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SIXTEEN
Cavendish went to Hampton alone, while Bess accompanied the Greys. Sir William's position immediately turned from rock solid to precarious, along with that of every other man at Court who wielded power. Frances and Henry were on firmer ground. She was a Tudor, and their daughter, Lady Jane, would marry Edward, who was now the King of England rather than simply the heir to the throne.
By the time they arrived, every noble in London, including Archbishop Cranmer and his churchmen, had gathered at the palace. A pall had already fallen over the entire place, making the atmosphere grave and hushed. The courtiers, both men and women, were shocked and caught unawares at the sudden turn of events. While the Greys went immediately to seek out their daughter and the nine-year-old boy who had just become King of England, Bess went straight to the Lady Elizabeth's apartments.
When she knocked, Bess had to give her name and was kept waiting for several minutes before she was admitted. She was escorted to Elizabeth's bedchamber, where her ladies were adorning her in black. Bess sank to the carpet. “Your Grace, I am so sorry for your terrible loss.”
Two of the ladies were weeping openly, while Elizabeth stood motionless, more deathly pale than Bess had ever seen her. “Are you faint?” she asked in alarm.
Elizabeth looked at her ladies. “Leave us.”
They obeyed her only because they had no choice. The moment they were alone, Bess closed the gap between them and took Elizabeth's hands.
“I can't believe it. I can't believe it,” Elizabeth whispered.
“Come and sit down,” Bess urged.
Elizabeth resisted stiffly. “I'm not faint, I'm giddy … with relief. I'm free at last, I can't believe it. I have an uncontrollable urge to laugh, but I know I must not,” she confessed. “I loved my father, but I hated him too!” she hissed. “Can you understand? He was the tyrant who murdered my mother, and yet I am proud that his Tudor blood flows through my veins.”
“I understand completely; love and hate are but two sides of the same coin. Can you compose yourself enough to face everyone, to receive condolences, to mourn your father, and make your obeisance to your brother, Edward?”
With head high and back as straight and stiff as a ramrod, she said, “I am Elizabeth Tudor. I can face anything. Call my ladies.”
The boy king was flanked by his Seymour uncles, Edward and Thomas. It appeared from the first moment of his reign that they were determined to set themselves up as a bulwark between the boy and the entire world.
Bess stood beside Lady Frances as they watched Elizabeth approach her young brother. It was the Seymours who gave her permission to draw close, and suddenly Bess felt afraid for Elizabeth. It wasn't little Edward who would now rule but the powerful Seymours. The very last appointment King Henry had bestowed was on Thomas Seymour when he became a member of the privy council, only four days past. Bess clenched her fists impotently. Who would keep the admiral's dalliance with Elizabeth in check, now that her all-powerful father was dead?
A few days later, when the late king's will was read, many people were amazed yet happy that he had restored his daughters to the succession. Bess was overjoyed that her friend was no longer the Lady Elizabeth. From now on she would be accorded her rightful title of Princess Elizabeth!
In the weeks that followed, Bess saw little of Cavendish. She fully understood that he had to remain at Court to secure his position in the new reign of King Edward the VI. The Greys stayed at Chelsea, bringing Lady Jane there from Hampton, during the long, drawn-out mourning for the late king.
The coronation for the boy-king was kept as simple as possible, with a short procession to Westminster Abbey, the usual interminable religious crowning ceremony, followed by a not overly lavish celebration, all supposedly in deference to the king's tender age, but which in reality had more to do with keeping the coffers filled.
Henry Grey brought messages from Cavendish to Bess, and it was Henry they relied on for news of what was happening at Court. As soon as his nephew was crowned, Lord Edward Seymour and his countess, Ann, moved into Hampton to be with the boy-king day and night, and by mid-February King Edward had given his uncle the dukedom of Somerset and appointed him lord protector. This put the privy council in an uproar, because they had expected to rule as a Council of Regency.
It was rumored that Thomas Seymour objected to his brother's outright manipulation of the little king, so at the direction of the lord protector, Thomas was elevated from admiral to lord high admiral and was created Baron Sudely to silence his objections.
Young King Edward was making new appointments almost daily. With the approval of the protector and the privy council, William Cecil, a brilliant young secretary of the Court, was appointed to the post of king's personal secretary. Then King Edward, at the prompting of Cecil and Edward Seymour, asked for an audit of the late king's treasury. Paulet and Cavendish and their treasury clerks worked diligently, sometimes feverishly, day and night over this accounting. It was a vast undertaking, and both knew the books must be in perfect order when they were presented for scrutiny.
At Chelsea, Lady Frances took personal offense at Seymour's insufferable high-handedness. “It is that bastard Edward Seymour who is demanding an accounting of the treasury. He had better not start investigating my bills! On top of that he has made his rabid bitch of a wife, Ann Seymour, a duchess! For Christ's sake, Henry, we must do something!”
“What can we do, my dear?” Henry asked doubtfully.
“If you think I'm going to sit here at Chelsea on my fat arse while Edward and Ann Seymour aggrandize themselves playing king and queen, you are sadly mistaken. At their own peril they are overlooking my God-given rights as a Tudor! Bess, pack immediately. Lady Jane goes back to Hampton this very day, and I shall camp in the king's bloody bedchamber until he makes me a duchess!”
At Hampton Court Palace, Catherine Parr was in full mourning. It was quickly brought home to her that she was no longer Queen of England, but a much less powerful queen dowager. Edward Seymour was already putting subtle pressure on her to move from Hampton because it now belonged to young King Edward. Seymour had been less subtle toward Princess Mary. Because she practiced the Catholic faith, he persecuted her unmercifully, insisting that everyone at Hampton must practice the Reformed Protestant faith. Deeply offended, Princess Mary haughtily removed her household to her own country estate of Beaulieu.
Lady Frances and little Lady Jane were dressed in identical black mourning when they arrived at Hampton. Bess wore a gray taffeta with tiny white ruffles at its high neck. They found the young king talking earnestly with his sister Elizabeth, but when he saw Lady Jane Grey, Edward's face lit up with happiness. Frances Grey missed nothing. Her daughter would have no difficulty at all persuading the king to make her parents a duke and duchess.
Princess Elizabeth, also gowned in gray, withdrew and beckoned Bess to follow her. As the two red-haired young women walked down the Long Gallery, Bess could see that Elizabeth was trying to suppress great excitement. “What is it, Your Grace? Has something happened?”
“Something is about to happen. I dare not say what; it is a secret,” Elizabeth whispered.
Bess guessed immediately that it concerned Thomas Seymour, for the princess was obsessed with him.
“Suffice it to say that shortly, everyone will be in for a great surprise.” Elizabeth looked at Bess coyly. “How does your own affair of the heart progress?”
“It doesn't,” Bess said flatly. “Sir William is completely occupied at Whitehall with treasury business.”
