Her Highness, the Traitor - By Susan Higginbotham Page 0,63
vast amounts of money—like my father did—and I am listening to prophecies saying the king will not live long. Nay, I am commissioning them! There is no end to my evil and perfidy now that Somerset has been convicted of felony. I just wonder how I find enough time during the day to accomplish all of it.”
He tossed the coin on the floor, where it fell with a clang. “They are saying now that I have planned to try him for treason since he was first put into the Tower back in ’49, that I have been poisoning the mind of the king against him. Are they fool enough to think that I would have married his daughter to my eldest son, if I meant ill to him? As for poisoning the king against him, it was not I who dragged the king to Windsor Castle without warning and terrified him with tales of the wicked King Richard. It was not I who never bothered to ask the king for his opinion on a matter. It was not I—”
“John! Calm yourself, my dear. No person of intelligence could possibly believe you meant harm to Somerset. We all know you tried your best to work with him.”
John sighed. For a few moments, the only sound in the room was the clock, its case etched with representations of the planets, which ticked on the mantle. I loved clocks, and John had faithfully bought them for me ever since we had first become wealthy enough to afford them. “One thing you can say about my wife,” he had joked, “she always knows what o’clock it is.”
He retrieved the coin and turned it in his palm several times. Then he said, “I’ve been talking with Somerset in the Tower.”
“What about?”
“At first, I just wanted to know if there was any unfinished business—any men lying in wait to murder me. He said there weren’t, other than the man Berteville we already had.”
I shuddered. Berteville, a French mercenary, had confessed to being approached by Somerset and his men, but had never reached the point of carrying out his scheme. For giving evidence against Somerset before his trial, he had been freed.
“Since then, we’ve just been talking. Mostly about our old days fighting together, and about the situation now with Scotland and France. He did apologize for plotting against me. He swore he would have never given the order to kill me if it came down to that. Sometimes we just play a game of cards together. He worries about his wife a great deal. I’ve promised that she shall come to no harm, although there’s probably evidence enough to convict her of felony, too.” John stared at the clock. “He’s never asked me to intercede with the king for a pardon or asked that his life be spared. He expects death.”
“Would you intercede with the king if he asked?”
“Yes.”
Then why, I almost asked, did my husband not tell that to Somerset? But the question died on my lips. John had pardoned Somerset once, and he had abused his kindness. Why should John risk pardoning him yet again? Instead, I said, “Then I hope he does not ask. Do not think me hard. It breaks my heart to think of Anne and the other children he will leave behind. Even to think of the widow he will leave behind. But I would not have you risk your life again to assuage your conscience. In fact, I pray you do not urge the king to pardon him. You cannot trust him, and even if you could, what if his friends decided to carry out what they thought were his wishes? Don’t tempt fate once again. I love you too much for that, John.”
John turned his face to mine and kissed me gently. “Even if all of England hates me?”
“Especially if all of England hates you.”
***
Somerset’s fate was not the only thing that preoccupied the court that season. The king, remembering the pleasure his father had taken in masques and disguisings, had decided to revive the old custom of having a Lord of Misrule preside over the Christmas revelries. John, eager to please the king in all things, especially with Somerset in the Tower, had duly appointed George Ferrers, a courtier of literary tastes, to that position. For the past couple of weeks, the elaborate preparations had engulfed the entire council, and the king had taken the greatest interest in their progress, even reviewing the various scripts and altering