_CHAPTER XIII_
_A Girl's Consent_
The treaty had been agreed upon, and as to the internationalarrangement, at least, the marriage of Louis de Valois and Mary Tudorwas a settled fact. All it needed was the consent of aneighteen-year-old girl--a small matter, of course, as marriageablewomen are but commodities in statecraft, and theoretically, at least,acquiesce in everything their liege lords ordain. Lady Mary's consenthad been but theoretical, but it was looked upon by every one asamounting to an actual, vociferated, sonorous "yes;" that is to say,by every one but the princess, who had no more notion of saying "yes"than she had of reciting the Sanscrit vocabulary from the pillory ofSmithfield.
Wolsey, whose manner was smooth as an otter's coat, had been sent tofetch the needed "yes"; but he failed.
Jane told me about it.
Wolsey had gone privately to see the princess, and had thrown out asort of skirmish line by flattering her beauty, but had found her notin the best humor.
"Yes, yes, my lord of Lincoln, I know how beautiful I am; no one knowsbetter; I know all about my hair, eyes, teeth, eyebrows and skin. Itell you I am sick of them. Don't talk to me about them; it won'thelp you to get my consent to marry that vile old creature. That iswhat you have come for, of course. I have been expecting you; why didnot my brother come?"
"I think he was afraid; and, to tell you the truth, I was afraidmyself," answered Wolsey, with a smile. This made Mary smile, too, inspite of herself, and went a long way toward putting her in a goodhumor. Wolsey continued: "His majesty could not have given me a moredisagreeable task. You doubtless think I am in favor of this marriage,but I am not."
This was as great a lie as ever fell whole out of a bishop's mouth. "Ihave been obliged to fall in with the king's views on the matter, forhe has had his mind set on it from the first mention by deLongueville."
"Was it that bead-eyed little mummy who suggested it?"
"Yes, and if you marry the king of France you can repay him withusury."
"'Tis an inducement, by my troth."
"I do not mind saying to you in confidence that I think it an outrageto force a girl like you to marry a man like Louis of France, but howare we to avoid it?"
By the "we" Wolsey put himself in alliance with Mary, and the move wascertainly adroit.
"How are we to avoid it? Have no fear of that, my lord; I will showyou."
"Oh! but my dear princess; permit me; you do not seem to know yourbrother; you cannot in any way avoid this marriage. I believe he willimprison you and put you on bread and water to force your consent. Iam sure you had better do willingly that which you will eventually becompelled to do anyway; and besides, there is another thought that hascome to me; shall I speak plainly before Lady Jane Bolingbroke?"
"I have no secrets from her."
"Very well; it is this: Louis is old and very feeble; he cannot livelong, and it may be that you can, by a ready consent now, exact apromise from your brother to allow you your own choice in the event ofa second marriage. You might in that way purchase what you could notbring about in any other way."
"How do you know that I want to purchase aught in any way, MasterWolsey? I most certainly do not intend to do so by marrying France."
"I do not know that you wish to purchase anything, but a woman's heartis not always under her full control, and it sometimes goes out to onevery far beneath her in station, but the equal of any man on earth ingrandeur of soul and nobleness of nature. It might be that there issuch a man whom any woman would be amply justified in purchasing atany sacrifice--doubly so if it were buying happiness for two."
His meaning was too plain even to pretend to misunderstand, and Mary'seyes flashed at him, as her face broke into a dimpling smile in spiteof her.
Wolsey thought he had won, and to clinch the victory said, in hisforceful manner: "Louis XII will not live a year; let me carry to theking your consent, and I guarantee you his promise as to a secondmarriage."
In an instant Mary's eyes shot fire, and her face was like theblackest storm cloud.
"Carry this to the king: that I will see him and the whole kingdomsunk in hell before I will marry Louis of France. That is my answeronce and for all. Good even', Master Wolsey." And she swept out of theroom with head up and dilating nostrils, the very picture of defiance.
St. George! She must have looked superb. She was one of the fewpersons whom anger and disdain and the other passions which we callungentle seemed to illumine--they were so strong in her, and yet notviolent. It seemed that every deep emotion but added to her beauty andbrought it out, as the light within a church brings out the exquisitefiguring on the windows.
After Wolsey had gone, Jane said to Mary: "Don't you think it wouldhave been better had you sent a softer answer to your brother? Ibelieve you could reach his heart even now if you were to make theeffort. You have not tried in this matter as you did in the others."
"Perhaps you are right, Jane. I will go to Henry."
Mary waited until she knew the king was alone, and then went to him.
On entering the room, she said: "Brother, I sent a hasty message toyou by the Bishop of Lincoln this morning, and have come to ask yourforgiveness."
"Ah! little sister; I thought you would change your mind. Now you area good girl."
"Oh! do not misunderstand me; I asked your forgiveness for themessage; as to the marriage, I came to tell you that it would kill meand that I could not bear it. Oh! brother, you are not a woman--youcannot know." Henry flew into a passion, and with oaths and cursesordered her to leave him unless she was ready to give her consent. Shehad but two courses to take, so she left with her heart full of hatredfor the most brutal wretch who ever sat upon a throne--and that ismaking an extreme case. As she was going, she turned upon him like afury, and exclaimed:
"Never, never! Do you hear? Never!"
Preparations went on for the marriage just as if Mary had given hersolemn consent. The important work of providing the trousseau began atonce, and the more important matter of securing the loan from theLondon merchants was pushed along rapidly. The good citizens mightcling affectionately to their angels, double angels, crowns and poundssterling, but the fear in which they held the king, and a littlepatting of the royal hand upon the plebeian head, worked the charm,and out came the yellow gold, never to be seen again, God wot. Underthe stimulus of the royal smile they were ready to shout themselveshoarse, and to eat and drink themselves red in the face in celebrationof the wedding day. In short, they were ready to be tickled nearly todeath for the honor of paying to a wretched old lecher a wagon-load ofgold to accept, as a gracious gift, the most beautiful heart-brokengirl in the world. That is, she would have been heart-broken had shenot been inspired with courage. As it was, she wasted none of herenergy in lamentations, but saved it all to fight with. Heavens! howshe did fight! If a valiant defense ever deserved victory, it was inher case. When the queen went to her with silks and taffetas and finecloths, to consult about the trousseau, although the theme was onewhich would interest almost any woman, she would have none of it, andwhen Catherine insisted upon her trying on a certain gown, she calledher a blackamoor, tore the garment to pieces, and ordered her to leavethe room.
Henry sent Wolsey to tell her that the 13th day of August had beenfixed upon as the day of the marriage, de Longueville to act as theFrench king's proxy, and Wolsey was glad to come off with his life.
Matters were getting into a pretty tangle at the palace. Mary wouldnot speak to the king, and poor Catherine was afraid to come withinarm's length of her; Wolsey was glad to keep out of her way, and sheflew at Buckingham with talons and beak upon first sight. As to thebattle with Buckingham, it was short but decisive, and this was theway it came about: There had been a passage between the duke andBrandon, in which the latter had tried to coax the former into a duel,the only way, of course, to settle the weighty matters between them.Buckingham, however, had had a taste of Brandon's nimble sword play,and, bearing in mind Judson's fate, did not care for any more.
Theyhad met by accident, and Brandon, full of smiles and as polite as aFrenchman, greeted him.
"Doubtless my lord, having crossed swords twice with me, will do methe great honor to grant that privilege the third time, and willkindly tell me where my friend can wait upon a friend of his grace."
"There is no need for us to meet over that little affair. You had thebest of it, and if I am satisfied you should be. I was really in thewrong, but I did not know the princess had invited you to her ball."
"Your lordship is pleased to evade," returned Brandon. "It is not theball-room matter that I have to complain of; as you have rightly said,if you are satisfied, I certainly should be; but it is that yourlordship, in the name of the king, instructed the keeper of Newgateprison to confine me in an underground cell, and prohibitedcommunication with any of my friends. You so arranged it that my trialshould be secret, both as to the day thereof and the event, in orderthat it should not be known to those who might be interested in myrelease. You promised the Lady Mary that you would procure my liberty,and thereby prevented her going to the king for that purpose, andafterwards told her that it had all been done, as promised, and that Ihad escaped to New Spain. It is because of this, my Lord Buckingham,that I now denounce you as a liar, a coward and a perjured knight, anddemand of you such satisfaction as one man can give to another formortal injury. If you refuse, I will kill you as I would a cut-throatthe next time I meet you."
"I care nothing for your rant, fellow, but out of consideration forthe feelings which your fancied injuries have put into your heart, Itell you that I did what I could to liberate you, and received fromthe keeper a promise that you should be allowed to escape. After thata certain letter addressed to you was discovered and fell into thehands of the king--a matter in which I had no part. As to yourconfinement and non-communication with your friends, that was at hismajesty's command after he had seen the letter, as he will mostcertainly confirm to you. I say this for my own sake, not that I carewhat you may say or think."
This offer of confirmation by the king made it all sound like thetruth, so much will even a little truth leaven a great lie; and partof Brandon's sails came down against the mast. The whole statementsurprised him, and, most of all, the intercepted letter. What lettercould it have been? It was puzzling, and yet he dared not ask.
As the duke was about to walk away, Brandon stopped him: "One moment,your grace; I am willing to admit what you have said, for I am not nowprepared to contradict it; but there is yet another matter we have tosettle. You attacked me on horseback, and tried to murder me in orderto abduct two ladies that night over in Billingsgate. That you cannotdeny. I watched you follow the ladies from Bridewell to Grouche's, andsaw your face when your mask fell off during the melee as plainly as Isee it now. If other proof is wanting, there is that sprained kneeupon which your horse fell, causing you to limp even yet. I am surenow that my lord will meet me like a man; or would he prefer that Ishould go to the king and tell him and the world the whole shamefulstory? I have concealed it heretofore, thinking it my personal rightand privilege to settle with you."
Buckingham turned a shade paler as he replied: "I do not meet such asyou on the field of honor, and have no fear of your slander injuringme."
He felt secure in the thought that the girls did not know who hadattacked them, and could not corroborate Brandon in his accusation, orMary, surely, never would have appealed to him for help.
I was with Brandon--at a little distance, that is--when this occurred,and after Buckingham had left, we went to find the girls in theforest. We knew they would be looking for us, although they wouldpretend surprise when they saw us. We soon met them, and the veryleaves of the trees gave a soft, contented rustle in response toMary's low, mellow laugh of joy.
After perhaps half an hour, we encountered Buckingham with hislawyer-knight, Johnson. They had evidently walked out to this quietpath to consult about the situation. As they approached, Mary spoke tothe duke with a vicious sparkle in her eyes.
"My Lord Buckingham, this shall cost you your head; remember my wordswhen you are on the scaffold, just when your neck fits into the hollowof the block."
He stopped, with an evident desire to explain, but Mary pointed downthe path and said: "Go, or I will have Master Brandon spit you on hissword. Two to one would be easy odds compared with the four to one youput against him in Billingsgate. Go!" And the battle was over, the foenever having struck a blow. It hurt me that Mary should speak of theodds being two to one against Brandon when I was at hand. It is true Iwas not very large, but I could have taken care of a lawyer.
Now it was that the lawyer-knight earned his bread by his wits, for itwas he, I know, who instigated the next move--a master stroke in itsway, and one which proved a checkmate to us. It was this: the dukewent at once to the king, and, in a tone of injured innocence, toldhim of the charge made by Brandon with Mary's evident approval, anddemanded redress for the slander. Thus it seemed that the strength ofour position was about to be turned against us. Brandon was at oncesummoned and promptly appeared before the king, only too anxious toconfront the duke. As to the confinement of Brandon and his secrettrial, the king did not care to hear; that was a matter of noconsequence to him; the important question was, did Buckingham attackthe princess?
Brandon told the whole straight story, exactly as it was, whichBuckingham as promptly denied, and offered to prove by his almonerthat he was at his devotions on the night and at the hour of theattack. So here was a conflict of evidence which called for newwitnesses, and Henry asked Brandon if the girls had seen andrecognized the duke. To this question, of course, he was compelled toanswer no, and the whole accusation, after all, rested upon Brandon'sword, against which, on the other hand, was the evidence of the Dukeof Buckingham and his convenient almoner.
All this disclosed to the full poor Mary's anxiety to help Brandon,and the duke having adroitly let out the fact that he had just met theprincess with Brandon at a certain secluded spot in the forest,Henry's suspicion of her partiality received new force, and he beganto look upon the unfortunate Brandon as a partial cause, at least, ofMary's aversion to the French marriage.
Henry grew angry and ordered Brandon to leave the court, with thesullen remark that it was only his services to the Princess Mary thatsaved him from a day with papers on the pillory.
This was not by any means what Brandon had expected. There seemed tobe a fatality for him about everything connected with that unfortunatetrip to Grouche's. He had done his duty, and this was his recompense.Virtue is sometimes a pitiful reward for itself, notwithstanding muchwisdom to the contrary.
Henry was by no means sure that his suspicions concerning Mary's heartwere correct, and in all he had heard he had not one substantial factupon which to base conviction. He had not seen her with Brandon sincetheir avowal, or he would have had a fact in every look, the truth inevery motion, a demonstration in every glance. She seemed powerlesseven to attempt concealment. In Brandon's handsome manliness andevident superiority, the king thought he saw a very clear possibilityfor Mary to love, and where there is such a possibility for a girl,she usually fails to fulfill expectations. I suppose there are morewrong guesses as to the sort of man a given woman will fall in lovewith than on any other subject of equal importance in the whole rangeof human surmising. It did not, however, strike the king that way, andhe, in common with most other sons of Adam, supposing that he knew allabout it, marked Brandon as a very possible and troublesome personage.For once in the history of the world a man had hit upon the truth inthis obscure matter, although he had no idea how correct he was.
Now, all this brought Brandon into the deep shadow of the royal frown,and, like many another man, he sank his fortune in the fathomlessdepths of a woman's heart, and thought himself rich in doing it.