Chapter X
The Lion's Den
"How long do you think it will be until the King passes over Lady Anne in favour of Lady Jane?" Richard wondered idly. He and Bess stood on the balcony above the dance floor in the great hall, wine in hand.
The girl glanced around and upon seeing that they were away from prying eyes replied, "Do you think he will?"
Richard gulped a mouthful of wine and nodded with his pursed together. Concentration shown in the position of his eyebrows. She smiled. "Most definitely. The rumours are that Queen Anne has become unhinged. People whisper that she throws grand parties in her chambers without the permission of the King," He leaned closer, "and engages is the most erotic acts with all her male courtiers."
"No.." Bess gasped quietly, their faces close together like giggling schoolchildren as they exchanged gossip. "Really?"
"It's said that she even has relations with her brother." Richard nodded seriously with one eyebrow cocked. A look which made his notorious wealth of filthy hearsay difficult to doubt.
"That cannot be. She can't have."
"Do you know her well?"
"Well of course not, she's the Queen of England and I am a servant."
"Then how do you know what she can or cannot do?" He fixed her with a smug smile and she drank some more wine instead of throwing another remark at him. "That is what I thought."
He watched her for a while in silence as her murky blue-back eyes followed the dancers below them. Then he nudged her softly with an elbow and asked "Do you not wish to dance tonight, Bess?"
"Not tonight."
Now Richard was a fairly intelligent man, not in the way of sums or spelling, but in a quickness that too many people lacked. It was the ability to judge your surroundings perfectly, to notice the odd titbits which were out of place and immediately infer why it was so. This gave him the talent of scandal above all else. Richard was an expert in piecing together the rich and dirty stories that came spilling out of the cracks in court life; pillow talk with one of the serving girls, an overhead conversation at supper, or two horses to be saddled instead of one for a noble Lord's daily outing. He somehow sorted the fragments which seemed completely unrelated and fitted them into place like a wonderful jigsaw puzzle.
So Richard was easily able to see that Bess's dress was slipping on her shoulders and that shadows gathered darker than ever under the ridges of her collarbones. He could see that her skin was almost translucent pale and underlined with webs of dark blue veins. Her cheekbones protruded more than usual and there were shadowy bruises mottling under sleep deprived eyes.
He laid his hand gently on the small of her back, not too high and not too low, and felt the indents of her spine through the dress fabric. "Are you weary?" He asked her.
"I haven't really been sleeping at all." She answered finally. Bess glanced up from the dancing to see his concerned face and promptly looked away again.
"Is it the food?" Richard prodded. He had been similar in his own first few months at court. The rich food and the alcohol took some getting used to and more often than not he had vomited it all back up again anyway. Bess had only been at court three weeks and the effect seemed detrimental on her. With being such a skinny little thing beforehand her body couldn't take losing much more of its mass, eventually he knew that she would keel over and faint.
The girl finally gazed at him properly and nodded. "It makes me sick and then I can't sleep. I get more and more exhausted every day. I can't concentrate, I drop things, forget to answer if the Lady Hertford speaks to me." Bess rubbed her eyes roughly with the back of her hand. She seemed so grey and miserable that Richard had to wrap his arm around her to comfort his little sparrow girl. She felt so fragile in his strong arms.
"Come with me." He whispered against her hair and led her away across the balcony, through a maze of corridors and down into the bowels of the Palace to the court kitchens. The smell of good, hearty food and brewed tea struck her nose and Bess nestled tighter into Richard's side.
"Good evening, ladies." He greeted the serving girls with a mocking sweep of a bow. The young women giggled and swatted at him cheekily and shouted things. Richard walked through the kitchen with Bess trailing by his hand and, sensing her nerves, twirled her around as they walked. Through a small door was the servant dining hall. It was a simple stone walled room with a long scrubbed wooden table and mess benches. Filled with the warm of a fire and the raucous laughter and chatter of its inhabitants. It was loud and common and Bess clutched Richard's hand as they passed into the room. As a group of the other grooms glanced up and caught sight of Richard loud sweeps of greeting passed through the air. Two of the boys shoved up as far as they could on the bench to make space for them and as the two new comers took a seat Bess was warmly welcomed as well. They took her hand amiably and immediately launched her into the conversation they were having. Beneath his touch Richard could feel Bess relax. Her courtly pretence falling away like an exhale of breath. The common tone of her northern voice came flooding back and Richard's warmth pressed tightly against her side forced her heart to finally beat normally again.
"'Ere you go, darlin'. We need to get some meat on your bones there." An enormous lady in a cook's apron set a bowl of thick vegetable soup down in front of Bess with a grin. "And some hot wine to warm them cockles o' your heart."
Bess smiled gratefully, scooping soup onto her wooden spoon and tucking in. It was simple food, food for the soul. The taste of her home in a bowl. The heat slipped down her throat and for the first time since she had eaten at court she didn't feel sick.
Richard leaned over and murmured against her ear. "I thought this might help."
"You were right."
Bess melted into the sound of talking and chuckles, eating every bit of her soup slowly and sipping down the mulled wine. Every now and then Richard would touch her hand or her back to make sure she was still happy, and every time she was. She was happy to even be in the company of such a lovely, popular man. People at the table were always clamouring for his attention, asking him questions, wanting his opinion. It was clear that they all adored him and Bess wasn't surprised. Soon they coaxed the latest gossip from his lips and all ears turned attentively to the newest stories. The crofter's daughter found herself smiling at the animated motions of his arms and the twinkle in his eyes. Richard was born to be a storyteller.
After an hour or so, Richard rose from the table and offered Bess his hand. "I should get you back."
Reluctantly Bess followed and cries of goodbye followed them out the door. She waved shyly at one of the other stable boys whom she had been talking to. He sent her a cheeky wink, only to be scolded by Richard with a slap on the back of the head as he passed.
They walked slowly through the corridors towards the Hertford apartments and Richard kept his fingers tangled in Bess's. When they came to the back entrance, where servants were supposed to enter, Richard turned to gaze at her intently. His cerulean eyes glinted in the dull light. Bess swallowed.
"Thank you for what you did tonight, Richard."
"My pleasure." His voice was quiet and husky. He didn't say anything else he just raised his hands slowly and brushed the pads of his thumbs across her cheeks softly. Nothing else was needed except that small gesture of tenderness. "Goodnight, Bessie."
"Goodnight." She squeezed his wrists where they cradled her neck and smiled before turning away and slipping through the door into the apartments.
"Sweet dreams." She heard as the door closed behind her.
With a full belly and a head hazy with wine Bess tiptoed through the apartment checking each room for activity before passing through it. She was almost to the door of her bedchamber when she caught sight of an elegant figure seated in an armchair in the reception room. Bess froze flat against the wall, hoping that he had not seen her but the dim snap of a book closing made her clench her jaw.
"I wondered when you would make an appearance." Bess moved slowly forward into the dying light of the fire as was expected when a noble addressed you. "Your servant friend was worrying herself stupid." When the girl didn't answer Lord Hertford stared her directly in the eye frostily. "Where were you?"
"I felt extremely faint my Lord, I excused myself from the court for a breath of fresh air."
"A breath of fresh air." He mused. "Because I was sure I saw you leave the hall with your little stable boy." Again Bess didn't answer. "Am I wrong, answer me girl?"
"Yes." She muttered "I was with Richard. He took care of me."
"I imagine so. But you will not see him again."
Suddenly anger burnt in Bess's throat. "Why?"
"Because I am telling you not to."
"That is not a reason…my Lord. I have every right to see a friend in my own time."
"Not if your master deems him inappropriate. And I am your master and I do so deem him."
It may have been the wine but in Bess's stomach her nerves clenched, like steel cables drawn tight. She shook her head so faintly Edward may have seen it as a tremble. The she swallowed, took a step forward and told him simply. "No."
Lord Hertford looked up slowly, his lips drew back to reveal sharp white teeth. "No?" He swung from his chair and crossed the room so swiftly Bess thought it must have been a trick. She flinched away and her back struck the wall. He continued to advance on her and in that instant Bess regretted every choice she had made. She regretted her schooling; she regretted getting the job, coming to court, meeting Edward Seymour, dancing with Richard and that last comment more than anything else. Inside her head she shouted and cursed her own stupidity. She should have stayed in the north. Should've gone hungry, gotten cold, married a simple man, had children and died young in the harsh winter.
She should never have come to this place, to the lion's den.
"I-I shouldn't have s-said that, I'm sorry, sorry milord." She tried to melt into the stone behind her, shivering all over. But the heat was there as always. Blistering heat and frigid cold flushes flashed over her skin in quick chorus.
The room was so quiet that Bess could only hear her own breath. Lord Hertford came to a halt just a hair's breadth from her and laid a delicate set on fingers lightly on her throat, like a lover would. Her teeth fastened down onto her bottom lip so tightly that scarlet blood began to well from the indents. Slowly a bead tilted over the peak of her full lip and fell onto the white skin of her chin. Like a bloody tear. Edward tsked almost silently and keeping his eyes boring into hers, her bent his face and rescued the bead on his tongue in one slow lick.
A half strangled gasp lifted from Bess's mouth and she struggled to untangle herself in panic. But Lord Hertford's grip had turned to iron around her neck. Animal instinct surged through the farm girl and she wriggled to break free. Bess lunged away, twisting so her back was free and tried to stumble away but Edward's arms flashed out and snatched her up.
Her spine pressed tight against his chest and he restrained her body with one arm and her mouth with her other. Muffled protests were hardly audible behind his grip and her body shook all over trying to escape.
"Stop." He breathed huskily against the flesh of her exposed neck. Her breast heaved against the bodice of her dress from her labours. Edward's lips drifted the length of her stretched throat before settling a long, sultry kiss beneath her ear. Bess trembled. At first it had been from terror but now she feared it was desire. That she would give into it. Lord Hertford felt the tense strings of her shoulders slacken ever so slightly and she pressed against him tighter of her own accord. He smirked against her hot skin. Mouth moving to attend the naked lobe of her ear, pulling softly with his teeth. Beneath the press of Edward's hand came a quiet whimper.
His arms released and spun the girl so she faced him. In one quick motion Lord Hertford's strong hands moved and cradled her neck, bringing his lips close to hers. "Kiss me." He growled by way of command.
Bess stared him down with murky blue-black eyes. She pushed her desire down with all her strength.
"Never." She told him and wrenched free of his grip and went skittering off down the hall into darkness.