Secrets of the Tudor Court Boxed Set by Kate Emerson Read Free Book Online

his constant companions, Tom Knyvett and Lord Edward Howard. He had not singled me out. He’d kissed all of us in greeting, as had the other two men.

    “It is the custom to exchange kisses upon meeting,” I protested. It had taken me years to adjust to this peculiarly English habit. In France, etiquette forbids kissing on the lips in public, but in England these light touches of mouth to mouth are nothing more than a symbolic gesture of welcome, not unlike bowing before royalty.
    “There are degrees of kisses.” Mother Guildford’s face was set in hard, uncompromising lines and her voice vibrated with disapproval.
    I had begun to suspect that the kisses given to a woman by a man who desired her were quite different from those exchanged in casual greeting. In truth, that was why I’d been so willing to let Charles Brandon kiss me in the passageway beneath the king’s lodgings. In spite of Mother Guildford’s dire predictions, opportunities were few for the Lady Mary’s attendants to meet in private with handsome men.
    “Drunkenness and lechery go hand in hand,” Mother Guildford continued, “and not all the king’s courtiers are temperate men. Many of them have sired bastards, both before and since coming to court. Others are simply uncouth louts. I cannot count the number of times I have come upon some gentleman relieving himself in a corner rather than bothering to walk to the nearest garderobe. And once I saw a maidservant emerge from behind an arras, her skirts rucked up and her bosom exposed.”
    I had seen such sights myself. “I would never allow myself to be treated with such disrespect.”
    “Not even if it were the Prince of Wales himself who showed an interest in you?”
    Taken aback, I required a moment to adjust to this notion. “Prince Henry is not yet fifteen.”
    “He takes after his grandfather, King Edward the Fourth, in appearance. I warrant he shares Edward’s appetites as well. QueenElizabeth’s father had a great many mistresses and fathered a number of bastards, starting when he was just a boy. And at fourteen, even Prince Henry’s father had—”
    She broke off, appalled that she’d very nearly criticized the present king’s behavior. It was never a good idea to do that, and most particularly unwise when that same king could send your husband back to prison on a whim.
    “No matter,” she said brusquely, recovering. “What you need to remember, Jane, is that you must not encourage the prince or any of his friends.”
    “Prince Henry behaves toward me as he does to his sisters. When we were younger, he regularly put frogs in my bed and pulled my hair, and he still trounces me soundly at chess.” The chubby little boy I’d first met at Eltham had grown into a big, golden-haired lad. He was already taller than his father. He drew every eye the moment he strode into a room. I suppressed a smile, thinking it likely he had already seduced a willing wench or two, but the idea that his amorous interest might fix on me seemed as remote as the possibility that Harry Guildford and I would fall into each other’s arms and tumble into bed.
    Mother Guildford did not look convinced. “Henceforth when you leave the princess’s lodgings, take another female with you—a maidservant or one of the other gentlewomen. I will have your promise on this, Jane. You must not take foolish chances.”
    I agreed, but grudgingly. It seemed to me most unfair that she should restrict my movements solely because I was female and of marriageable age. Satisfied at last, Mother Guildford released me to return to my duties.
    I’d barely had time to warm my hands at the brazier before a messenger arrived to summon the Lady Mary and her women to the king’s presence chamber. An explosion of excited whispersand titters greeted this news. We’d been confined indoors by bad weather for days and the prospect of some new entertainment delighted everyone.
    The king squinted in our direction when we entered his