Chapter 17
I was sitting in my bedchamber; Kat brushing my hair to prepare me for my first Privy Council meeting, when there was a knock at the door and Anne entered, dropping a swift curtsy to me.
"Your Majesty."
"Cousin." I nodded, treating her the way I always had, warmly and informally.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Of course."
"I know you've got your first Privy Council meeting this morning and I wanted to warn you to make any moves that favour Eleanor and Jessica Culpepper too much."
"And why not? They are my little sisters."
"Yes, but listen. I know you love them dearly, but in the eyes of the world, they are nothing but the unlawful offspring of a Howard -," Anne caught herself before she could call my mother a whore or a slut, instead hurrying on to the next part of her point.
"Unlike your half-brother, they don't even have royal blood in their veins. Your mother may have been Queen when she gave birth to them, but that power came from her marriage to your father, not her blood. Eleanor and Jessica haven't inherited it. If they had, it might redeem them from the taint of illegitimacy, but as it is, you can't treat them as your sisters, as you would Blanche, for example, or even the Lady Mary."
"That's not fair! Why should they have to be punished for our mother's sins?"
"It's just the way it is, Elizabeth. There's nothing we can do. Even the way you greeted them yesterday and let you ride into London with you was dangerous. You shouldn't have done it. The nobles forgave you because you were young and victorious; in the first flush of your triumph. It also happened to make a fine show for the common people, which helped, but they'll resent it if you continue to show Jess and Nora such favour."
I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it again. Inwardly, I knew Anne was right. I couldn't fawn over the twins the way my father had fawned over his bastard in his lifetime. Queen I might be, but my power didn't stretch that far. Not yet, at any rate. Still…
"I want to be able to treat them well, Anne. Invite them to Court, at least. I lost them once, I'm not losing them again."
"I've thought of that." Anne assured me. "My sister is to take a new house in London, now that her husband is my Master of Horse. She won't live without the children, so Katy, Anne, Jess and Nora will be joining her. As will her youngest, Henry. If they're in London, you can either see them by paying a visit to my sister, or they can come to Court with her. When you're alone, in private, then you can be sisters, the three of you. Four, including Blanche. And as the wards of the Queen Dowager's sister, who is also the Queen's cousin, you'd expect them to marry well. Not to mention young. Choose noble men to be their husbands and then receive them at Court with all the honour due their rank by marriage. Will that satisfy you, Elizabeth?"
Exhaling slowly, I stood up. "For now. We'll talk more about it later. As for now, I have a council meeting to attend. Wish me luck, Cousin."
"Good luck, Your Majesty." Anne half-curtsied as I rose. Placing both hands on her shoulders, I kissed her briefly.
After that, I left the room, hoping against hope that this would go well.
"Your Majesty!"
My Privy Councillors rose as one, bowing as I swept the length of the hall to take my seat at the head of the long table. I greeted them all cordially.
"My Lords. What have we to discuss this morning?"
"Madam, there are a number of things that we need to cover, but the most urgent include sending envoys to the Courts of Europe to announce your accession to England's throne." The Duke of Norfolk, my mother and Anne's uncle, sprang to his feet almost before I had finished asking the question. I nodded, glancing around at the men in front of me in turn.
"I see. Thank you, Your Grace. Then…Master Parker, I'd like you to go to France. As my mother's old chaplain, I'm sure you'll make a fine job of it."
"Thank you, Madam. I would be honoured." Master Parker bowed deeply as I smiled at him, then turned away, searching for my next envoy.
"Bishop Latimer, I'd like you to see about going to the Imperial Court in Spain. Heaven knows that the Imperial Courts like to deal with Churchmen."
There was a ripple of laughter before I held up my hand for silence.
"We will deal with who is to go everywhere else another time. I am also well aware, my Lords, that the currency may need reforming, but first, I would like to talk about my coronation. I'm sure that my cousin, the Queen Dowager, has her plans and I am more than happy to go along with them, but there are one or two people that I would like to see honoured on my coronation day."
"Yes, My Lady?" This time, it was my father in law who spoke first.
"Sir John Dudley, for one. I want to make you Earl of Warwick and Baron Sudeley."
"My Lady Queen, I…" Sir John gasped, clearly unable to believe his good fortune. I smiled.
"You deserve it, Sir John. For services rendered to me and mine. Nothing would make me happier than to see you honoured alongside me on my coronation day."
A flush crept into the older man's cheeks as I spoke and I waved away his effusive thanks before letting my eyes wander to take in the whole group of men seated in front of me.
"I also wish to have Lord Lincoln crowned at my side as King Consort. As my most devoted husband, he has earned that right."
There was the merest hint of hesitation before my Councillors bowed before the steel in my voice.
"As you wish, Madam."
"Then, gentlemen, if that is all for now, I shall leave you. I must still arrange both my sister's household and my own."
So saying, I rose and the Privy Councillors rose with me.
"Lord Suffolk? Will you walk with me a moment?"
"Of course."
My father in law fell into step beside me, following me down the hall and into an antechamber, where I shut the door and turned to him.
"I wasn't sure how the other councillors would take this, having just heard that I plan to crown your son at my side, but I need an Acting Chancellor until my coronation and I'd be both pleased and relieved if you would consider taking the position, at least for a while."
"My Lady, it would not only be an honour, it would be a pleasure." He brushed my hand with his lips as he sank to one knee before me.
"Come, Lord Suffolk!" I protested, trying to pull him up again, "I would not have you be so formal with me; not in private, at least. I may be your Queen, but I am also, by virtue of my marriage to Edward, your daughter. Elizabeth will be fine. And I will call you Charles or Father, if I may."
"Either, Elizabeth," my father in law assured me, finally accepting the hand I offered him and rising to kiss me, albeit briefly, on the cheek, as any father would do to his daughter.
I let him, enjoying the momentary respite from protocol, before we looked at each other, sighed and then opened the door, slipping back into our assigned roles of Queen and subject the second we did.
Young as I was, I assumed confidently that, as Queen, my word was law. I didn't think that I might have to assert myself more fiercely over my Councillors than I already had until Sir William Stafford, Anne's Master of Horse, caught me after dinner the day Edward and I dined with him and his family to welcome Mary and the children to London. The news he told me; that he had overheard rumours that some of my councillors were trying to find a pretext to stop me crowning Edward at my side as King Consort, nearly had me throwing something at him in rage. However, realising that would be too much like my father's behaviour, I merely clenched my jaw and my hands as I asked, "Are you sure, William?"
"Absolutely. I know what I heard, my Lady. There may not be certain fact in the rumours, but every rumour has some kernel of truth to it."
"That it does. I know that, perhaps better than most." I growled, before taking a deep breath and forcing myself to calm down.
"Very well, Sir William. Thank you for telling me. But let us not worry about it tonight. Tonight is Mary's night. Mary's and the children's. Put the worries aside and I will deal with them on the morrow."
"As you wish, Madam." Sir William turned back, meaning to rejoin our family in the chamber off the dining hall, but I called out to him, delaying him.
"William?"
"Yes, my Lady?"
"Firstly, Elizabeth, please. And Blanche to my sister. You're our cousin's husband and our sisters' guardian. You shouldn't be using our titles. And secondly, not a word of this to my husband."
Glancing towards the half-open door to where Edward sat, his arm around Blanche's waist as he talked cheerfully to Mary, who had Nora on her lap and Jess curled at her feet, I lowered my voice.
"We're both young, William, but whereas I have been trained for this from infancy, Edward has not. He is insecure enough without knowing that our nobles resent him enough to try to deny him his crown. So not a word. Please."
"Of course not." Smiling, William took my arm and led me back into the sitting room, scooping his oldest daughter up into his arms as she clamoured for his attention.
I sank down beside Edward and rested my head on his shoulder, watching as he took little Anne off Blanche's lap and bounced her lightly on his knee, making her giggle.
For the first time, I caught a glimpse of what Edward might be like as a father. Tender and playful, or so I thought. Yet, as little Anne caught at his jewelled sleeve and pulled at it, causing him to have to dissuade her, I saw the lovingly firm side of him too.
"Yes," I thought, "I could see Edward as, not just my husband and consort, but also as the father of my children."
The next morning, I stormed into the Privy Council meeting, determined to confirm Edward's role in my life once and for all.
"My Lords, I heard some disturbing news last night. I was told that you were considering refusing Lord Lincoln the right to be crowned at my side as King Consort."
I had hardly finished speaking before Bishop Gardiner rose, clearly glad to have a chance to say his piece.
"Madam, it is not that we doubt your affection for Lord Lincoln, or even his for you. It is that we doubt his capability for ruling England at your side. He is not a Prince. He has not been trained to rule from childhood. He is not even his father's first son. He is a second son; a second son of a Duke. Though we understand that it will pain you, we honestly believe that it will be in England's best interests for you to annul your marriage to him, which everyone knows was made under the pressures of wartime, and to contract a more politically sensible union with either France or Spain."
Suddenly, at the suggestion that I annul my marriage to Edward, I saw red. My famous Tudor temper snapped and I found myself on my feet, roaring as furiously as only my father could.
"You are hardly the man to lecture me on annulments, Your Grace! As a Bishop, you of all people should understand the sanctity of marriage! I made a promise to Edward that I would love and cherish him until one of us died; that I would forsake all other men for him. I will not go back on that. My God, I am not the fickle-minded, infatuated maid you make me out to be. I am the Queen of England and I will be obeyed! Lord Edward Brandon, Earl of Lincoln will be crowned at my side!"
"To be fair, Madam, His Grace Bishop Gardiner made a worthy point." Cranmer, my own Godfather, now rose to his feet. "What of the alliances that our good country will so desperately need in times to come? If you yourself are married, then who will make those?"
"Do you forget, My Lord of Canterbury, that I have two sisters and a cousin? Any one of them will make a worthy bride for any of the Kings in Christendom. No, my Lords. Lord Lincoln will stay my husband. Archbishop Cranmer, I would like you to draft letters to the Courts of Europe, officially informing them of our marriage. Lord Surrey and Lord Percy, you will help Lord Ormonde and Lord Suffolk organise a double coronation for St George's Day, though be sure to consult the Queen Dowager as well. Is that clear?"
"Yes, My Lady Queen."
My Councillors bowed; Anne, who had been seated behind me, watching the whole exchange, stood and curtsied, partly in acknowledgement of me, partly in acknowledgement of the Councillors and then the two of us, Anne and I, left the room together. However, where Anne was silent and pensive, I was flushed and exulting with the success of my first triumph over the Privy Council.