Chapter 9 #2
Kate smiled, trying not to show how dismayed she was to find Mother looking so much older than she recalled.
She was plumper, with a double chin; wisps of graying hair were escaping from her hood and there were fine lines around her eyes.
But she was still essentially the mother Kate remembered, and when Will, looking as handsome and manly as ever, came up to greet Kate and hugged Mother warmly, Kate saw her eyes light up, making her look almost beautiful.
The three of them sat on a stone bench and talked. There was so much to say.
“I’m going to stay at Hever,” Mother said. “I can still do that while your great-grandmother lives, although I hear that she is failing. Will is for the court, but there’s no place for me there, unlike when I was married to your father and could share his lodging.”
“You may be sure that I will be looking out for you, Kate,” Will said. He had a strong, reassuring presence. Kate realized anew why Mother had fallen for him.
They chatted all afternoon. It felt good to be with Mother again, and in much happier circumstances than when she had last seen her. And Mother seemed less self-centered. She wanted to know all about life in Elizabeth’s household, and how Kate was finding the court.
“I did not want to leave you and Harry, but I had little choice. We had only cramped lodgings in Calais with no room for children,” she said. “I heard that Harry is doing well at Syon, and I knew you would be well looked after in Elizabeth’s establishment.”
“Oh, I was,” Kate said. “I do miss it, for we are close cousins and love each other very much.”
Mother gave her a searching look, but then she smiled. “I am glad to hear it.”
“I am well content, Mother,” Kate said.
“And you have even more reason to be so. Will is happy to provide you with a dowry, so we can now set about finding you a husband.”
Kate was deeply touched. “That is most kind of you, Will,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
“I’ve always wanted to be a father to you, Kate,” he said warmly.
“Who do you think would make a suitable husband?” Mother asked him.
“I don’t know—Kate will have seen the gallants at court. She’s the one to ask.” He winked at Kate.
“We don’t want some titled fellow who has no money. Or a fortune hunter, for your portion is not massive. But the Queen can help, I’m sure.”
Kate wasn’t so sure about that. Even if the King did go ahead with the marriage, Anna wouldn’t know anyone at court.
“I want a husband I can love,” she said. “I’m sure you both will understand that.”
Mother and Will smiled at each other. “Most certainly we do,” Mother said. It was obvious that a happy marriage and the love of a good man had done wonders for her.
—
That evening, Queen Anna invited her new ladies and maids to sit with her in the room serving as her privy chamber. She bade them be seated, the ladies on stools, the maids kneeling on the floor. With a homely-looking Flemish lady acting as interpreter, she managed to speak to each of them.
Kate noticed again that the Duchess of Richmond was cool toward her.
She had been long enough at court to know that there were two rival parties there: those who clung to the old religious ways and would really have preferred to have the Pope back as head of the Church of England; and those who were eager for religious reform and, in some cases, even suspected of having embraced Martin Luther’s Protestant teachings, which was dangerous because those convicted of heresy risked being burned at the stake.
Truth to tell, Kate found such matters above her head.
But the Duchess was a Howard, and the Howards were the premier Catholic family in the land, while the Queen represented the King’s alliance with the Protestant princes of Germany, even though she herself was a Catholic.
No wonder Mary Howard seemed not to like the Queen!
Kate was drawn to the Duchess of Suffolk, a lively, headstrong young woman of decidedly reformist views, who was popular with all.
By contrast, the Countess of Rutland was haughty, and then, of course, there was Lady Rochford, from whom Kate contrived to sit as far as possible.
She didn’t like Lady Edgcumbe either, for she had an off-putting superior air.
She caught sight of the pair of them, whispering and nodding knowingly in her direction.
Katheryn Howard, of course, must always draw attention to herself, dimpling prettily when spoken to.
She looked like a little girl, with her tiny hands and feet, and Kate could see that Anna was drawn to her.
And then Anna’s face alighted on Kate, and she was staring at her in the unsettling way that others had done. Kate felt herself flushing.
At nine o’clock, Anna rose and indicated that she wished to retire. They were all aware that they must be up early for her official reception at Blackheath. Kate went to bed gladly. It had been a long day, and tomorrow would be even more momentous.
—
Kate was up and ready before dawn, when the members of Anna’s household had to leave.
They were to ride ahead and be ready for her at Blackheath.
Before her departure, she bade farewell to her mother, who was riding south to Hever, and to Will, who was for Greenwich, to attend the King.
Their reunion had been all too brief, and she was sad to see them go, not knowing when they would be able to meet again.
The maids were at the back of the procession, and it was bitterly cold in their chariot.
By the time they reached Bexley, Kate’s fingers and toes were numb, and they still had a long way to go.
By noon, when the Queen was due to arrive, they would be like icicles.
But Mrs. Stonor seemed impervious to the temperature; she was more concerned that the maids were looking presentable.
When they descended Shooter’s Hill, they saw the stunning silken pavilion that had been set up for their new mistress.
Inside, to their delight, they found a lighted brazier, around which they crowded, trying to thaw out.
But Mrs. Stonor would have them prepare the gorgeous robes in which they would help to clothe Anna when she arrived, and then they must assist the grooms set out on a long trestle table the many dishes that had been prepared for the banquet.
Kate’s mouth was watering so much that she sneaked a marchpane comfit into it, praying that Mrs. Stonor would not see her.
Then, like the others, she darted back to the brazier to get warm again before dashing back to the kitchen tent that had been set up behind Anna’s.
Like everyone else, she kept peering out of the entrance to the pavilion to see what was going on outside.
She gasped as she saw the hordes of people gathering on the green expanse of Blackheath.
Mrs. Stonor pointed out the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London, in their red gowns.
It seemed that the entire nobility of England was here too, and there must have been at least five thousand horses.
The broad heath was thronged with hundreds of knights, soldiers, and liveried servants, and crowds of ordinary citizens.
And all eyes were upon Shooter’s Hill, whence Anna would come.
At noon, the trumpets sounded. As the Queen’s procession appeared, her household assembled in front of the pavilion, drawn up according to rank, so Kate found herself standing with her fellow maids to the side of the chief officers.
They saw Anna approach, riding in her gilded chariot and followed by twelve of her German ladies, all wearing round gowns with heavy gold chains around their necks.
Then came the rest of her retinue from Cleves, including a hundred dignitaries on horseback.
Behind them rode the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops, and the lords and ladies who had joined Anna on her journey through Kent.
At the foot of the hill, the chariot halted outside the pavilion.
The Queen’s Chamberlain, the Earl of Rutland, bowed before her, then Lady Margaret Douglas welcomed her, accompanied by the Duchess of Richmond and another of the King’s nieces, the brisk-mannered Marchioness of Dorset.
Anna alighted from her chariot and Kate sank into a deep obeisance as the entire household saluted and greeted her.
“I give you all hearty thanks,” she said in English. Then she turned to her chief ladies and kissed them all in turn.
Her almoner made a long speech in Latin, then formally presented to her all those sworn to serve her, which took some considerable time, as each knelt in turn to kiss her hand.
Like everyone else, Kate was shivering when the presentations ended, but they had to endure the cold for a few minutes more to hear one of Anna’s German officers reply on her behalf to her almoner.
Only then could they all enter the pavilion, where more braziers had been lit.
Everyone descended hungrily on the banquet, and Kate piled her plate high, ignoring Mrs. Stonor’s frown.
After Anna had eaten, the maids helped the ladies to change her into a gorgeous taffeta gown of cloth of gold, cut like the others in the Dutch fashion.
The mother of the German maids insisted on replaiting Anna’s hair herself, then placed a sheer linen caul over it, and on top of that another of the ugly headdresses, this one being surmounted by a coronet of black velvet.
When she was ready, Anna stood in the pavilion to await the arrival of the King, with her ladies around her. She was trembling, especially when the Earl of Rutland came to say that his Majesty would be arriving soon. Kate felt sorry for her.
Moments later, in the distance, the trumpets sounded again. “Your Grace, it is time,” Rutland told her. “The King is about half a mile away. You are to meet him as he approaches.”