I wanted to know more about him, so I went on: “My brothers are always talking about going to Court. Do you want to go to Court?”

“I think I shall go,” he answered. “They are trying to find a place for me, but it is not easy.”

“You would see the King.”

“That would be most exciting … particularly now.”

“Why now?”

“There is all this talk about the ‘secret matter’!”

“Tell me about it,” I said, nestling up to him.

“It is said the King wants to divorce the Queen.”

“Divorce her?”

“Yes. Send her back to Spain so that he can marry the Lady Anne Boleyn.”

“Why doesn’t he?”

“The Church won’t let him.”

“I thought the King could do anything he wanted to.”

“That is what he reminds them. The Cardinal is involved. They say it augurs no good for him. There are such comings and goings. It must be very exciting to be there.”

“Tell me all about it.”

He smiled at me and I thought he was going to kiss me again. I waited, smiling and hopeful. But his mood seemed to change suddenly.

He stood up. He said: “Come. They must have given us up by now.” And though I must have shown my disappointment, he was determined. He started to run.

“I’ll race you to the house,” he said.

A few days later, he left with his family; and it was shortly after that when my mother died.


* * *

We were a house of mourning. My father came home from Calais and stayed for a long time. Life did not change very much. I was sure my father deplored the fact that his children did not live as gentlefolk should, but there was nothing he could do about it and he was still in fear that those from whom he had borrowed money would descend upon him, demanding payment.

Then he married again. Her name was Dorothy Troyes and it may be she brought him some dowry, but we still continued to live as before. The new wife must have tried to bring a little order into the establishment, but, with so many children and the house in such ill repair, she found it a hopeless task.

However, change was about to come for me.

My grandfather, the second Duke of Norfolk and hero of Flodden, had died some time before but that had made no difference to our financial position. He had had eight sons by his first wife, and three by his second, one of whom was my father, and there were also daughters, so very little came my father’s way.

Then one day the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, my grandmother, decided to visit her son, probably to inspect the new wife.

There were some rather futile attempts to clean up the place for the Duchess’s arrival, accompanied by an unusual amount of activity in the kitchens. We children watched from a hidden vantage-point, overawed by the coming of this very important lady.

She sat in state in the hall, which had once been magnificent, with its vaulted ceiling and the weapons hanging on the walls. I noticed with certain relief that she was sitting on one of the few chairs which were not broken in any way. It had an engraved back, and arms on either side. She looked very regal.

She inspected all the children who stood before her, inarticulate and fearful lest we should give the wrong answers when she addressed us. Her eyes lingered on me and I was greatly alarmed, fearing there must be something particularly wrong with me which had displeased her. Therefore it was with trepidation that I later received a summons to appear before her in the hall.

My father was with her, and he smiled at me encouragingly. He had always a kindly smile for us whenever he saw us, but I never failed to feel that he was rather vague about us. He knew we were his children, but I doubted whether he could put a name to most of us.

Now he said: “Katherine, Her Grace would speak with you.”

I curtsied in her direction and waited with apprehension.

“Come here, child,” she commanded.

I approached. Although aging, she was quite handsome, and clearly took pains with her appearance, for she was most elegantly dressed. There were several rings on her fingers, and she was holding a stick, the handle of which was set with stones which looked like emeralds.

“Come closer,” she said.

I obeyed and she went on: “H’m. Pretty child. And knows it, I doubt not. Do you, child?”

I did not know what to say to that, so said nothing.

“Do you? Do you?” she went on with a hoarse chuckle.

“Yes, Your Grace,” I answered meekly.

That made her laugh. “Truthful, eh? That is good. But what a state you live in, Edmund. No way to bring up children. I hope the child remembers she’s a Howard. Do you?” she demanded of me.

“Yes, Your Grace,” I said again.

“Come closer.”

I obeyed.

“Sit on the stool where I can see you.”

Then she addressed my father.

“This matter will have its effect on the family.”

“Do you think it will come to pass?”

“Of a surety it will. The King has set his heart on it, and none will dare gainsay him.”

“And Anne?”

The Duchess smiled complacently. “I have spoken with her.” Her eyes shone. “I am proud of her. She will have her way. He is dancing to her tune. We shall have the coronation soon. Think of it, Edmund. My granddaughter, Queen of England. She is a girl in a million. They knew that well enough at the French Court. I’ve heard Francis himself had an eye on her. But she knew how to deal with that. I tell you, she is a clever girl. That affair with Northumberland, that would have been a good match in itself. But this … this is beyond all our hopes.”

My father said: “There are many against it.”

“Edmund! That’s the trouble with you and always has been. You are timid. That is why you are here … in this place. Controller of Calais!” She gave a short, derisive laugh. “This will change everything. You will see.”

“Shall you go back to Horsham?”

“For the time. Then, when it is all signed and sealed, my plans will doubtless change.”

I was wondering why she had sent for me that I might sit on a stool and listen to this conversation between her and my father, of which I had no understanding, when she said: “This little Katherine reminds me of her in some degree.”

“What?” cried my father. “She is not highly educated … unaccustomed to Court manners, I am afraid.”

“That is indeed so, but there is something. I shall not forget little Katherine. Come here,” she added to me.

I rose and stood before her. She touched my cheek lightly with her finger.

“Yes,” she said. “There is that certain quality with the Howard women. I saw it at once here in this one.”

I was so bewildered that I had no idea what was expected of me when my father intervened suddenly, saying: “You may go now, Katherine. Her Grace is tired and will wish to rest.”

I curtsied and, as I turned to go, I noticed that the Duchess was watching me, smiling and looking rather pleased.

It was all very strange and, although I felt it meant something, I could not be sure what; and, as I was apt to think only of the moment’s pleasure, I very soon ceased to think about the visit of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.


* * *

My stepmother sent for me. She wished to talk to me. She was smiling and looking rather pleased. I felt she was almost a stranger to us. She had been with my father in Calais for much of the time since her marriage and only now was she getting to know the family into which she had married.

“You are very fortunate, Katherine,” she said. “Indeed, I would say you are a very lucky little girl.”

I waited expectantly.

“Your grandmother, the Duchess of Norfolk, has taken a liking to you. She feels that it is not good for you to stay here.” She lifted her shoulders and looked disparagingly round the room. “So … she is offering you a home with her.”

“With my grandmother!” I cried in dismay, remembering the autocratic old lady, sitting upright in her chair, addressing me.

My stepmother nodded. “It is a great opportunity. You will find Horsham very different from here.” Again there came that disparaging look.

“You mean, I am going away … from home?”

It had suddenly become very dear to me, with all its squalor and deprivations—and its comforting freedom.

“You will look back on this place and wonder how you could have endured it.”

I was surprised that she could talk thus of her new home and the family which she had willingly accepted as her own; or was it willingly? Had the Troyes thought it good for their daughter to marry into the Howard family? Even to such an impoverished member of it?

“I would rather stay here,” I said.

“My dear child, you speak with folly! The Duchess has a fine establishment in Horsham. She also has a mansion in Lambeth, but it is to Horsham you will go.”

“Oh, no … please …”

“It is your father’s wish. He has long been anxious about you children, and hoped that one of the illustrious members of your family would help in this way.”

“But why me?”

“Because Her Grace took a liking to you. Come. You must not be foolish. You must rejoice in your good fortune.”

“I like being here with my brothers and sisters.”

“There is not one of them who will not envy you.”

“Must I go?”

She nodded. Then she laughed.

“Oh, you are indeed foolish to be the smallest bit downcast. This is great good luck for you. You will grow up as a Howard should. I know it is great distress to your father that he could not give his family what by right of birth should be theirs. You must never forget that you belong to the Howard family, which is one of the foremost in England. The Howards have been close friends of kings and would have remained in favor if they had not been true to the House of York. They have always been loyal upholders of the Crown, and if York had not been defeated by Tudor, they would have continued in their glory. It was a Duke of Norfolk who carried Richard III’s sword of state at his coronation.”