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Arthur took Henry's hand and they reappeared in Elizabeth's private chambers, her ladies in waiting were dancing and musicians were entertaining her with their beautiful symphony's. Elizabeth was clapping and laughing as her ladies went around dancing merrily, Henry noticed that a lady amongst them was an old friend of Robert's - Lady Essex.
'Lady Essex is remarried following the death of Lord Essex in Ireland as Lord Deputy' Arthur said with a smile on his face, Henry nodded looking for any similarities between he and Lady Essex, he was almost sure he had not fathered lady Mary Boleyn's children, maybe he would have descendents.
'Lady Essex' Elizabeth called and Lettice Knollys curtseyed to the Queen.
'How are your children, since the death of their father?' Elizabeth asked her softly and Lettice smiled in return.
'Their spirits have improved my lady, my eldest Robert has become the man of the house in the permanent absence of his father' The grieving widow replied with a short giggle.
'I doubt there has been a shortage of suitors for your hand?' Elizabeth asked with a smirk and Henry raised an eyebrow, did Elizabeth not remember that lady Essex was remarried -!
'Ohhhhhh' Henry said suspiciously and Arthur nodded though he refrained from smiling or laughing like he usually did when something horrible happened.
'Robert has married Lady Essex in secrecy and is terrified Elizabeth will find out, only a dozen or so know that Robert is married to Lady Essex, Hatton is one of them as is Cecil' Arthur informed him and Henry watched Elizabeth none the wiser as she chatted with her cousin's daughter. A lady announced the arrival of Lord Leicester, and Henry watched as Robert came through the door with Christopher Hatton, both of them bowed to Elizabeth who greeted them. Henry did find it amusing when Leicester straightened and his eyes wandered to his wife and he seemed surprised by her appearance but was fighting the feeling off his face, thankfully Hatton kept Elizabeth distracted.
'My lady the French ambassador is imploring us to announce his arrival and proposal of marriage from the duke of Anjou' Hatton said while Robert's eyes strayed to his secret wife, Henry looked on in disgust.
'And who is the duke of Anjou?' Henry asked looking towards Leicester and his smiling wife.
'Francois de Valois, duke of Anjou younger brother of King Henri III of France, Charles IX is dead, his brother the former duke of Anjou succeeded him, and now Francois who was born 'Heracles' is now the duke of Anjou and is courting Elizabeth, she is forty six, he is twenty four' Arthur said and Henry was disgusted once again for a different reason, she was old enough to his mother!
'How many of Francis's grandsons are alive now?' Henry asked trying not to sound too hopeful.
'Two are dead, two are still alive but Henri III has still not produced an heir to the throne, so his brother is the heir presumptive' He said and Henry frowned, there was no way Elizabeth would give them an heir. Would it be the end of the Valois as well as the Tudors? Henry smiled.
'How do you perceive the duke's interest?' Elizabeth asked Hatton and Leicester who turned his eyes back to Elizabeth with a frown.
'Ridiculous' Leicester said with little thought and Hatton fought a smile, as Elizabeth looked at her former beau sharply, Hatton again came to the rescue.
'What my lord Leicester means your majesty is that you could surely do much better' Hatton said and Elizabeth smiled indulgently at Hatton, but Henry was seeing the aging of Elizabeth's face, and was beginning to think the Frenchman could do better.
'I think it may be a good idea, the King of Spain has recently sent more threats of war to our isle and we must do what we can to protect England from an attack' Elizabeth said to Hatton and Leicester while Lettice Knollys watched on in interest. Elizabeth called out to her women suddenly.
'My ladies please leave the room while I speak with Sir Christopher and Lord Leicester' She called to them and they left, Lettice hesitated before doing as her Queen bid her, Henry noticed her eyes lingering towards her husband and sadly he noted there seemed to be genuine affection between the two. Leicester turned away from his retreating wife and Henry spotted Elizabeth shoot him a look, he dropped his eyes to his feet and she ignored what she thought was merely a flirtation and continued as if everything was how she wanted it to be.
'Philip of Spain is threatening war on us, it may be helpful to use the French connection as a way of making him hesitate before he thinks to attack us' She said and Leicester impatiently shifted on his feet.
'Your majesty with all due respect, the people of England would not put up with the idea of a French King' Robert said and Henry nodded, just how they would not put with a Spanish King, or and English Dudley King…what King did they want?
'Well they would have found it convenient had either of us produced an adult English King….. But we failed' Arthur muttered and Henry sighed wistfully, yes they did fail.
'Sir Christopher you may allow the French ambassador in my presence' He said and Robert sighed barely managing to contain his contempt, Arthur turned to Henry.
'Elizabeth knows she has aged and knows that this will probably be her final suitor' Arthur said and Henry nodded, she should have married Dudley and had children, Henry felt odd about having no descendents, he was also preoccupied with the thought that when he died his sister Mary was going to be insufferable. He felt also that he did not blame Elizabeth for not marrying, it was an odd feeling to blame himself before someone else. The French ambassador came in, and Elizabeth and he spoke of the gracious duke of Anjou as Hatton and Dudley stood to the side.
'Thank you for the invitation to your wedding' Hatton muttered and Robert looked alarmed at the conversation and glanced worryingly towards Elizabeth. Hatton grinned at Robert's face.
'Although I must add, if her majesty finds out about the ceremony and celebration afterwards, I was not there' Hatton said and Robert smiled and replied.
'If her majesty finds out bout the wedding, I was not there' they chuckled secretly together and Henry noticed Elizabeth's eye slide towards them before pulling her attention back towards the ambassador. Arthur touched Henry's hand again and they reappeared following Elizabeth down her corridor with several of her ladies. The ladies were all chuckling and talking about several courtiers - one name Walter Raleigh was named quite frequently - as Elizabeth smiled at the mention of the man.
'Here we go again' Henry muttered shaking his head, hopefully he would not have to put up with any more of his daughter's flirtations, she should have married, there is no true excuse for her imprudence, even if she had a horrible father.
Henry watched as Elizabeth reached her rooms and entered, he watched as his daughter rubbed her eyes tired as her ladies made preparations for her bath, they were speaking of the duke of Anjou again, Elizabeth nodded barely listening as they spoke about his supposed mediocre beauty. Henry had never laid eyes on Henri II, Francis's son but Francis apparently was deemed 'handsome'.
'The duke of Anjou caught smallpox when he was a small boy, it left pockmarks on his face, from an early age he grew a beard to cover it, his pockmarks are rather known throughout Europe, and especially here now that Elizabeth and he are corresponding with one another' Arthur the all knowing said and Henry nodded listening obediently thinking how as soon as he returned to his own time, Mary wasn't the only daughter getting married. Henry watched as Elizabeth's ladies scuttled around, unlike Mary Elizabeth seemed to care if the ladies had any beauty in them and Henry's eyes wandered around to young ladies who were young enough to be his great grandchildren at this stage - not that he would have any. Henry looked to Elizabeth with a scowl and watched as she slowly removed some of her jewellery, she removed her precious ring with the small image of her mother and lay it gently on a table. He watched as her brow creased when she saw a letter in an envelope and she delicately picked it up and eyed it.
'My ladies did some courtier leave me a letter?' She asked curiously, but they all knew nothing of the kind. Elizabeth curiously opened the letter, pulling the parchment out of the envelope and held up for her to read, he noticed she kept it away from her to read and realised her eyesight was beginning to trick her, just as his had, and just as his father's had. Henry grew worried when he saw as the colour in her face slowly drained, he saw her shake her head in denial and he itched to read the letter himself. He watched as she closed the letter and then closed her eyes as if she were in pain. Quite suddenly he watched her lips tightening in thought and whatever shock she experienced was suddenly replaced with anger. Elizabeth turned around and made her way towards her door and before anyone could call her back walked briskly outside and down the corridor, Henry and Arthur ran to keep up with her.
'What was in the letter?' Henry asked a number of scenarios going around and around in his head, all as unlikely as the next.
'The letter informed her that Robert had secretly married to Lettice Knollys' Arthur said and Henry gasped - who would be so cruel to write it in a letter? He would have preferred Robert to tell Elizabeth himself like a man.
'Like how you failed to inform Catalina you were abandoning her, and then rode off away with Anne Boleyn' Arthur said and Henry eyed him dangerously.
'You two are never going to let that go are you?' Henry asked wearily and Arthur smiled, well perhaps he would. They continued following Elizabeth who came to halt at one of the royal apartments, Henry was slightly certain that they were at Richmond once again, the changes of the building was distorting. Elizabeth pounded on the door, and Henry winched her fist would hurt in the morning.
'That looked sore' Arthur said agreed and Henry nodded, the door was opened by a startled Robert Dudley, his hair was sticking up in all directions, his doublet hanging off him, and frilly shirt was open revealing his greying chest hair, Henry paused wondering if Elizabeth had ever seen that.
'Elizabeth?' He whispered sleepily, she shoved past him and he almost fell over from surprise and the force. Henry and Arthur glanced to one another and went in quickly before Robert closed the door, they watched as Elizabeth turned angrily towards Robert.
'Is this true?' She demanded holding the letter up in the air, Robert blinked several times but looked clueless - his mouth agape, his eyes squinted in the moonlit darkness.
'What is it?' He asked yawning and stretching, he went over to a candle and lit it, to put some light into the room. He turned to Elizabeth and frowned confused, he began to close up his doublet realising the Queen of England was seeing him uncouth, unless Elizabeth had been already been uncouth with him.
'It is a letter written to me, informing me that you are a married man' She said and Henry saw Robert freeze as he got to his second last button. He looked up quietly, and with a good reason to fear.
'Who wrote that?' Robert said walking towards her reaching out for the letter, she jerked it away from him. She shook it at his face.
'Is it true?' She demanded angrily, Henry saw in the dark her eyes were welling up, she was shaking involuntarily and Robert looked devastated at her discovery. He put his hands through his hair.
'I was going to tell you' He said quickly which meant he had no intention of doing so, and Elizabeth shook her head, he went closer to her but she shoved him away.
'You're a liar!' She cried at him angrily and he shook his head shushing her as surely she was about to waken all in Richmond Palace with her banshee wails.
'No I was going to tell you, I just did not know how Elizabeth!' He said pleading with her desperately, he tried to take her hand but she slapped him across the face, the sound of the sting echoed around the quiet room causing her to flinch.
'Why have you done this, why did you have to do this?' She said putting her head in her hands dropping the letter to the floor, he bent over to retrieve it, he stuffed it in his doublet and took her forearms and directed her to an arm chair, she sat allowing him to lead the way, and shaking he started a fire, he got back to his feet and took out the letter to read as Elizabeth silently stared into the fire, her eyes glazing with unshed tears. Henry watched as Robert pinched the bridge of his nose when he finished reading, there was a look of anger in his eyes and Henry had a sneaky suspicion he knew who had wrote the letter, Henry hoped he would share his conclusion, Henry wasn't trusting Cecil, or perhaps Norfolk did it, he had as much brains as his father by the sound of his haughtiness.
'So it all true?' Elizabeth asked quietly and Robert nodded, and cleared his throat to speak.
'It is, I married Lettice a few months previously in a small ceremony' He said and she stared at him blinking several times, then suddenly turned around at the table next to her and picked up a goblet, Robert moved backwards as if to get ready to dive for cover but she picked up the bottle of wine and poured herself a very generous portion, she noticed his position on the edge of his chair and let out a bitter laugh. She remained silent and drank deeply.
'You married my cousin' She said emotionless, Robert moved towards her and sat on the chair next to her.
'It could have been worse, he could have strayed to a sister, if she still had one' Arthur muttered as Henry shook his head, he mentally told his brother there was nothing wrong with going from one sibling to the other...ask Catalina.
'Elizabeth…I…?' Robert trailed off not knowing what to say and Henry sighed at how broken hearted Elizabeth looked. Elizabeth looked up to him and stared into his eyes panic on her expression.
'Do you love her?' She asked and Robert stalled too long, and Elizabeth's face crumbled and she put her head in her hands once again. Robert put his fingers through her hair caressing her head, she shook her head and he pulled his hand away.
'You love her' She said looking up and Robert rubbed his face.
'Yes I love her, and she loves me, she loves me in the way I've wanted to be loved by you for so long' Robert said and Elizabeth stood gritting her teeth at him.
'So this is all my own fault' She stand up and Robert looked stricken and shook his head.
'Of course not, I wanted to marry, I wanted to have children' Robert explained but Elizabeth was looking everywhere but at him.
'Men and heirs' She muttered darkly and Henry had a horrible feeling he featured in her thoughts in that moment, Robert shook his head.
'It is not about heirs, I want a son yes, to succeed me - yes, but I want several sons, boys to go riding with, teach how to hunt and hawk, sons to watch grow into fine young men, but I also want daughters, daughters to dote upon, watch them become beautiful women, watch them come to their first banquet, their first dance, I even want grandchildren, I have disliked for so long being childless' He explained but Henry was sure Elizabeth was not listening as she drank more and more wine and toyed with the heavy gold goblet that rested in her hand, if Henry had been Robert he would have removed it from her.
'I knew you would do this eventually…. One day' She muttered bitterly to him and he shook his head, he suddenly looked annoyed with her - Queen of England or not.
'And what of your part in this extensive courtship? You knew from the time you were seven that you would never marry, you enjoyed having me by your side all those years because I was married to Amy, and therefore I could never pressure you to marry me, and then when she died, you were upset, but was it because it was dangerous to marry? Or was it because suddenly I was a free man? did you ever really consider marrying me?' Robert asked Henry frowned in sympathy for him, it looked to Henry also that Elizabeth strung him along. Elizabeth did not think that way and rounded on her once royal favourite.
'You were the only man I ever thought I would marry, I did not string you along' She said darkly and Robert seemed to become braver, Henry thought it was good for them that they were finally getting all anger out on each other, it had been building up for twenty years.
'I asked you, I asked you over and over again' He hissed at her and Elizabeth's eyes flashed.
'You asked me to marry me because you wanted to be King' She spat back at him and he did not deny it but still looked at her in exasperation.
'How can you expect a man not be attracted to that, but it was more than having a crown, I could have married Mary of Scots if I wanted one, but I loved you, I still love you, I was always honest Elizabeth, I always told you what I wanted, love, marriage, and children and I have never lied and said being King was not alluring to me, I made no secret that I was just as ambitious as any other courtier' He insisted waving his hands frantically around to stress his point, Elizabeth gritted her teeth, Henry was reminded of himself, both of them being told by a lover truths they did not want to hear.
'And had I married you, you think you would have remained loyal to me? Douglas Howard and now Lettice Knollys' She said waving that goblet around threateningly, Dudley was wisely keeping an eye on its movement as he shot back at her.
'Or was it because I was a Dudley, you did not dare marry me? Was it because you would have to marry the grandson and son of traitors' He asked angrily,
'Keep speaking to me in that tone and I'll ensure you live up to your family's name and legacy' She hissed back at him. Robert seemed to remember he was speaking to a woman who could throw him into the Tower of London if it pleased her and backed down. Dudley's face changed to regret. Henry watched shaking his head disapprovingly as Elizabeth sat down and leaned back into the chair.
'Marriage would have changed everything' Elizabeth whispered defiantly and Robert dropped to his honkers, his aging knees creaking and took her hand in his gently stroking it.
'What would have been mine, would have been yours, what would have been yours, would be have been yours' He swore and Elizabeth for once looked as if she believed him. Robert leaned towards her and Elizabeth hugged him, Henry saw her body shaking with silent sobs as he delicately stroked her hair shushing her gently.
'Stop' She muttered and Robert leaned back away from her slightly, their heads very close to each other and Henry thought they were about to kiss except the door of Robert's rooms opened quite suddenly.
'Robin I -Oh!' Lettice Knollys came to a stop when she saw her Queen and her husband intimately close, Robert drew back from Elizabeth instantly, a fete that did not go unnoticed by Elizabeth who looked at Lettice darkly.
'Ah lady Leicester!' Elizabeth said striding forward with a maliously glint in her eyes as Robert looked nervously on.
'Your majesty' Lettice curtsied, but Henry noticed she bravely stood with her back straight, she was a lot braver than her husband who was cowering in the background looking from wife to Queen. Henry tried to think of a scenario he experience like this and remembered that awful time Anne Boleyn had walked in on him with Sweet Jane, he hadn't known who look at, and who to send away, it was only when Anne looked to be the one to strike more damage did he tell Jane to fly the coop. It had been horrible standing between two woman who loved you. Henry looked to Elizabeth wondering if she would turn as violent as her mother would have had she not been carrying a baby.
'And did you think of seeking my permission before you married?' Elizabeth demanded and Lettice thought quietly for a moment.
'I assumed my husband had covered all necessary bases' Lettice said as Elizabeth's nostrils flared at the mention of Lettice's husband. Henry and Arthur glanced to one another, Henry was wondering if Elizabeth would get away with murder.
'Well what happened to his last wife, was not very pretty, I doubt many would be surprised at this one' Arthur muttered as they watched Elizabeth circle Lettice like a hawk. Henry looked at Arthur in concern.
'Elizabeth had nothing to do with that right?' He asked, he did not want Elizabeth to be like him in that way. Why would Elizabeth do that anyway, and not marry him? Arthur said nothing gesturing for Henry to watch and Henry turned to see Elizabeth stare at Lettice with as much hate as she could send with a glare, she would make her mother proud.
'And you thought you could marry Robin?' Elizabeth asked her voice catching but Lettice stared at her with some worry, but she was trying to look brave and strong and succeeded beautifully.
'Robin was unmarried your majesty, we are two grown adults and there were no imprudent obstacles in our way' Lettice said and Elizabeth clenched her fist, she moved towards Lettice and Robert moved towards Elizabeth and caught her in time as she swung a fist towards Lettice. Robert caught her and pulled her towards him.
'Lettice leave' He ordered his wife as he struggled to control Elizabeth while she shouted at him to unhand her. Henry thought Robert was being very brave at restraining the Queen of England, and thought his wife was stupid when she refused to leave, hesitating in the doorway.
'I said leave!' Robert bellowed at his wife, she glared at him and turned and left slamming the door behind her, Robert let go of Elizabeth immediately, as soon as Elizabeth got the chance she slapped him across the face, now both cheeks were stinging red.
'How dare you!' She screamed at him, Henry was sure she had woken up all of London, he could only imagine how all of Richmond were listening in. Robert held up his hand ashamed and nodded.
'I apologise Elizabeth but you have a strong punch, and she is with child' Robert said looking regretful and Elizabeth raised her hand again but put it down suddenly, she closed her eyes.
'She's with child' She whispered and Robert nodded, his hand resting on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and stared at him.
'I've loved you more than anything in my life, and I have been dreading this day since I realised I loved you' She said and Robert frowned.
'What day?' He asked
'When you'd love another' She whispered shaking her head, Robert moved towards her but she then started laughing rather hysterically causing him to freeze, Henry remembered what the spirit of Anne said "not as intemperate" - did she not see this?
'Leave court Robin, take your wife with you, she is not to come back, I never want to lay eyes on her, you are to return when I ask but for now I don't want to look at you either' She said turning and walking out of the room leaving Henry, Arthur and Lord Robert watching her trembling back. Henry watched as an exhausted Robert slumped down in front of the fire in a chair and sat like a child staring towards the door, a moment later his wife appeared looking like thunder. Robert was no happier to see her and stood quickly.
'How could you?' He asked sounding betrayed taking the letter from his breast and flinging it at her feet, she looked down and said nothing, Henry's eyes widened.
'It was her who sent the letter!' Henry said to Arthur who nodded proudly to him, as if Henry was his pupil and he got a question correct.
'But why?' Henry asked as he watched Robert walk past his wife leaving her in the room crying from what sweet Robin had just hissed angrily at her.
'She was jealous, she knows Elizabeth has a hold on Robin, she was jealous that she had to keep her marriage a secret, Robin in the typical husbandry way promised to tell Elizabeth, and in the usual wifely way Lettice had set a different deadline and had run out of patience' Henry muttered darkly about Mary Boleyn's granddaughter as he felt his brother touch against his hand. Henry glanced around at their new scenario, Elizabeth sat at her banqueting table in the great hall, Henry was at first surprised - but then didn't know why he was - when he spotted Robert Dudley next to Elizabeth. However Elizabeth's attention was not on Robert but on a younger man who sat next to her. He looked to be the age of a son Henry wished Elizabeth had, but Henry was sickened when Elizabeth and the child clearly began to flirt with each other, Henry looked to Robert desperately to stop this madness - all Leicester could do was glare in irritation in their direction. Hatton was on Leicester left but did not seem as jealous as Leicester appeared to be and was eying a younger model who walked by him.
'She is being ridiculous' Robert muttered furiously, Hatton looked at him wearily.
'Oh not again my lord Leicester, you already complained when the duke of Anjou arrived in the hall, you complained when we all began eating and just now when the musicians are about to play you complain yet again about the potential marriage of Anjou and our dearest Queen' Hatton said wearily shaking his head, he piled endless sources of food onto his plate, his youthful body keen to dance was long lost replaced by an older man's big round waist. Robert did not move his head in Hatton's direction and kept his eyes firmly on Anjou and Elizabeth. Henry sighed feeling like he could relate to Robert.
'I knew it was too good to be true, I knew in the end she would embarrass me, what is she doing with that boy?' Henry asked shaking his head. He looked to Elizabeth who was smiling at what Anjou was saying but while the boy glanced around the hall her eyes travelled down the table and met with Robert's, she nodded to him politely then turned back to face Anjou and a smirk was on her face.
'Anjou has come to England in hopes that Elizabeth would marry him, his brother Henri and he have not being getting along of the late and Anjou is hoping for support in the low countries to lead an expedition there, he like all annoying little royal brothers dream of wearing the crown himself and showing his own worth to his countrymen, and if he stands his brother up, all the better' Arthur said with a hint of a smile, as Henry realised he was speaking about them.
'Elizabeth on the other hand needs an ego boast, Lettice Knollys permanently exiled from court has recently just given birth to a legitimate son called Lord Robert Dudley, Baron Denbigh, the infant is their only son and they treasure him, Robert lives a rather good life with Lettice who has brought four children from her first marriage into her second, Robert cares very much for his stepchildren he did not lie when he said he wished to have many children, but as of now Lettice only conceived thrice and they only have the one son, occasionally Robert's other son his illegitimate son Robert lives with them, interestingly enough his stepson is also called Robert, it's all very confusing, I cannot imagine ever naming two sons the same name, how could I differentiate them?' Arthur asked baffled and Henry recalling he had several sons named Henry and he shrugged trying to explain.
'You want to have a son living on your name' Henry explained remembering the pride when holding Henry, duke of Cornwall, then Henry, Duke of Richmond, Henry though knew where Arthur was coming from.
'I suppose if all the children are playing together you need not call them all different names making your voice hoarse you can just shout the one name and they all come towards you' Arthur said ruefully and Henry smiled, in his defence though, Henry of Cornwall was dead before Henry Fitzroy was born, Leicester had no such excuses. Leicester was also apparently a happily married man and yet he continued to watch Elizabeth as she danced with Anjou, Leicester's age was catching up on him and he did not attempt to dance, nor did he ask his Queen who was virtually ignoring him. Hatton could not dance any longer, and the two old gents remained seated together complaining about the young bawdy Frenchmen who had accompanied the Valois Prince. Elizabeth on the other hand could still be swung around and dance in line with ladies young enough to be her adult daughters. A pang filled Henry's chest, Elizabeth would never have a daughter, Henry tried to image Elizabeth with a daughter and could see it, a daughter the image of her mother, a friend who would confide in her about a fancy over a man, the two could speak of fashion, dances, to speak about books and love. Did Elizabeth not regret never having her own children? Henry could imagine Mary's children, spoilt no doubt by the endless love Mary would have for them, perhaps on the fanatical side unless they could see their father the Lutheran was too nice to burn in hell for his aversion to Lutheranism. Henry felt instantly sorry for Edward's non existent children, especially if they might have been the children of Lady Jane Grey, the poor children would not have known what laughter sounded like. Henry watched as several young men danced with the Queen, Arthur muttered about one being called Walter Raleigh but Arthur called him 'Water' instead of Walter.
'He's from Devon it's how he pronounces his own name' Arthur added finding that amusing and Henry nodded looking at the latest tall, dark and handsome courtier Elizabeth was fawning over. Elizabeth may always moan about Robert's wandering eye, but had they married it would have been him needing to watch over her. Henry watched as Anjou and Elizabeth danced once more, the crowd cheered their aging Queen and her future child husband. The musicians played the Volta and Elizabeth paused in thought as Anjou asked her to dance.
'To the next one, I need a moment' She said and Anjou bowed and led her back to her seat, Henry smiled at Elizabeth's nostalgic moment, Robert was no longer glaring at her and had sat back in his chair watching the dance with a fond smile on his face. Henry watched as Elizabeth moved away from her chair and Anjou and went towards Robert who stood and bowed, although he did it slowly no longer the quickness of youth allowing him to bow any further than a few inches. Henry knew what that felt like as well.
'Robin' Elizabeth greeted with their old easy grace which Henry hadn't been expecting, suddenly Leicester became her Robin again and smiled loosely.
'Bess, good to see that you seem to be forever young and you unlike me are able to dance' He joked and she smiled
'We are the same age Robin, the day you are old, is the day I am old' She replied with a smile, Elizabeth opened her mouth and seemed to have difficulty speaking, finally she spluttered out her intentions.
'I came to congratulate you on the birth of your son Lord Denbigh' She said with a smile and Robert's grin grew at the mention of his infant son.
'My noble imp, that is what we - I call him' Robert said his smile fading slightly at the almost mention of his wife.
'What does young master Robert think of his new little brother?' Elizabeth asked cheerfully referring to Robert's illegitimate son, Robert continued to smile but he seemed slightly troubled.
'He is sad, he believes he is replaced, and he is beginning to learn now at the age of ten what illegitimacy means' Robert said and Elizabeth nodded a concerned frown on her face, she knew a thing or two about illegitimacy herself. The Volta was long over, the duke of Anjou was glancing towards her with impatience but Elizabeth remained with Robert as they spoke about his brother Ambrose who was ill once again, and still did not have any children with his younger wife. They spoke of Robert's sister Mary who was dear to Elizabeth and his nephew Philip Sidney who was dear to them both. They made no attempt to speak of Robert's wife, Elizabeth grew concerned when Robert broke away from the discussion and began to cough unhealthily.
'Are you unwell Robin?' She asked sounding gravely concerned and he shook his head.
'Of course not, I am simply a nine and forty year old man' He said with a smile and she rolled her eyes at him.
'It is what you eat, you constantly eat far to much meat than ought to be given to you' She complained and Robert muttered denials as Elizabeth began to list the vices regarding his eating habit's, Henry couldn't help but smile at the bickering duo as the little French prince watched on. Henry looked around to see Cecil watching them but oddly for once he was smiling, Hatton was too busy watching ladies dancing and Henry realised he was looking for new Norfolk.
'Did I not mention already?' Arthur said out loud looking disappointed in himself.
'Norfolk was executed for treason, he was rather foolish and tried to marry himself to Mary of Scots, but he was found out but too much of a coward to face Elizabeth, eventually he was brought to the tower, and Elizabeth curing herself of some qualms about executing family members and sentenced him to death with her privy council' Arthur said and Henry scoffed at the ambitions of the house of Howard.
'Surely there will be no more dukes of Norfolk' Henry said and Arthur shook his head.
'New Norfolk left a son named Philip Howard, the new - new duke of Norfolk' Arthur said with a smile and Henry chuckled, but thought darkly how some men had sons when they did not deserve them. Henry turned his attention to his daughter who finished listing what poor Robin should have for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
'Can you stay long for the festivities, there will be a barge ride down the Thames, fireworks, jousts, more banquets' Elizabeth said cheerfully, Robert smiled but shook his head.
'I cannot, I don't have the same energy and zeal for it anymore, the constant round of entertainments, while I enjoy visiting I need to remember my children, the eldest lord Essex is having some difficulty with his latest Spanish horse - even their animals cause Englishmen problems, young Walter has been ill for some time, nothing serious but he hates when I am away, and of course the girls will be anxious for me to bring them gifts from court, little Robin is worried we won't see each other for some time as he will be travelling to his mother's, and I cannot bear to be away from my little noble imp' Robert said proudly as Elizabeth smiled at him - it looked rather forced. Henry was sure Elizabeth was as surprised as he was at how much a family man Robert was turning out to be. Henry remembered his own father rivalled that, when the man wasn't counting his coins he would be with his mother, his wife, his daughters or with Henry himself usually in that order as well. Elizabeth had no such man to match against. Her father - he, Henry, had been awful to her for most of her life, she had no uncles who were alive, her one remaining grandfather who died when she was seven was a useless excuse of a father who would have used her as he saw fit.
'Sounds like you now have a busy home life' Elizabeth said with a small twinge of jealousy, Robert nodded smiling dreamily as if having four stepchildren, an infant son and an illegitimate son was what he wanted in life. Henry couldn't understand that, as much as he knew he treated his children badly, he would never truly wish to take back what he did in his life, he would still remember with much fondness those days of hunting, hawking, archery, bowls, dancing, singing, playing music, and falling in love. He would still enjoy being a much loved handsome young King, he wished though he could have been a more loving and attentive father, whilst doing all those things. Henry had the feeling Robert would happily remain in the countryside, with rarer trips to court save for Elizabeth.
'You should visit Kenilworth on one of your progresses' He said and she shot him the first warning look, the castle was obviously not big enough to share with Lettice, countess of Leicester. Robert shuffled on his feet and scratched the back of his neck unsure.
'She would visit a friend while you visit' He said cautiously, Elizabeth ignored the sentence and the mere mention of his wife.
'I hear you plan to send young Robin to Cambridge for his schooling' She said changing the subject, ever the dutiful servant Robert wisely went with her topic of conversation and informed her about his illegitimate son. Robert glanced to the duke of Anjou who was dancing with several young ladies and a frown came to Robert's face, Elizabeth turned her head to gaze in his line of direction.
'He is a lively bit of amusement is he not?' Elizabeth asked and Robert nodded looking sourly towards the duke of Anjou and his French adherents but said nothing, Elizabeth's age old tactic of trying to make him jealous was beginning to flare up.
'He is a lot more handsome than they give him credit for' She said glancing once again to Anjou, Henry privately thought her eyesight must be failing rapidly.
'How old is he? Twelve?' Robert asked with an edge in his voice, Elizabeth did not frown like Henry expected but smiled.
'Six and twenty, he was born in fifteen fifty five' Elizabeth said and Robert managed to refrain from making any other comments on the age difference, as sickening as it was.
'Are you really going to marry him?' Robert asked and Elizabeth smiled but the answer was clear on her face, Robert shook his head but he did force himself to smile.
'Don't break his heart' He warned chiding her gently and Elizabeth chuckled.
'No one has ever died of a broken heart' Elizabeth said shaking her head with a smile, Robert nodded.
'No, but they've come close to it' He said as Hatton managed to make his way towards them, Hatton bowed his great bulk flopping forward, Henry wondered if Robert was gleeful that his old rival had aged less gracefully than him. While Robert's shoulders had sagged from their former broadness, he was still lean, and he was slender to Hatton's roundness.
'Sir Christopher' Elizabeth greeted and Christopher Hatton nodded.
'Hope I'm not interrupting but Prince Francois de Anjou is becoming rather impatiently to have your attention, not that I could blame him' Christopher said charmingly, Robert shot him a rather degrading look from the corner of his eyes.
'How is your wife my lord Leicester?' Hatton asked cheerfully as Elizabeth gritted her teeth and looked towards her French beau, Robert eyed him but did not dare answer in Elizabeth's presence.
'Or should I ask how young lord Denbigh is?' Hatton asked and a genuine smile appeared once again on Robert's face.
'He is a chubby little boy, I adore him, you know how it is to hold your own child Sir Christopher' Robert said with a proud smile displayed on his face and Hatton nodded.
'I remember the first time I held my daughter Elizabeth' He said fondly and Elizabeth glanced back to them hearing her own name but realised she was not being addressed.
'What do you think of Sir Walter Raleigh?' She asked them glancing towards this Raleigh person, Dudley again scowled, as Hatton shrugged.
'A Devonshire man, bit of an adventurer I hear' Hatton said and Elizabeth nodded. Sir Walter approached them and bowed asking for the Queen's hand for a dance, she accepted and waltz off with the young man.
'How is your health?' Hatton asked Robert who shrugged moody once again as he eyed Raleigh.
'I am not as young as I used to be' He replied stiffly.
'There are some springs you could travel too, they are said to improve the health of those who visit them' Hatton suggested and Robert nodded.
'Perhaps I shall think about it' Leicester replied as he rubbed the pit of his stomach as he gazed towards his Queen.