By Royal Command (21 page)
Her head was bent over the babe and, still weeping, she didn’t reply. Deeply ashamed of the distress I’d caused her, I went to the door, only to almost collide with a gentleman coming through it. And it was then that I had my second great shock of the day when I came face to face with the children’s tutor, Mr Sylvester.
H
e and I stared at each other, both utterly astonished at the other’s appearance. I began to back away, feeling agitated and very much at a disadvantage. I was a mere nursemaid amongst greater folk, and in a place that I shouldn’t be.
‘What in Heaven’s name are you doing here?’ Mr Sylvester said. ‘How did you find us?’
‘I believe she works for Walsingham,’ Mistress Pryor said, still weeping.
‘What?! That can’t be so. She is maid to Dr Dee’s children,’ said Mr Sylvester. He went over to Mistress Pryor and placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Has she upset you, sweeting?’ he asked gently.
Odd and odder . . . I stared at them in some bewilderment and then I looked towards the door, wondering if I should just run away. In spite of my great unease, however, I was most intrigued at this situation, and knew that, if I ran, I might never discover answers to all the questions in my head.
‘She came in here with some absurd tale of me being involved in a plot against the queen!’ said Mistress Pryor.
‘Never!’
‘’Tis so ridiculous that she may have made up the whole thing. Perhaps she is just a thief.’ She looked at me searchingly, taking in my fine velvet gown. ‘You say she’s a nursemaid, but she’s not dressed as one. She has, perhaps, stolen the clothes she wears.’
‘I have not,’ I protested strongly, for I greatly feared being taken and thrown into jail. ‘Perhaps . . . perhaps I should explain everything to you.’
‘Yes, you should,’ said Mr Sylvester curtly. ‘And you may begin at once.’
Ten or so minutes later, Tomas and I were sitting on a window seat facing Mistress Pryor and Mr Sylvester. I’d begun by trying to explain the situation myself, but things had gone so awkward between us that I’d asked if I might go and fetch my companion.
Both Mr Sylvester and Mistress Pryor had looked mighty startled on seeing Tomas, and he equally so on seeing Mr Sylvester. The gentlemen bowed to each other (though Mr Sylvester swore under his breath several times as he did so), and for some awkward moments after this none of us seemed inclined to speak. At last Tomas stood up and went to a light oak rocking cradle in which the babe now rested. ‘How old is this small creature?’ he asked.
‘She is near three months old,’ said Mr Sylvester.
‘And named Elizabeth after our good queen, whom I love and revere,’ said Mistress Pryor somewhat defiantly.
Tomas sat down beside me again, and there was another silence. ‘Twas, I think, the only time I’d ever seen him at a loss for words. Eventually, he began, ‘As you know, I am the queen’s fool. But perhaps not so foolish when it comes to affairs of the heart.’
No one made comment on this, and he continued, ‘The child, of course, belongs to you both.’
At first it seemed that Mistress Pryor might deny it, but Mr Sylvester placed his hand over hers. ‘’Tis too late for subterfuge,’ he said, adding, ‘Yes, she is our natural child.’
‘And born of love!’ said Mistress Pryor.
‘You, Sir, I believe I recognise from Court as one Leopold Harding,’ Tomas said.
Mr Sylvester nodded. ‘I was dancing master at Court for nigh on a year.’
Dancing master
. Then that was why, I thought, he sometimes seemed to be dressed more like a court dandy than a scholar.
‘And it was then that you and Mistress Pryor . . . ?’ Tomas led him gently.
He nodded. ‘The truth is this: I was there to teach the ladies-in-waiting their galliards and their pavanes, and while dancing, Mistress Pryor and I fell in love.’
‘And Her Grace objected?’
Mr Sylvester sighed. ‘Her Grace very much objected.’
‘We asked for permission to marry and she said no, and banned Leo from Court forthwith,’ Mistress Pryor explained.
‘Not only am I banned from Richmond, but from anywhere the Court is on progress: I am not to stay at Whitehall, Syon, Greenwich, Windsor nor Hampton Court, and if I am seen nearby any of those places, then I will be sent to the Colonies.’
Hearing these words, I stared at him wonderingly. That, of course, was why ‘Mr Sylvester’ had seemed so much against the queen. It wasn’t that he was secretly plotting against her, or had Catholic sympathies, but merely that she had caused him to be parted from the woman he loved and their child.
‘That’s why I’m working as a tutor in the magician’s house – which happens to be not far from several of Her Grace’s palaces – so that I can see Mistress Pryor, and our child, whenever possible.’
‘Excuse me asking, but did I see you at the palace yesterday?’ I suddenly interrupted.
He nodded and smiled wryly. ‘I felt it safe, amongst so many, to go there in disguise. And Mistress Pryor and I had a carriage from there to bring us here to Putney.’
‘
You
were in that carriage too?’ I asked. ‘I was hanging on the back!’
He nodded. ‘Yes, I was there, but we walked separately to this convent.’
‘So perhaps it was you, then, who followed me along the dark passageway?’
‘Possibly, though I had no idea I was following
you
.’
‘And what of your tale, Mistress?’ Tomas asked. ‘For although I have no cause to question you, I’m very intrigued as to how you’ve managed yourself in all this.’
Mistress Pryor shrugged. ‘It’s been most difficult. I begged Her Grace to change her mind and let me marry the man I loved, but she said I could only marry when she allowed it, and then it would be to a man of her choosing.’
I gasped. ‘That’s very hard.’
‘It is! But I’m still loyal to my lady and love her dearly. I would never betray her!’
‘Of course not,’ Tomas soothed.
‘Leo and I continued to see each other, and eventually I found myself with child.’
‘And you managed to conceal your condition?’ I could not resist asking.
She sighed. ‘’Twas not easy, but many a lady has concealed such a matter under her farthingale. And . . . and in September, when my time was near, Her Grace and the Court went on a progress and I came here to give birth.’ As she said this she looked at Mr Sylvester, such a look as to make anyone’s heart break, for the love between them was palpable.
‘And since then?’ Tomas asked gently.
‘Since then I have led a tragic life,’ she burst out, ‘for I am separated from my true love and also my babe, and there is no worse suffering for a mother.’
‘But I’m sure they are kind to her here,’ I said.
She began weeping again. ‘They are kind enough, but this is a home for foundlings and there are above twenty homeless children, some orphaned, sick, crippled or simple. The few nuns who work here cannot give them a mother’s love!’
We were all silent for a while, then Tomas said, ‘In time, if Her Grace marries, then her feelings may mellow.’
‘I cannot wait that long!’ Mistress Pryor said. ‘Every day away from my child is like a dagger in my heart. I only live for the time spent in this place.’
‘But your coming here is most dangerous,’ Tomas said. ‘If the queen should discover that you have gone against her wishes, and have a child out of wedlock, then she may have you sent to the Tower.’
Mistress Pryor clutched at Mr Sylvester’s hand. ‘I know, and fear that very punishment above all others, for then my darling babe would be taken away from me!’ Saying this, she burst out weeping again, and even Tomas and I vowing on our lives that no one should learn her secret from us did not stem her tears.
I took Tomas’s hand, and such was the strength of my feeling in this matter that it did not seem overly bold. ‘Do you not have the ear of the queen?’ I asked him fervently. ‘Would it not be possible for you to speak to her on this subject and obtain permission for Mistress Pryor to marry?’
Tomas sighed. ‘In these matters, the queen is stubborn and always has been. Someone tried to address her on behalf of Mistress George – she who is even now in the Tower – but Her Grace merely stamped her foot and said that as she was single, her ladies must remain so.’
‘But the queen is most fond of you,’ I pleaded. ‘Is there nothing you can say to help?’
Tomas thought for several moments, slowly shaking his head. ‘At the moment, with her own love life so much spoken of, I dare not address her on the subject of marriage. In the meantime, however, perhaps I can devise a method whereby you are able to see more of little Elizabeth.’
Mistress Pryor looked up from her kerchief. ‘Really? How could that be?’
‘With some Tom-fool trickery,’ Tomas said, smiling, and on hearing this, Mistress Pryor could not restrain herself, and leaving the side of Mr Sylvester, ran to Tomas and flung her arms around his neck.
T
omas had promised to try and fulfil this vow to Mistress Pryor by Twelfth Night and, though he hadn’t confided in me the means he was going to use, he had also promised that I might play a part in it. Consequently, Twelfth Night saw me waiting anxiously behind a large folding screen in the palace banqueting hall, where I was due to appear before the Court as a representation of Winter in a court masque. I was dressed in floating panels of fine white muslin, standing behind girls similarly attired in gauzy yellow for spring, pink for summer and bronze for autumn. My role was a very small one, for the Seasons did not have to sing or dance, and, despite my fears about my appearance, I was happy to have another chance of being near to Her Grace, and of determining how Tomas was going to work his own particular magick.
My spying mission was over. I had not saved the queen’s life nor discovered any plot against her, and the day’s task was not a mighty one concerning queen and country, but one involving just two people and a child. I felt it was, nevertheless, exceedingly important.
‘Are you ready?’ Tomas whispered to me. He had a beard longer and whiter than that of Dr Dee, his cloak was full, black and patched with many colours, and he wore a laurel wreath on his long grey wig. He was Olde Father Time, the central figure of the pageant.
