The Sun in Splendour - Plaidy Jean (электронную книгу бесплатно без регистрации .txt) 📗

They had liked each other. Although they were so different— Elizabeth eager to take all she could get and Jane asking nothing—they had one great quality in common: each knew how to handle the King.

They both managed admirably and they were the only two women who had kept their hold on his affections. They respected each other and whenever Jane was at Court she could always be sure that the Queen would treat her with respect. Whether she did this because to do otherwise would have angered the King, or whether she had a real respect for her, Jane was not sure. But she admired the Queen and considered her a clever woman and the Queen clearly had the same opinion of Jane.

And now the pleasant world had collapsed. The King had died suddenly, and Jane had lost her kind protector. She had never felt so alone in her life before.

Then Dorset had come.

She had not wanted another lover so soon. She wanted to mourn the one she had lost—incomparable Edward whom she had loved so deeply and so long.

But Dorset would not wait. He had proved to her without doubt that she could not resist him. He was an impulsive impatient lover. He had long wanted Jane and it had been galling to have to stand aside for that old man his stepfather—King though he was.

How different was Dorset from Edward. There was no romantic lovemaking, Dorset cynically demanded and took. He was arrogant in the extreme and he wanted her to know that he was the master. Every time he left her she promised herself that it should be the last but when he came again he was as dominating as ever.

And now he had fled into Sanctuary. What would happen next? She hated to think of the proud Queen and her beautiful

children in that cold place. She had met them all, and had particularly loved little Richard the Duke of York. She remembered so well his marriage to Anne Mowbray. What an enchanting little bridegroom he had made and little Anne was such an appealing bride. Alas, the little bridegroom had become a widower very soon, a fact which did not distress him for he did not seem to know anything about it.

The new King she had rarely seen because he was kept at Ludlow; and now he was in the Tower of London awaiting his coronation and there was this conflict between his uncle Gloucester and the Queen and her family.

Jane shivered; she had always kept away from state matters. Perhaps that was another reason why Edward had found it so restful to be with her.

It was some days since she had seen Dorset. She was not unhappy about that. He frightened her and she always despised herself for being the victim of her own senses, so there was a certain relief in being away from him. How different it had been with Edward! How she longed to go back to those cosy days, those intimate sessions with that most charming of lovers!

Her servants came to her and said that there was a man without who had a message for her.

Her heart started to beat uncertainly. From whom? she wondered. And somehow she knew it was from Dorset.

She sent for the man; she took the crumpled paper. Yes, Dorset. He had escaped from Sanctuary. He was in a house not far from the Chepe. She knew of the house. It was one which was frequented by the men of the Court and had a reputation for harbouring high-class prostitutes.

They were good to him there. He wanted her to come to him at once. It was important.

She crumpled the paper in her hand. She did not want to go. Dorset would have to understand that she was not like the women he was meeting in that house. But he was in acute danger. If it were known that he had left Sanctuary the hunt would start. The Protector would not be content until he had caught him and brought him to trial.

At the moment the Queen's brother. Lord Rivers, and her son, Richard Grey, were held by the Protector. There was no doubt of what Dorset's fate would be if he were caught.

She pondered a while and then she decided that she must at

least see him.

She told the man: 'I will come at dusk/ He went away satisfied.

She went swiftly along by the river through to the Chepe until she came to the address Dorset had sent her. She was recognized at once by the lady of the house, who took her through several passages to a room at the back of the house and there was Dorset.

He came towards her and seized her hungrily. She tried to hold him off but it was the same as ever and she felt her resistance slipping away.

'Jane . . . my Jane . . . ' cried Dorset exultantly. 'I knew you would not fail me.'

'You said you must see me. What are you going to do?'

'I'll tell you later. There is time yet. We have the whole night before us.'

'I must go.'

'What, through the streets at this hour! Come confess it, Jane, when you agreed to come at dusk you knew you would not leave until morning.'

'I will not stay.'

He laughed; and she knew she would.

During the night she learned tht.- real reason why he had sent for her. Of course he had delighted in her body, but there were many handsome women on the premises and any would have been delighted to entertain the mighty Marquess of Dorset even though he was in hiding. The general belief was that the King would soon be crowned and then the Protector would go back to the North; the Queen and her family would emerge into prominence again and they would naturally be the ones who would control the King.

'I shall have to leave here very soon,' said Dorset. 'It's dangerous.'

'I am glad you realize it.'

'Oh yes, Jane, it will be sad to be far away from you, but I have to get away ... to raise an army to come back and show Edward's little brother that it is not as easy as he thinks.'

'I doubt he thinks it easy,' said Jane. 'Edward talked a great deal about him. He had the highest regard for him. He used to say he trusted him as he did no other.'

'Please, Jane, do not sing Gloucester's praises to me. The man is after power like everyone else. He sees himself as ruling the country through his little nephew King.'

'Edward did not think that.'

'Edward always refused to see ill in anyone. Look at the manner in which Warwick duped him. We have to think of the little King. He is desperately unhappy because my uncle Anthony was taken from him. He frets for my brother Richard. Just think, those fine men are in the hands of that hunch-backed little upstart.'

'He is not a hunchback. One shoulder is a little higher than the other, that's all. Edward used to say that they forced him to wear armour that was too heavy for his bones. Moreover Edward always thought so highly of his administrative power. He trusted him as he did no one else. . . .'

'Yes, exactly as he trusted Warwick when the mighty Earl Kingmaker was thinking of unkinging him and remaking Henry.'

'Wait a while,' said Jane. 'See what happens. Go back to Sanctuary where you will be safe.'

'Dear Jane, you are the perfect mistress but do not seek to meddle in matters of which you know nothing. I am going to instruct you and you shall play your part, I promise you.'

'What do you mean, instruct me?'

'I want you to do something for me. You will, won't you?'

'If I can I will, but what is it?'

'Jane. Listen. We need to bring men to our side . . . influential men. Men like Buckingham . . . but I don't know enough of him. There is one other whom I know very well and who is important to us. You could help me here, Jane. You could persuade him. He would listen to you.'

'Who is this man?'

'Hastings.'

'Hastings! You know how I feel about Hastings/

'Oh come, Jane. You bear him a grudge and that is not like you. What did Hastings do but admire you? What has he ever done against you but look at you with longing? I know that at one time he tried to abduct you and take you by force. Don't think too hardly of him, Jane. It was the sort of adventure we all indulged in/