Three Maids for a Crown: A Novel of the Grey Sisters (52 page)

I let each child choose something for their own. Cecily fastened Thomas’s mirror to her silver girdle. Tamkin thrust the feather jauntily in his cap. Roger would not choose anything yet, but I promised him he might later if it pleased him.

I spun stories through that long afternoon until my voice grew hoarse and it was time to start evening chores. As I went to put my coffer away, Margaret stole up, Tamkin at her side.

“She wants to give you something for your box. I told her you would not want it.”

The little girl crept forward and held out her hand, displaying a rumpled square of cloth.

“It is the first thing Margaret ever sewed,” Tamkin said. “She wanted to fill up the space where Jennet used to be.”

I looked into Margaret’s face, those wide, solemn eyes, perhaps a little less sad now with Jennet in her arms.

“It is a fine idea, Margaret,” I said as I accepted her treasure. “Now that Jennet has you to love her, my coffer has room for other things. Like Tamkin’s flower crown and your first stitching. Maybe Cecily would let me have a lock of her hair, and perhaps one day Roger might give me one of those glossy chestnuts he is forever polishing on his sleeve.”

“Why did you start to save things?” Tamkin asked. “Roger says you must be crooked in your head.”

“As crooked in my head as I am in my back?” I chuckled when Tamkin flushed.

“Roger said that, not me!” he protested.

“The day I began gathering things in my coffer, Jane and Kat were busy with some game I was too young to play. I could not keep up even though I kept begging them to wait for me. Kat lost a ribbon, and I kept it because she would not wait for me.”

“Sometimes Cecily will not wait for me.” A tiny voice. One I had never heard. Margaret.

“I know it makes you sad,” I said, “but she cannot help it. That is just the way of things with sisters.” I knew that now.

I closed my eyes, picturing the three of us on a bright summer’s day at Bradgate. Before Jane was queen, before Kat loved Ned, before we were all swept into futures charted by our royal blood. Even then I knew Kat and Jane were destined to set out on their journeys before me.

“Tamkin, you asked why I started to save my treasures. It was because I feared what would happen when my sisters left me behind. I thought they would take their love with them.”

“Did they?” Margaret asked, slipping her hand into mine.

“No. They left it right here,” I said, pressing Margaret’s hand to my heart. “Now Jane and Kat will be waiting for me. When I join them, my coffer will be full of brighter things. It will make a precious store to show my sisters when next we meet.”

I closed my eyes, and suddenly I was in the meadow at Bradgate again with my sisters. Their presence washed over me, so real I could almost touch them. Kat’s imagination painted the scene with hope bright as rainbows. Jane’s certainty about what was true poured strength into my vision. I ran toward them—pain and grief and guilt and betrayal falling away.

A rhyme spun through my head unbidden:

What have I to wager? Three maids for a crown
.

I send them in turn, each to London Town
.

So they had—our lord father and lady mother. First Jane, then Kat. Would they have wagered me as well if they had lived long enough? No doubt. But I had wagered my own life in London with Thomas Keyes. Our father would claim that all three of his daughters lost their wager. I know better. Jane won the courage to stand up for herself. Kat won a true and noble man and a pair of sons to lavish with all the tenderness in her heart. I won something precious as well, the knowledge that I could be loved and give love in return. And that I could survive in spite of all I had lost. Those victories my sisters and I won were richer crowns than our parents could imagine, treasures no one could ever take from us. They would be ours—mine and Jane’s and Kat’s—even after crowns of gold crumbled away.

A
UTHOR’S
N
OTE

Edward Seymour kept his promise to Katherine Grey. Forty-eight years after their secret wedding, he found the priest who performed the secret ceremony at Cannon Row. King James did not remove the stain of illegitimacy from their sons because he did not want them to become threats to his own crown. He did, however, make it possible for them to inherit the Hertford titles. Ned died at eighty-two and was buried at Salisbury Cathedral. Their sons had Katherine disinterred and buried with her husband, the two lovers reunited at last. Their love did prove “a knot of secret might,” just as in the poem Edward Seymour had engraved on Katherine’s wedding ring.

One of the most exciting things about writing historical fiction is the fact that you get to have your characters experience historical events, not with the “bird’s-eye overview” of the modern historian, but from the very personal perspective of someone living at the time. Much as I admire many of Elizabeth I’s achievements, she—like all of us—had a dark side as well as the bright Gloriana who defeated the Spanish Armada, a feat that has made her an icon more than a flesh-and-blood woman. This triumph was in her future as my story takes place. The Elizabeth that I write about is one with an uncertain future—her crown and even her survival were in jeopardy. Her animosity toward the Grey sisters is a historical fact, and her cruel treatment of Mary and Thomas Keyes was not her finest moment. Her treatment of Katherine and Edward is easier to understand as they could have posed a real threat to her crown. But evidence points to the fact that their union was indeed a love match, one whose resolution is sure to touch the heart.

Three Maids for a Crown
is based on historical events, but in the end it is a work of fiction. I have sometimes shifted things for the sake of the story. For example, Mary Grey was not in the chamber when Jane was told she was queen. Jane did, however, lie unconscious on the floor as I portrayed, and no one—not even her parents—came to her aid. As to the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, Henry and Frances Grey, there is some debate now as to whether they were as ruthless and hardhearted with their daughters as was popularly thought because of the scene described by Roger Ascham in
The Schoolmaster
. My portrayal of them is based on Ascham’s account and the historical fact that after Queen Mary gained the throne, Jane’s mother pleaded for her own life and property and for her husband’s. She did not mention Jane.

For the liberties I have taken, I beg your indulgence. This is the story of three royal Tudor sisters who all felt the force of a queen’s wrath. As princesses of the blood, they paid a terrible price for their ancestry. In the end each sister decided to live life on her own terms—Jane, refusing to sacrifice her faith for her survival; Katherine, embracing love without the permission of a queen who could not give her own heart; and Mary, seizing her own brief happiness with a man who had not only a giant’s body but also a heart equally large.

The historical fact is that Mary was not allowed to raise Thomas Keyes’s children, though she became very close to one of his daughters. But it seemed to me important to bring full circle the bond of sisters—hence the final chapter. As I often told my daughter when she was a little girl, being a real princess wasn’t all about tiaras and fairy godmothers that make dresses turn from pink to blue. The strength and resilience of women during the Renaissance is a triumph of the spirit worth exploring.

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

Three Maids for a Crown
was written during a time when my world was falling apart, then opening up anew. I would never have made it through without the love and support of my family and friends. First, I am grateful to my daughter, Kate Bautch, who has been the light of my life from the day she was born. Ever since she and her husband, Kevin, laid my grandson, Sam, in my arms, I knew she could finally understand just how precious she is to me. Thank you all three for being my North Star above stormy seas. As for Grandma—what can I say? She taught you to cheat at cards, Kate, let you stay up all night and watch Liza Minnelli in
Stepping Out
. She listened to opera because that was your passion. You were two party girls at your overnights, and she was so thrilled with the woman you’ve become.

To my niece and nephew, Drake and Rianna Ostrom, whose tenderness with Mom while she battled cancer and Alzheimer’s disease still touches my heart. You changed pajamas, made coffee, helped steady her halting steps, and brightened up hospital rooms with your nightly visits. In the end, you made her smile when no one else could. I hope you know how much your grandma loved you.

To my dad, Warren Ostrom, who put his artistic career on hold to take care of Mom. I know how hard it was for you and how much it cost your own health. I’m so proud of your exhibits in museums. I know you miss Mom, but she’s smiling in heaven.

To my brother, David, who never missed a day visiting Mom. You delighted her with your mischief from the time you were a baby, and you grew into a man she was so proud of. The greatest gift Mom left all of us was making us more aware than ever of how precious family is.

To the women who keep me sane: Susan Coppula, Maureen Dittmar, Stephanie Wilson, Trudy Watson, Gina Hinrichs, and Sheila Burns. You helped me navigate the uncharted waters of divorce and moving to my own place, and you supported me through my mom’s illness. Thanks for giving me a safe place to vent, to cry, just to be me. I’ll never forget how you threw together the most beautiful baptismal open house ever at my place the day after Mom’s funeral. After weeks of sitting by Mom’s bedside and the chaos of funeral plans, I left a house in disorder but returned after Sam’s baptism to a complete gift of love. You are amazing and generous, and each one of you is a blessing in my life.

To my agent, Andrea Cirillo, and my editor, Heather Lazare, who gave me an imaginary world I could lose myself in when my world got too real. Thank you for the moral support and for helping make my Grey sisters shine.

To the Divas—Eileen Dreyer, Karyn Witmer-Gow, and Tami Hoag—my long-distance lifelines who hauled me to Ireland when I was listing a hundred reasons I should stay home. You may have saved my life. (But then, you already knew that.)

To Bob Bradley, whose heart never ceases to amaze. Thank you for helping care for my mom as tenderly as you cared for your own the year before. Thank you for bringing peace and love into a time that was filled with turmoil.

To everyone at the Moline Public Library, especially the staff at Dewey’s Copper Café, Robert, Salma, Gonzalo, Catherine, and Ashley. You offered me caffeine and friendship and made me laugh. Hugs to all of you.

And last, to a future bright with possibility.

R
EADER’S
G
UIDE FOR
Three Maids for a Crown

1. All three sisters were used as pawns by their parents. How would you have felt if you had been in their positions? What kind of effect does that have on a child? Do you feel that powerful parents today still use their children to promote their own status? Can you think of any examples?

2. Jane Grey and Mary Tudor were resolute in refusing to change their religion, even when their adherence might cost them their lives. In contrast, Elizabeth Tudor, Katherine Grey, and Mary Grey took a more pragmatic view, willing to accede to whoever was in power at the time. When King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church, he set in motion a religious upheaval that would divide England long after the end of his daughter Elizabeth’s reign. As monarchs shifted between varying degrees of Protestantism and Catholicism, lives of courtiers and simple people depended on taking an oath adhering to the religion of the party in power. How would you have navigated those treacherous waters if your family had been in danger?

3. Kat and Mary must have felt conflicted, serving the woman who had had their sister executed. Is it possible to love someone yet hate the actions they take? How do you think little Mary survived the terrible time from Jane’s arrest through the aftermath of Jane’s execution? What do you think it cost Queen Mary when she realized she had killed her cousin for a man who could never love her? Can you think of examples in your own life where you’ve had to hide your true feelings—of revenge, hatred, or contempt—in the interest of self-preservation?

4. Katherine went from being the cherished beauty of the family to being an outcast, a self-centered girl to a woman, wife, and mother capable of great sacrifice. How were the hardships she suffered necessary for her transformation? How different would she have been if all had gone well with Henry Herbert?

5. Katherine and Mary Grey were not unique in risking Elizabeth Tudor’s formidable temper by marrying in secret without the queen’s permission. Many of Queen Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting and favored gentlemen, including Robert Dudley and, later, the Earl of Essex, faced the queen’s wrath in just that way. What were the dangers and benefits of such unions, from the queen’s point of view, and from the view of the Grey sisters? If you were faced with such a choice, how much would you risk for love?

6. What kind of a queen do you think Kat would have made if Mary Tudor had done as she threatened and named her as her successor instead of Elizabeth? How might Kat have fared if she had faced the threat of the Spanish Armada?

7. During the Renaissance, a woman’s main function was to produce heirs for her husband. This was even more important in families of royal blood. Pregnancy figures largely in
Three Maids for a Crown
. Twice Mary Tudor believed she was pregnant: she went into confinement and had to emerge without producing the desperately needed heir to the throne. How do you think the kingdom responded when the queen did not produce an heir? What would you have thought if you’d been a subject? Katherine could not tell Ned whether she was pregnant until she could feel the baby moving inside her. Imagine what it was like for women before they could confirm they were with child.