The Manner of Amy's Death by Carol Mackrodt Read Free Book Online

trusted?  But it makes sense that Mary would flee to her cousin, the Holy Roman Emperor, the Hapsburg Charles V, who now rules most of Europe. The French hate him and the Hapsburg dynasty even more than they mistrust the English.
          “Don’t worry,” says Ambrose, “Father has the matter completely in hand.  Nothing could be more certain.  Tomorrow he will persuade the remaining Council members to support him – they will not dare refuse – and the rest will go smoothly.”  He pauses.  “Finally I am here, Amy, to ask you as a member of our kin to support us by offering your assistance.”
          “What does the Duke wish me to do?”  Amy says this with an air of resignation.
          “As soon as the King dies, Lady Jane Grey is to be taken to Syon House by my sister, Mary Sidney.  They will travel up the Thames by wherry from Katherine Parr’s old house at Chelsea.  Father intended us all to be at Syon to welcome Jane but with the recent turn of events, Mary Tudor’s reluctance to come to court and the Council’s wavering in its support, the Duke and my brothers are all needed here in London.  The King’s death will not be announced until everyone is united and all is complete.”
          “ Everyone is needed at court except Robert whose life, it seems, is expendable.  He does the dirty business of arresting the person some would see as the rightful Queen,” says Amy bitterly.
          Ambrose ignores this latest jibe.  “It is certain the King will die in the next few hours so Jane and Mary will go to Sy on tomorrow.  Father wishes Jane to have some people there of her own age.  He would like you and Kate to join Jane and Mary in the evening.  It will make Jane feel more comfortable and you may take a wherry up river from Somerset House.”
          With that Ambrose gets up a nd takes his leave of us.  We’ve not been asked to help by his father, Northumberland, we have been ordered.  Amy is not the least bit reassured by the news of Robert and I feel very apprehensive for the two of us.  One way or another we are involved in the Dudleys’ plotting up to our ears.

Chapter Four
    Syon
    The following morning we pack a few possessions into a small wooden box.  We don’t expect to stay at Syon for long and we sleep in the shifts we wear under our kirtles and gowns so we need very little other than a comb and our small pieces of jewellery.  Then we begin another seemingly interminable wait for Ambrose’s servant to arrive.  It’s well into the afternoon before he escorts us down to the wharf where the wherries are waiting.
          The journey upstream takes time.  It’s a pleasant journey and the weather is fair.  A kingfisher skims the water and, as we leave the city behind, there are few boats other than ours.  No one speaks.  Conversation in front of the servants may give too much away. 
          Finally we round a bend in the river and there in front of us is Sheen which means ‘beautiful place’.  It’s the royal palace where Amy and Robert were married three years ago.  King Edward had attended the wedding and so had his sister Elizabeth on what was an extravagant occasion of feasting and entertainment and it makes me sad as I remember how the young king had been almost childish in his delight at the masques, pageants and jousting.  Presumably he has now died or we would not be making this journey.
          I glance at Amy’s face as she too gazes at the magnificent façade of the palace.  I wonder what she’s thinking.  Her marriage has taken her to the very heart of the court and she now has wealth and position that most women would envy but she has little personal happiness.  She loves her husband very much and, indeed, I think that he loves her too but …..  he is always working.  They see so little of each other and I know that they would dearly like a child.
          Sheen is a little way up river and situated on