The Thistle and the Rose Read Online Free Page A
Author: Jean Plaidy
stages of your journey.”
Fear showed itself briefly in Margaret's eyes. Now that the time of departure was coming near she did not want to go. It was pleasant being a queen in her father's Court where she had spent her childhood, teasing Henry, flaunting her new importance before little Mary; but to go away to a foreign land was a different matter.
The King did not notice her fear. His mind was on other matters. He wanted a new wife, more children for whom advantageous marriages should be arranged. When he looked at his daughter he did not see a tender young girl so much as a means of keeping the peace with the tiresome warlike people who had made trouble at the Border for as long as any could remember.
The marriage pleased him; therefore Margaret pleased him.
“You may go now,” he told her gently. “Remember what I have told you.”
She curtsied and left him; then she hurried to her bedchamber.
She told her attendants that she had a headache and wished to rest, and when she was alone she began to weep silently.
“I want my mother,” she murmured into her pillows, for now, when she would never see the Queen again, she realized that from her alone could she have received the comfort and understanding of which she was in such need.
So Margaret, remembering that she was a bereaved little girl, forgot that she was also Queen of Scotland; and for a long time she lay sobbing because she had lost her mother.
To the Court, however, she showed a brave face, and on the sixteenth day of June, riding beside her father, acknowledging the cheers of the people who had come to watch her pass, she left Richmond Palace on the first stage of her journey to Scotland.
J AMES I V OF S COTLAND W AS N OT A WAITING H IS bride with any great excitement. His counselors had advised him that the marriage was for the good of Scotland and he must needs agree to it.
And so, he thought, I must take this child to wife.
Not so long ago he would have refused to do so, no matter that she was the daughter of the King of England and peace between the two countries was desirable. He had been in love and had made up his mind whom he would marry; and so deep had been his feelings that he would have insisted on having his will.
But passions ran high in Scotland and lives were cheap.
I should have taken greater care of her, he told himself again as he had a hundred times before. Then he would have been the husband of another Margaret.
But the deed had been done and there was no going back. He had now to think of greeting this child whom they were sending him from over the Border, for it was no fault of hers.
They were saying that England and Scotland were united at last; and the Rose and the Thistle could now grow happily side by side. But could that ever be achieved? Was even the union of Tudor and Stuart capable of working such a miracle?
James stroked his auburn curling beard, and his hazel eyes were momentarily melancholy.
He had lost the Margaret he loved, and now must endeavor to make a success of union with her namesake.
And even as he prepared himself for the journey which would end in his meeting with his bride, he was thinking of his first meeting with that other Margaret at Stobhall, her father's mansion on the banks of the Tay.
The banks of the Tay! The wild water cascading over the rocks; the sound of birdsong, and the trees in bud! And beside him, Margaret. Never had he believed such happiness existed in the world.
To be fifteen again… and in love for the first time. For the first and last time, he had told her; for she was the only one he would ever love.
She had listened earnestly, believing him. Then he had been a handsome youth. Not dark like his father; not yellow-haired like his Danish mother. It was said that he had inherited the good points of each, and the result was auburn hair which shone as gold in the sunshine; and hazel eyes that could be serious but more often merry; the sensitive mouth of a poet, sensual as
Fear showed itself briefly in Margaret's eyes. Now that the time of departure was coming near she did not want to go. It was pleasant being a queen in her father's Court where she had spent her childhood, teasing Henry, flaunting her new importance before little Mary; but to go away to a foreign land was a different matter.
The King did not notice her fear. His mind was on other matters. He wanted a new wife, more children for whom advantageous marriages should be arranged. When he looked at his daughter he did not see a tender young girl so much as a means of keeping the peace with the tiresome warlike people who had made trouble at the Border for as long as any could remember.
The marriage pleased him; therefore Margaret pleased him.
“You may go now,” he told her gently. “Remember what I have told you.”
She curtsied and left him; then she hurried to her bedchamber.
She told her attendants that she had a headache and wished to rest, and when she was alone she began to weep silently.
“I want my mother,” she murmured into her pillows, for now, when she would never see the Queen again, she realized that from her alone could she have received the comfort and understanding of which she was in such need.
So Margaret, remembering that she was a bereaved little girl, forgot that she was also Queen of Scotland; and for a long time she lay sobbing because she had lost her mother.
To the Court, however, she showed a brave face, and on the sixteenth day of June, riding beside her father, acknowledging the cheers of the people who had come to watch her pass, she left Richmond Palace on the first stage of her journey to Scotland.
J AMES I V OF S COTLAND W AS N OT A WAITING H IS bride with any great excitement. His counselors had advised him that the marriage was for the good of Scotland and he must needs agree to it.
And so, he thought, I must take this child to wife.
Not so long ago he would have refused to do so, no matter that she was the daughter of the King of England and peace between the two countries was desirable. He had been in love and had made up his mind whom he would marry; and so deep had been his feelings that he would have insisted on having his will.
But passions ran high in Scotland and lives were cheap.
I should have taken greater care of her, he told himself again as he had a hundred times before. Then he would have been the husband of another Margaret.
But the deed had been done and there was no going back. He had now to think of greeting this child whom they were sending him from over the Border, for it was no fault of hers.
They were saying that England and Scotland were united at last; and the Rose and the Thistle could now grow happily side by side. But could that ever be achieved? Was even the union of Tudor and Stuart capable of working such a miracle?
James stroked his auburn curling beard, and his hazel eyes were momentarily melancholy.
He had lost the Margaret he loved, and now must endeavor to make a success of union with her namesake.
And even as he prepared himself for the journey which would end in his meeting with his bride, he was thinking of his first meeting with that other Margaret at Stobhall, her father's mansion on the banks of the Tay.
The banks of the Tay! The wild water cascading over the rocks; the sound of birdsong, and the trees in bud! And beside him, Margaret. Never had he believed such happiness existed in the world.
To be fifteen again… and in love for the first time. For the first and last time, he had told her; for she was the only one he would ever love.
She had listened earnestly, believing him. Then he had been a handsome youth. Not dark like his father; not yellow-haired like his Danish mother. It was said that he had inherited the good points of each, and the result was auburn hair which shone as gold in the sunshine; and hazel eyes that could be serious but more often merry; the sensitive mouth of a poet, sensual as
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