabrication by Cromwell”s enemies, and he had made many in both high and low places. The king chose to believe the allegations because it was convenient for him to do so. He was still angry at Cromwell for having gotten him into the marriage with Anne of Cleves in the first place. Cromwell wrote to the king, piteously asking forgiveness for his crimes and begging for his master”s mercy. Henry ignored his faithful servant.

Archbishop Cranmer, knowing Cromwell for no heretic, bravely attempted to intervene on his friend”s behalf. He was one of the few people at court who actually liked and completely understood Thomas Cromwell. He knew him to be the most loyal of all the king”s servants. Everything Cromwell had done, he had done in Henry Tudor”s best interests. The king would have none of it. Cromwell was guilty and must be punished for his alleged offenses. Bishop Sampson, the Bishop of Chichester, arrested earlier in the spring on Cromwell”s orders, was freed, as were Sir Nicholas Carew and Lord Lisle, the Governor of Calais, the Bassett sisters” father. There had been five other bishops on Cromwell”s blacklist, but he had not had the time to act against them before his own arrest.

Catherine Howard had moved across the Thames to Lambeth Palace, having left the queen”s service. It was an open scandal among the common people who saw their king being rowed across the river on a daily basis to spend time with his ladylove. Even the queen could no longer pretend she was not aware of his behavior, but whatever she might have thought, she kept to herself. Publicly she would say nothing that would feed the gossip mills. To her ladies who attempted to bait her, she would say, ”If it makes his grace happy, so be it.”

On the morning of June twenty-fourth the king came to the queen”s apartments and said for all to hear, ”The weather is hot for June, madame. I fear the plague will soon break out. I would have you leave this day for Richmond Palace for your health”s sake. I will join you in two days” time.” Then he kissed her dutifully upon her cheeks and departed. They would never meet again as man and wife.

Word was soon speeding through the court that the king was sending the queen to Richmond for her ”health.” The queen went docilely, smiling and waving to all the people along her route who cheered Queen Anne gladly from their hearts. Shockingly, the king and Mistress Howard were entertained that very night by Bishop Gardiner, who gave a gala banquet in their honor at his palace. The court was abuzz. There was no longer any doubt that the king meant to replace Anne of Cleves, and quite soon—but how?

Five days after the queen”s departure for Richmond, a Bill of Attainder was passed against Thomas Cromwell. As he was accused of treason, his civil rights were to be eliminated and his property confiscated. The king had not yet joined the queen at Richmond, and everyone knew now he did not intend to do so. In the first week of July, the House of Lords formally petitioned the king to investigate through the clergy the legality of his marriage to Anne of Cleves. Henry agreed, claiming that he had been ”espoused against his will.” This declaration caused some amusement among the court, none of whom had ever known the king to do anything against his will.

The Privy Council departed that same day in mid-afternoon for Richmond to see the queen. They would need her consent to the proceedings. They traveled the river, nervous, and unappreciative of the fair summer day and the beautiful countryside about them.

”Pray God she is no Katherine of Aragon,” Lord Audley said to his companions in the first barge.

”Aye,” Suffolk answered. ”He”s in no mood to be denied much longer, and like the other two, Cat Howard is dangling her virtue before him like a prize to be won. He”ll not get between her legs without a wedding band and the crown matrimonial.” Suffolk shook his head.” ”Tis the same game they all play, yet he does not learn. First the Boleyn, then Lady Jane, and now this girl.”

”I believe you will find Queen Anne most reasonable,” Archbishop Cranmer said quietly. ”She is a sensible lady, and most wise.”

The three barges carrying the Privy Council arrived at Richmond”s stairs. The queen, who had not been forewarned, greeted them cautiously. What if Hendrick had changed his mind about the terms of the dissolution of their marriage they had secretly agreed to months ago? What if he had decided to send her back to Cleves? Anne eyed her guests nervously. Carefully, the Duke of Suffolk, who was the Lord President of the Privy Council, explained the situation, believing it would come as a complete shock to the young queen. He asked that young Hans von Grafsteen translate his words into the queen”s native tongue so that she would be certain to completely understand him and fully comprehend what was involved. The queen”s ladies were goggle-eyed at the proceedings. What a story they would have to tell after it was all over. Their heads swung between the Privy Council and the queen.

”So,” Anne said to Hans in their own High Dutch, ”it has finally come. He will take his new bride, and spend a summer of romantic love. God help the poor girl!” She wiped at her blue eyes with a lace-edged scrap of linen, thereby giving them all the impression she was saddened by her situation.

”What should I answer the duke, Your Grace?” Hans asked.

”I shall answer him, Hans,” she told the boy. Turning to the Duke of Suffolk and the rest of the Privy Council, she said in English, ”Because of the deep affection and respect that I bear his grace, I am content, my lords, to let this matter be decided by the Church, as my good lord the king vishes it.” She curtsied to them, hands folded modestly.

”Are you absolutely certain she understands?” the Duke of Norfolk growled. He wanted no difficulties in this matter.

”Ya, my lord,” the queen answered him, to his great surprise. ”I understand completely. His grace vorries that our marriage is not a legal one. I trust his grace, and he vould not bring this matter to the attention of the clergy vere his conscience not troubling him, ya? Therefore, as a goot vife, I must accede to his vishes to haf the matter investigated further, and I will.” She smiled at them.

”Thank you, dear madame,” the archbishop said. ”You are truly an example in wifely obedience to all women. His grace will be very pleased.”

The Privy Council departed, delighted to have had so easy a time of it, but Duke Thomas was yet suspicious.

”What is that woman up to, I wonder? She seemed almost glad to give her consent. Surely she must know if the king wants the matter investigated, that she will end up without a husband, or a crown.”

”Perhaps,” the archbishop said smoothly, ”that pleases her. I realize such a thing is difficult for you to imagine, Thomas, but some people are not interested in worldly power.”

”Then they are fools!” Norfolk snapped.

The king was extremely elated by the success of his Privy Council. Anne had been so reasonable in their secret discussions, he had grown fearful that she had just been lulling him into a sense of false security; that when the matter became public, she would protest and attempt to hold onto her crown.

The following day Henry made a written declaration to the clergymen impaneled for the investigation into his marriage to Anne of Cleves. In it he stated that his intentions had been honorable, despite the fact he had not wanted to marry again. He had done it for the good of his kingdom, to ensure the succession by having more children. However, despite the good reports he had of the Princess of Cleves, one look at her when she arrived in England had convinced him that he should never be able to love or to make love to this woman. He had gone through with the marriage despite his deep misgivings because he could not learn of any honorable way in which to avoid the marriage without embarrassing the poor lady, who was after all but an innocent pawn in a political game. Still, this matter of a possible precontract with the son of the Duke of Lorraine, and his inability to consummate the marriage, nagged at his conscience. He wished the clergy”s learned opinion in the matter. He had absolutely no ulterior motives for wanting to dissolve his marriage to the lady from Cleves, but was that marriage legal?

During the next few days witnesses were called to testify in the matter before the assembled clergymen. The Earl of Southampton, Admiral FitzWilliam, and Sir Anthony Browne told the court of the king”s immediate displeasure upon meeting the Princess of Cleves. Cromwell, from the Tower, swore to the king”s instant unhappiness and his desperate desire to be free of the match. It was the last act of a loyal servant. The king”s physicians were brought in to testify. Dr. Chambers swore that the king had told both him and Dr. Butts of his inability to consummate his marriage to the lady Anne.

”He said he was certain that he might couple with another woman, but that the lady Anne filled him with revulsion and he could not even attempt the act with her. I advised him to not try further, that being the case, lest he debilitate his sexual organs,” Dr. Chambers said.

”The king has had many nocturnal emissions during his entire marriage to the lady Anne,” Dr. Butts told the fascinated court. ”This, my lords, is proof absolute of a lack of intercourse. Though he has shared the lady”s bed, she is as good a maid as the day she arrived in England. I will swear to it upon my own immortal soul.” He folded his fat hands across his rather substantial paunch in a pious gesture.

The House of Lords debated the matter, even as the clergy discussed it. The possible precontract with Lorraine had to be finally disposed of because the duke had married his son to the daughter of the King of France. He would hardly have done so had his son been betrothed elsewhere. Best not to open the matter up again lest France become offended. War was not desirable at this point. The king”s declared lack of consent to the marriage, and his inability to consummate it, were considered valid enough reasons for ending the marriage. There was but one male heir to England”s throne. More were needed. If Henry Tudor could not get those heirs on Anne of Cleves, then what good the marriage? The House of Lords agreed. The marriage must be ended.

On the ninth day of July the convocation of clergy from both the Canterbury and the York archbishoprics found that the king”s marriage to Anne of Cleves was null and void on the grounds of nonconsummation and lack of consent. Both parties were free to remarry. Archbishop Cranmer, the Earl of Southampton, and the Duke of Suffolk went to Richmond to inform the queen of the court”s decision.

”From henceforth on, madame, you will be considered the king”s most beloved sister,” the Duke of Suffolk told her. He then went on to tell Anne of the handsome yearly allowance the king had settled upon her. ”You will also be allowed to keep all your jewelry, your plate, and your tapestries. Richmond Palace, Hever Castle, and the manor of Bletchingly are now yours. Only the king”s daughters and a new queen will take precedence over you when you visit the court, madame. It is hoped that you will be content with these most generous terms afforded you by our gracious lord, Henry Tudor. God save the king!”

”I am most content vith my dear brother Hendrick”s generosity,” the lady Anne replied. ”I shall write to him in a day or two declaring myself amenable to all that has passed this day, my lord. Vill that be suitable, do you think?” She smiled sweetly at him.

Why, she”s absolutely delighted by this turn of events, thought the Duke of Suffolk. ”Tis a good thing Hal is not here to see her glad face. ”Aye, madame, ”twill be most acceptable,” he replied.

”Dr. Wotton is to be sent to Cleves, dear lady,” the archbishop said, ”to explain these delicate matters to your good brother, Duke William. If you would like to send a letter along to the duke, it might ease his mind even more.”

”You vill help me to compose it?” the lady Anne asked. ”I vould not like my unfamiliarity vith the English language to cause any confusion on Vilhelm”s part. His mind can sometimes be like a dumpling.”

Both the Earl of Southampton and the Duke of Suffolk chuckled at her remark, but the archbishop said, ”Would you not prefer to write to your brother in your native tongue, dear madame? Will he not worry, and wonder if you address him in English?”

”I am an English voman now, my lord,” Anne answered them, ”but if it vill put your minds at ease, ve vill write the letter together in English, and then you may haf it translated into the language of my birth. Send Vilhelm both copies, however, so he vill see that the original is written in my own hand. I vill reassure him, and he vill be content, ya?” She smiled brightly at them.

”And would you have us take a message to the king, my lady?” the Duke of Suffolk asked her. ”To reassure him that you are satisfied?”

”Ya,” Anne said. ”You may tell the king, my brother, that I am his most obedient servant, now and alvays.” She curtsied to the three men.

”Incredible,” the Earl of Southampton said, as they returned to London in their barge. ”I have never known so reasonable a woman, but then from the beginning, when I met her in Calais, she was anxious, nay, eager, to please his grace.”

”She has certainly pleased him this day,” the archbishop said with great understatement. ”I suspect we have lost a valuable diplomat when we lost this queen. I have never known a better tactician.”

”She was delighted to be rid of him if you ask me,” the Duke of Suffolk remarked. ”Poor old Hal would be quite annoyed if he knew how well she accepted his will. I think I shall tell him she fainted at the news, but then you, Thomas, reassured her of his grace”s goodwill. It will please his vanity. What think you, my lords?”

”His vanity needs no pleasing these days,” the archbishop told them. ”Mistress Howard delights him so that nothing else matters to the king, I fear. I am not sure this is good.”

”Come now, my lord,” said the Duke of Suffolk, whose fourth wife was many years his junior, ”a young wife is a happy thing.”

” ”Tis not Mistress Howard who distresses, but rather her voracious family,” the earl murmured softly. ”Duke Thomas fairly champs at the bit to regain the power he believes is rightfully his.”

”Then perhaps you will speak out for poor Crum,” the archbishop suggested. ”He was never the easiest of men to get on with, I know, but we all realize these charges against him are feeble, and untrue.”

”Your heart is good, my lord, but your wisdom fails you here,” the Earl of Southampton told him. ”Cromwell”s fate is sealed. He is a doomed man, and no one save God Himself can help him. The king has set his mind to wed with Mistress Howard, and we must take the lady”s family with her. We have no other choice.”

”How did the Howard girl gain the ascendancy?” the Duke of Suffolk wondered aloud. ”Was not the king”s fancy also taken by the Wyndham girl as well? But then she married Norfolk”s grandson so hastily.”

His two companions shrugged and settled back. The archbishop said nothing, and the Earl of Southampton knew nothing. The royal barge sailed down the river, out of sight of Richmond, where the former queen was even now telling her ladies that they might depart for the court or their own homes. Most of the women were eager to get back to Greenwich in order to secure themselves places with the new queen. The king”s nieces and daughter-in-law had not even come to Richmond. The Countess of Rutland would remain, but only until her husband, the former queen”s Lord Chamberlain, was formally dismissed. Sir Thomas Denny, Anne”s chancellor, and Dr. Kaye, the almoner, took their leave of the lady Anne and joined the departing women in a line of barges back to London. All were polite, but it was obvious that Anne was now considered a part of the past. Catherine was the future.

There was no room in the barges for the maids of honor.

”You will leave in the morning,” the Countess of Rutland said to those who were going.

Nyssa bid her friends a fond farewell. Kate Carey and Bessie FitzGerald both wept. The Bassetts were polite. Helga von Grafsteen and Maria Hesseldorf were going to remain with their mistress for the present. Young Viscount Wyndham bid the Princess of Cleves an elegant goodbye, sweeping his bonnet off and bowing quite low.

”I am honored to have been in your service, madame. I am always at your disposal should you ever need me,” he said.

”You are a goot boy, Philip,” the lady Anne told him. ”I am grateful for your friendship, my lord.”

”Are you certain that you do not want to travel home for a visit, Giles?” Nyssa asked her younger brother. ”Our parents will be most anxious about you. Are you sure that you would stay?”

”I have to make my mark here at court, Nyssa,” he told his elder sister. ”You know ”tis the only chance I have. The Church is no longer a good career for second sons. There are three brothers behind me for our parents to match and worry over. Eventually I will move from Princess Anne”s service up the ladder, but if I leave now, how will I ever get another place? No, it is best that I stay. Perhaps I will come home sometime in the autumn for a visit. My only regret at remaining is that I will not get to see Papa”s face when you present him with a husband.” Giles chuckled and his blue eyes twinkled mischievously.

Nyssa laughed. ”You are very bad,” she said, and bending down, she kissed her little brother. ”God watch over you, Giles.”

The budding courtier bowed to her and replied, ”God protect you and Varian, sister.”

”Lady de Winter,” the Countess of Rutland called. ”You are holding up the barge. Come at once!”

Nyssa turned to the princess, and almost immediately her eyes misted with tears. ”I do not like to leave you, dear madame.”

Anne of Cleves swallowed back her own welling emotions. ”You are not to worry, Nyssa. I haf escaped the English lion”s claws vith hardly a scratch. I am now a vealthy and propertied voman, and I haf no man to answer to from this day forvard. No brother Vilhelm, so full of importance and so joyless; and no husband Hendrick, who from the first did not like me for a vife. Ve are better friends, he and I. Do not veep on my behalf, Nyssa. I finally haf vhat I vant. I am free. Free to live my own life as I choose. Nein, liebling. I am not unhappy.”

”But what of love, madame? Who is there to love you?” Nyssa”s eyes were full of her concern for the princess.

”For you, Nyssa,” Anne told her, ”romantic luf is important. You haf learned luf at your mama”s knee, nein? I learned duty at my mama”s knee. Vhat I know of luf is vhat you and a few others have shared vith me. It is enough for me. I vant no more.” The princess then kissed the young Countess of March upon her cheeks and her lips, saying, ”Go now. Go home vith your handsome bridegroom. You may write to me if you desire to do so. I vould velcome your letters.”

Nyssa curtsied low. ”It has been a privilege to serve you, madame,” she said. Then arising, she hurried to get into the last barge leaving Richmond for Greenwich, where Varian de Winter was awaiting her. Soon she stood on the hot deck of the barge, watching as the palace and the waving women disappeared around a bend. It was over. Another chapter in her life had closed. What would her future hold?

Philip came and stood next to Nyssa. He said nothing, but he sensed her feeling of loss and reached for her. She turned and smiled at her brother even as he squeezed her hand.

”We”re going home, Philip, and ”tis summer, and ohhh, I cannot wait to see Mama and Papa, and our baby sisters.”

”I have abided by your wishes, Nyssa, but I believe our family will be greatly shocked by the news of your marriage, now almost three months ago,” Philip said seriously. ”Would it not be better if I rode on ahead with Uncle Owen to prepare them for this news?”

”Nay, Philip, it is not your place to tell our parents of my marriage. It is Varian”s and my duty to do so. I know it will be a great surprise, but you must not interfere.”

He sighed deeply. ”I wish I were a man grown. I hate being in between. And I will miss Helga. Isn”t she just the prettiest girl, Nyssa? And her heart is so good and kind,” he finished with a blush.

”Why, Philip, I believe you have conceived a tendre for Helga von Grafsteen. Why do you not discuss it with Papa when we return to RiversEdge? I”m certain her dowry is a respectable one.”

”Do you think he would listen to me, Nyssa?” Philip asked his sister. ”He always makes me feel so young, though I shall be fourteen in October. If the match could be made, and we waited until I was seventeen, Helga would be old enough by then too.”

”Then speak with Papa, Philip. You don”t want him to make a match for you with some girl you do not like,” she advised.

”You were forced into a marriage,” he said glumly.

”It is fortunate then that Varian and I like each other,” Nyssa told him with a small smile, and then she grew silent again.

Their barge passed the soaring spires of Westminster and on through the city of London, sweeping southeast down the river to Greenwich. There was just the faintest breeze coming up from the sea past Gravesend, and then the towers and turrets of Greenwich came into view. She could see the other barges that had preceded them unloading their passengers. As the ladies and gentlemen who had been a part of Anne of Cleves”s household swept up the green lawns, a lone figure remained. Her heart beat a little faster as she recognized that figure. It was Varian de Winter. It was her husband come to take her home.