Blythe Gifford - Rumours At Court

‘Your Grace?’ Gil called. ‘The invasion plan?’

A wave of the hand, but the man did not turn. ‘Tomorrow, yes.’

He watched Lancaster and the Castilian walk away, and when they paused for the Duke to present the priest to Lady Katherine, Lady Valerie stepped away, standing beyond their circle.

Yet she was the one who drew Gil’s gaze. Surrounded by the colour and noise and bustle of the hall, in her plain garb and wimple, she was still, calm, almost frozen, like one of the statues of the Virgin Mary.

Thinking of her lost husband? Or of the woman who had last loved him?

The dirty silk burned like an ember against his chest.

Abruptly, he left the Hall and walked outside. The winter air would clear his head.

The sun was low in the sky and daylight fading fast. Looking out over the darkening river, he tried to remember more of Lady Valerie’s husband. Gil had been a commander who prided himself on knowing his men, yet he had noticed nothing unusual about Scargill. Men in war satisfied their needs as they must.

He wondered who the woman had been. Not a noble woman, he was certain. Not a lady deserving of a knight’s devotion. One of the camp followers, probably. He could barely tell one from another except for the laundress who did his washing. But in the midst of war, strange things could move a man’s passions. Faced daily with death, a man might cling to a woman as a way to cling to life...

And a man’s wife never to know better.

The frigid air blunted the smell from the river and when he reached the edge of the quay, he pulled the dead man’s token from his tunic, as soiled and stained as the relationship itself. He held it over the water, then dropped it into the darkness. For a moment, the white fabric drifted like a feather. Then it hit the river and was sucked beneath the waves.

His duty was done. Never to be thought of again.

He turned back to enter the palace, feeling a moment’s sympathy for Lady Valerie. Better the Duke marry her quickly to a man who would get some children on her and make her forget.

He hoped her new husband would be kinder than her last.

Chapter Three

Valerie joined the Queen’s household in the Savoy Palace but as the days went on, she saw little of Constanza, or La Reina, as the Queen liked to be called. Lent had begun and the woman spent most of her days either on her knees in her chapel or on her back in her bed.

Of Castile’s ‘King’, Valerie saw nothing at all. Lancaster settled a generous sum on his wife, so the Queen could run her household as befitted her rank.

And then started coming the gifts.

Week upon week, the Clerk of the Wardrobe would arrive at the door with another treasure for the Queen of Castile and deliver it into Valerie’s careful hands. Cloth of gold. Circlets set with emeralds and rubies. Loose pearls by the handfuls. Pearls enough to fill buckets. Pearls to be made into buttons, sewed on dresses, sprinkled on adornments for her hair.

Wealth such as Valerie had never imagined, placed in her care. And she would take each offering to the Queen, telling her it was another gift, a mark of respect from her husband. And each time, the woman turned her head away, muttering.

‘El único regalo que quiero es Castilla.’

Valerie had learned enough words by now to know her meaning.

The only gift I want is Castile.

Her faint connection to Castile had touched the Queen, but it had no such effect on the ladies surrounding her, who were less than pleased to have another Inglésa added to the household. Not only did the Castilian women not speak the language, they had no interest in learning anything of England and, as a result, Valerie heard neither news nor rumour from the court.

She and Lady Katherine, both ignored, clung to each other’s company. The Queen’s ladies did not invite them to gather for music or needlework and if the English ladies entered the room, the Castilians hovered close to the Queen as if to protect her from danger.

‘Do they think I plan to steal her child?’ Katherine muttered one evening as they sat together in their rooms by the fire. ‘I have my own children to mind.’

Valerie flinched. Perhaps the Castilians had seen the hunger in her own eyes, for it became evident, as February’s days grew longer, that the Queen was with child. Shapeless gowns and cloaks had masked her condition when she arrived, but in the privacy of her quarters, it was plain to see.

And Valerie, whose womb had never held a babe, was seized by sinful envy.

God had made both Constanza and Katherine fruitful. Where were the children of her womb? Had God forsaken her? Or would things be different with another man?

‘The Queen and her ladies are alone in a strange country,’ she said. She would feel the same, she was certain, if she were ever exiled and sent to an alien land. ‘I’m sure that is the source of their fear. Not us.’

‘I have seen little fear in that woman,’ Katherine muttered.

Valerie could not disagree. When La Reina did rise from her bed, she was straight-spined and clear-eyed and the orders she issued about the ceremonies of her exiled court showed that she had no doubt of her title and position, here or in Castile.

‘But her ladies all seem angry,’ Valerie said. Despite all her smiles and attempts to appease them, there had been nary a nod in return. ‘What if she complains to the Duke of our care?’

Katherine smiled, serene. ‘Do not worry. He knows.’

As if he knew Katherine so deeply that... Not a thought to be followed. ‘You served his first wife. He knows your worth. He knows nothing of me.’

Katherine laid light fingers on her arm. ‘I will not let that woman undermine you.’

Perhaps, Valerie thought. But this Castilian court in exile was all that stood between her and a new husband. If the Queen decided to be rid of her, there would be no recourse.

A knock on the door. A page entered. ‘The Queen commands your presence, Lady Valerie.’

She rose, uncertain whether to rejoice or be afraid.

‘Here. Let me.’ Katherine tucked a stray hair back beneath her wimple. ‘Now you look lovely. Go. See what the woman wants.’

Valerie followed the page to the Queen’s quarters.

Constanza, La Reina, sat in a throne-like chair, wearing a headpiece unlike any Valerie had seen in the English court. It hugged her head, with beading draped around, and came to an upward point in the middle of the forehead. It hid her hair, but made her eyes look huge.

Her priest, who served as her interpreter, was at her side.

Valerie curtsied and stood, waiting. Whispers.

‘You are a widow,’ the man said, finally.

She touched the wimple. ‘Sí, Your Grace. My husband died in the service of your husband.’

More whispers, then the priest spoke again. ‘La Reina still mourns her father. She understands your pain.’

Valerie bowed her head and murmured her thanks, while sending a silent prayer that the Queen would never, truly, understand how she felt about her husband’s death.

A silence, then. Awkward.

The Queen was struggling to hold herself erect, though it was evident that carrying the heir was not easy for her. Valerie had heard her complaints ranged from bleeding in her gums to rawness of the throat and stomach. And, now, in the same room with her, Valerie could smell that someone had broken wind.

‘I have not properly congratulated Your Grace,’ she said, hurriedly. ‘That you are to become a mother.’

The Queen smiled, an expression more joyful than Valerie had ever seen from her. No, it was beyond joy. Near heavenly bliss.

The priest translated her words. ‘Yes, praise God. When we return to Castile, it will be with a son. My father will be avenged.’