Виктория Холт: The Rose Without a Thorn

“Shall you go back to Horsham?”

“For the time. Then, when it is all signed and sealed, my plans will doubtless change.”

I was wondering why she had sent for me that I might sit on a stool and listen to this conversation between her and my father, of which I had no understanding, when she said: “This little Katherine reminds me of her in some degree.”

“What?” cried my father. “She is not highly educated … unaccustomed to Court manners, I am afraid.”

“That is indeed so, but there is something. I shall not forget little Katherine. Come here,” she added to me.

I rose and stood before her. She touched my cheek lightly with her finger.

“Yes,” she said. “There is that certain quality with the Howard women. I saw it at once here in this one.”

I was so bewildered that I had no idea what was expected of me when my father intervened suddenly, saying: “You may go now, Katherine. Her Grace is tired and will wish to rest.”

I curtsied and, as I turned to go, I noticed that the Duchess was watching me, smiling and looking rather pleased.

It was all very strange and, although I felt it meant something, I could not be sure what; and, as I was apt to think only of the moment’s pleasure, I very soon ceased to think about the visit of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.

My stepmother sent for me. She wished to talk to me. She was smiling and looking rather pleased. I felt she was almost a stranger to us. She had been with my father in Calais for much of the time since her marriage and only now was she getting to know the family into which she had married.

“You are very fortunate, Katherine,” she said. “Indeed, I would say you are a very lucky little girl.”

I waited expectantly.

“Your grandmother, the Duchess of Norfolk, has taken a liking to you. She feels that it is not good for you to stay here.” She lifted her shoulders and looked disparagingly round the room. “So … she is offering you a home with her.”

“With my grandmother!” I cried in dismay, remembering the autocratic old lady, sitting upright in her chair, addressing me.

My stepmother nodded. “It is a great opportunity. You will find Horsham very different from here.” Again there came that disparaging look.

“You mean, I am going away … from home?”

It had suddenly become very dear to me, with all its squalor and deprivations—and its comforting freedom.

“You will look back on this place and wonder how you could have endured it.”

I was surprised that she could talk thus of her new home and the family which she had willingly accepted as her own; or was it willingly? Had the Troyes thought it good for their daughter to marry into the Howard family? Even to such an impoverished member of it?

“I would rather stay here,” I said.

“My dear child, you speak with folly! The Duchess has a fine establishment in Horsham. She also has a mansion in Lambeth, but it is to Horsham you will go.”

“Oh, no … please …”

“It is your father’s wish. He has long been anxious about you children, and hoped that one of the illustrious members of your family would help in this way.”

“But why me?”

“Because Her Grace took a liking to you. Come. You must not be foolish. You must rejoice in your good fortune.”

“I like being here with my brothers and sisters.”

“There is not one of them who will not envy you.”

“Must I go?”

She nodded. Then she laughed.

“Oh, you are indeed foolish to be the smallest bit downcast. This is great good luck for you. You will grow up as a Howard should. I know it is great distress to your father that he could not give his family what by right of birth should be theirs. You must never forget that you belong to the Howard family, which is one of the foremost in England. The Howards have been close friends of kings and would have remained in favor if they had not been true to the House of York. They have always been loyal upholders of the Crown, and if York had not been defeated by Tudor, they would have continued in their glory. It was a Duke of Norfolk who carried Richard III’s sword of state at his coronation.”

“I know,” I said. My mother had told me that many times. Were they not always reminding me of the importance of the family?

She was not to be diverted. I expected she had had to listen to such talk when she had been persuaded to marry a man who could offer her, along with a ready-made family and a life of poverty, a famous name.

“Your grandfather was committed to the Tower because he was loyal to a king to whom he had sworn allegiance, and you know he was robbed of his titles and estates because of this. Fortunately for him, King Henry VII was an astute man and recognized his qualities, and after Flodden, he restored him to favor.”

It had been told to me many times, I reminded her.

“Your grandmother, the second wife of this illustrious Duke, is now offering you a home with her. You cannot be so young and ignorant as not to realize what this means. The Duchess would be received at Court. Who knows, there might be a time when you could go there. Imagine that—especially now, when your cousin might be very highly placed. So you are a foolish child indeed if you do not rejoice in this great good fortune which is to come to you.”

“When am I to go?”

“The Duchess is already sending those who will conduct you to her house. You will not take much with you.” She smiled ruefully. “What have you to take? Not those patched gowns of yours, certainly. Oh, you will find it very different in the household of the Duchess! She is sending grooms and there will be a woman to look after you. It is all settled and soon you will have said good-bye to all this.” She waved her hand disparagingly. “You will be living the life which will be right and proper for a young girl of such a family as that to which you belong.”

I was of a sanguine nature and, after the first shock, I began to look forward to the change.

My brothers and sisters were clearly envious. “Our grandmother of Norfolk,” they said. “Why, this could mean you have one foot in the Court.”

I tried to imagine what it would be like at Court. Dancing, singing, fine clothes and a glimpse of the King who, so I had heard, was big, strong and handsome. There was talk about a “secret matter,” which must be very exciting, particularly because my own cousin Anne was involved in it.

Of course, my grandmother would be there. She had changed in my imagination from the formidable old lady and become young and beautiful, exquisitely gowned, taking me to Court with her. I must make the deepest curtsy I had ever made to the King … and the Queen, the lady from Spain, who had been married to the King’s brother before he died. I was surprised that I could remember so much of that, for I had listened only vaguely in the past.

So, I forgot my fears and basked in the envy of my siblings, and on that day when the little cortège arrived at Lambeth, prepared to take me on the journey to Horsham, I was in a mood of eager anticipation.

I WAS OVERAWED BY THE GRANDEUR of my new home and, as we approached the great stone edifice with its battlemented towers and embrasures, I felt a touch of nostalgia for the one I had left.

We passed through the gates and were in a cobbled courtyard. There seemed to be people everywhere, chattering, laughing, and all very interested in our arrival.

One girl cried out: “’Tis Her Grace’s granddaughter. She is come!”

They clustered round me, laughing, familiar, friendly.

“Her Grace did say that Mistress Katherine Howard should be brought to her as soon as she arrived.”