Queen of This Realm (55 page)

“I am glad that she recovered, but was she not said to have made a previous marriage?”

Sussex knew very well that I was aware of the scandals concerning Lady Stafford. Naturally I would be, as they concerned Robert.

“Life has worked out very satisfactorily for her now,” began Sussex.

“That may be, but if she were in fact previously married and her husband is still living, she cannot be married to Stafford.”

Sussex looked perplexed and I went on: “I want you to look into this matter.”

He was still bewildered. “Your Majesty will remember that the lady claimed to have been married to the Earl of Leicester.”

“I do remember it,” I said, “and if this is indeed true, my Lord Leicester must return to his true wedded wife.”

“But Leicester—”

“He has gone through a form of marriage with the Countess of Essex, yes; but if he was really wed to Douglass Sheffield, the marriage to Lady Essex is no marriage at all, and if it can be proved that he was married to Lady Sheffield, he shall return to her.” My calm deserted me and I shouted: “They shall live together or…he can rot in the Tower.”

Sussex regarded me with dismay. I had betrayed myself, but I did not care. All I wanted was revenge on Lettice Knollys.

I INSISTED THAT
there must be an inquiry. Lady Stafford must be questioned and I would be present at the examination. Sussex was against it. He was one of the very few men in my Court who dared go against me and he had exasperated me many times. I had raged against him, called him an idiot, told him he ought to be banished from Court. All of which he had taken with resignation; but when I called him traitor, he protested with righteous indignation and seemed not to care how he offended me. He was a man who would state his opinions no matter what such frankness brought down on his head; and I must respect him for that. He knew I would never banish him from Court. Honest men were rare and if Sussex lacked the brilliance of Burghley and Bacon and the charm of Robert, Hatton, Heneage and the rest, he was an honest man. I had not a more faithful servant at my Court.

So now Sussex did not hesitate to tell me that he thought I was wrong to raise this matter of Leicester's possible marriage to Lady Stafford.

“The Earl is married; Lady Stafford is married; and Your Majesty would do well to let be.”

“I am the best judge of that, my lord,” I said sharply.

“I think, Your Majesty, in the circumstances…”

I silenced him. He was alluding, of course to my well-known attachment to Robert. He deplored it, and as it happened he disliked Robert more than any man at Court. Robert's devious methods were abhorrent to him; yet at one time he had been ready to agree to a marriage between us because he thought I was so enamored of Robert that my happiness lay in such a marriage. I am sure that he was also of the opinion that any marriage was better than none and that with two so passionately devoted to each other as Robert and I were, a union was sure to be fruitful.

“So, Master Sussex,” I said, “you are against this inquiry because Lady Stafford is a connection of your wife. Is that not so? Your good lady wants no scandal in the family!”

Sussex hesitated. There was an element of truth in that, he admitted; but his real objection was my involvement in the affair.

How involved was I in this?

“People will say that it is your anger against Leicester which prompts you rather than your desire to sift the truth—which can do little good now.”

“Little good! Do you think of your wife's precious cousin…or whatever she is…do you think her reputation is of no account? I tell you this, my lord Sussex: There shall be no immorality at my Court.”

He knew then that I would have what I wanted, and accordingly Lady Stafford was summoned and I listened while Sussex questioned her. He had succeeded in making me accept a secret inquiry, saying that if Lady Stafford proved that there had been a true marriage between herself and the Earl of Leicester then the matter could be taken to court. Of course he was right.

What a timid creature this Lady Stafford was! I wondered what Robert could have seen in her. When I thought of myself… and Lettice… strong women … women of personality … whatever could he have seen in this… mouse!

She looked half crazed and was certainly very frightened. She said that she was married to Sir Edward Stafford and it was a very happy marriage.

“But is it a marriage,” asked Sussex, “if you are already married to the Earl of Leicester?”

“That was no true marriage.”

“There was a time when you were pleading that it was,” Sussex reminded her. “What has happened to change your mind?”

“I was mistaken…”

“It seems a strange mistake to make,” I couldn't resist interjecting. “Do you mean to say you did not know whether you were married or not?”

She turned to me and fell to her knees, wringing her hands while the tears coursed down her cheeks. “Your Majesty,” she said, “I thought I was married then… but now I…am not sure. There were those to say there was no marriage. I thought…”

I looked in exasperation at Sussex who began his relentless questions. Her meeting with Leicester, the sudden flaring of passion between them… he was irresistible… she had been a faithful wife until then… the letter he had written…

“What was in the letter?” demanded Sussex.

“That he would marry me when my husband died.”

“But your husband was well, was he not?”

She nodded wretchedly.

“Then why did he talk of his death?”

“He…he said it would not be long before we could be legally married.”

I was tapping my feet impatiently. I did not want a case of murder to be brought against Robert. I only wanted to separate him from the she-wolf.

“Where is this letter?” I demanded.

“I—I do not know…”

She told what I knew already. Foolish little creature! She had lost the letter; it was found by her sister-in-law and taken to her husband who left her and went to London threatening to divorce her, but before he could do so, he died.

“And when you were free, you married the Earl of Leicester.”

“I…I think so…”

“Have you any proof?”

“I—I trusted him. He said we were married. It seemed like a marriage. Perhaps…”

“You must have some documents. There would have to be papers.”

“I—I don't know. I have no papers. Oh please, my lord, Your Majesty, let me go…I have a good husband who cares for me. I want nothing of my lord Leicester. It was no marriage. I have no papers…”

She began sobbing wildly.

Sussex looked at me and said: “I think nothing can be gained by pursuing this inquiry, Your Majesty.”

I was shaking with emotion, but I saw that he was right.

Lady Stafford covered her face and went on crying. “I know nothing… nothing,” she murmured. “I can only say I trusted him. He said all was well. I don't know…I don't know any more…”

“The woman is hysterical,” I said. “Go back to Sir Edward Stafford, Lady Stafford.”

She was taken away.

Sussex stood before me. Much as he hated Leicester I think he was rather pleased by the outcome. His chivalry had been touched by the sight of that poor woman in distress.

I went back to my apartments. I was filled with a cold anger and the hatred I bore Lettice Knollys was greater than ever. She had won again.

But I will be even with her yet, I promised myself. She shall not hold Robert. His place is at Court with me, and that is somewhere you shall never come, my lady!

TWO YEARS HAD PASSED SINCE LEICESTER'S MARRIAGE.
I saw to it that he was constantly at Court, keeping my promise to myself that I would exclude Lettice and separate the married pair as much as possible. This was not difficult, for when I commanded he must come; and as I would not receive her, she must perforce absent herself. When I visited his houses I gave notice that I was coming so that she could remove herself before I arrived. I liked to imagine her chagrin, which must have been great. I heard that she lived most splendidly, glorifying even Leicester's houses; she lived like a queen, it was said. That gave me grim amusement. A queen in exile, I thought.

I could not forget her. Whenever I saw Leicester I was reminded of her. He was as devoted to me as ever, but sometimes I wondered when he was at my side whether he would rather have been with Lettice.

Although he behaved as though his adoration of me had not diminished, he could no longer talk of marriage; but he never gave the slightest hint that he did not continue to regard me as the most desirable of women.

One New Year's Day his present to me was fifteen large gold buttons and three dozen smaller ones to match, all embellished with rubies and diamonds in the form of lovers' knots; and enchanting as they were in themselves, there was no mistaking the sentiment they expressed.

I could not help asking him whether his wife had assisted him in choosing them. He answered gravely that the choice had been entirely his.

I thought angrily: Oh Robert, I know there had to be women, but why could they not have been light love affairs such as you have had in countless numbers? Why did there have to be this one… and with that woman?

But I did not mention her often and I kept him beside me.

In the autumn of that year I met a wonderful man whose exploits filled me with pride and admiration. This was Francis Drake, a young man from Devon. When I say young, he was about forty years of age, and it is significant that I was beginning to think of such as young.

He was the greatest sailor in the country…in the world, I would venture to say, and he had performed a magnificent feat in sailing round the world.

Three years earlier I had learned of his intention to navigate the globe and bring back treasure from far places. It was a plan which appealed to me.
I had always liked adventurous men, and had long realized that the strength of my country must lie in its Navy. We were an island; we needed special protection; so I had promoted the building of ships, and I wanted men such as Francis Drake to sail in them.

I could see that he was an adventurer—a man of daring with bold ideas and one who would not hesitate to carry them out. When the project had been suggested I had consulted Dr Dee, who had written a book called
The Perfect Art of Navigation
. It was clever as well as prophetic, and on his advice and that of Christopher Hatton, who was very much in favor of the scheme, I invested in it.

Hatton took it upon himself to manage these affairs and he himself invested heavily in the venture. This voyage of discovery appealed to me in more ways than one. The Spaniards were already probing the unknown world and I saw my country as a rival to Spain. If we could outwit the Spaniards so much the better, and if we encountered their treasure ships on the high seas, who was to stop us plundering them? Drake was the man to lead such an expedition. So with the financial investment he received, he fitted out his ship, the
Pelican
, for the voyage and chose those who would go with him. Before setting out he changed the name of the
Pelican
to the
Golden Hind
in honor of one of Hatton's heraldic beasts, for Hatton had made the voyage possible, not only financially but by helping Drake smooth over any political opposition there might have been. It was necessary to keep my good Burghley ignorant of the trip for he would certainly have raised all sorts of objections about the legality of maritime law. I suppose I was something of a buccaneer myself and that was why men such as Francis Drake appealed to me.

When Drake returned Hatton was beside himself with glee. The success of the enterprise had been beyond our most ambitious expectations. All those who had invested in the venture would share the profits, which were a four thousand seven hundred percent return on the original outlay. The hold of the
Golden Hind
was filled with precious stones and valuable articles, many of them taken from ships on their way to Spain. This was more than treasure. Drake had inflicted great damage on the grandeur of Spanish prestige. No Spanish ship had been able to cripple the
Golden Hind
and it and its crew had returned to port safely after three years of voyaging, and with enough treasure to make all its crew rich men.

The bullion was to be conveyed to a stronghold in the Tower. The Spanish Ambassador was furious. Christopher Hatton rejoiced and I said my old Bellwether had led me to a fortune. Robert and Walsingham both received four thousand pounds by royal warrant. Burghley and Sussex were the only
two who refused to accept any of the spoils. Burghley had been offered ten golden bars and Sussex a service of gold plate. They both declined, declaring that they could not bring themselves to accept stolen goods.

I might have been annoyed with them, but I respected my men. I needed the upright ones like them as well as adventurers like Francis Drake. They all had their parts to play. I wanted all manner of able men in my service.

To show them that I had no qualms myself, I had a crown made from the diamonds and emeralds. There were five of these last which were of great size, quite three inches in length, and they made a wonderful frontage for the ornament. I wore it with great pride at the New Year's Day revelries and jocularly called Burghley's attention to my “booty.”