The King's Secret Matter Read Online Free Page B

Buckingham’s.
    â€˜ ’Tis my belief he heard your words,’ said Norfolk.
    â€˜ ’Tis my hope that he did.’
    â€˜Curb your pride, Edward. Will you never understand that he is forever at the King’s side, ready to pour his poison in the royal ear?’
    â€˜Let him pour – if the King listens to the butcher’s boy he is unworthy to be King.’
    â€˜Edward . . . you fool! When will you learn? You already have an enemy in the Cardinal; if you love your life do not seek one in the King.’
    But Buckingham strode on ahead of Norfolk, so that the old man had to hurry to keep up with him; and thus they came to his apartments.
    As they entered three men of his retinue who were conversing together bowed to him and his companion. These were Delacourt his confessor, Robert Gilbert his chancellor, and Charles Knyvet who was not only his steward but his cousin.
    The Dukes acknowledged their greetings and when they had passed into Buckingham’s private apartment he said: ‘My servants are aware of it. They know full well that their master might, by good chance, ascend the throne.’
    â€˜I trust,’ put in Norfolk nervously, ‘that you have never spoken of such matters in their presence.’
    â€˜Often,’ laughed Buckingham. ‘Why, only the other day Delacourt said to me: ‘If the Princess Mary died, Your Gracewould be heir to the throne.’ Why, my friend, you tremble. Norfolk, I’m surprised at you.’
    â€˜I never heard such folly.’
    â€˜Listen to me,’ murmured Buckingham soothingly. ‘The King is not such a fool as to attack the nobility. He has too much respect for royalty to harm me. So set aside your fears. This much I tell you: I will be treated with the respect due to me. Now, what do you think the King is saying to his Queen at this moment? He is upbraiding her for not accompanying him to watch the sport; but what he really means is that she is of no use to him since she cannot give him a son. I do believe he has begun to despair of ever getting a boy by her.’
    â€˜But the boys he gets by others will not provide the heir to the throne.’
    Buckingham chuckled. ‘No. There’ll be no heir – and is the Princess Mary really a healthy child? But the King would do well to forget his anxieties. He has good heirs in me and mine.’
    It was useless, Norfolk saw, to turn Buckingham from the subject which obsessed him; nevertheless he tried; and they talked awhile of the Field of the Cloth of Gold and the treaties which had been made with François Premier and the Emperor Charles.
    Norfolk, who had not accompanied the royal party to France on that occasion, grumbled about the cost to which England had been put, and Buckingham agreed with him. The nobility would be on short commons for the next few months in order to pay for all the finery they had had to provide.
    â€˜And for what?’ demanded Buckingham. ‘That our Henry might show François what a fine fellow he is! As if François could not match pageant with pageant!’
    Norfolk sourly agreed. He had not stood in high favour withthe King since Thomas Wolsey had risen to such eminence; he hated the Cardinal as much as Buckingham did, but he had had an opportunity of realising the venom and power of the man, and he was too shrewd to take unnecessary risks.
    Buckingham was in a rebellious mood that day and, being conscious that members of his retinue were hovering, and fearing some indiscretion might be uttered in their presence, in which he might be involved, Norfolk took his leave as soon as he could politely do so.
    When he was alone Buckingham brooded on that favourite subject of his, which aroused such bitterness within him and which, try as he might, he could never succeed in dismissing from his mind. He could work himself to a fury over what he construed as an insult from anyone of lowlier birth than his own, and the very