The Captive Queen of Scots - Plaidy Jean (электронную книгу бесплатно без регистрации TXT) 📗

Cavendish had been a satisfactory husband; he was the only one who had given her children, and for that she would be grateful. More lives to govern! More to scheme for. She had three sons and three daughters and she was determined that they should follow their mother’s example and succeed in life. Of her sons there was her eldest, Henry, then William and Charles; and her daughters were Frances, Elizabeth and Mary.

She had persuaded Cavendish to sell his estates in the south and acquire land in her native Derbyshire; this he had done, and the result had been the building of Chatsworth.

Alas, Cavendish had died, and she then took as her husband Sir William St. Loe, a knight of Gloucestershire, who showed himself as willing—and even eager—to be governed by his wife as her previous husbands had been. It was true that there had been some unpleasantness with his family, who called her a masterful woman set on having her own way. Bess snapped her fingers at them; little did she care for their gibes; all that mattered was that St. Loe was an obedient, affectionate and adoring husband.

When he died all his vast possessions were hers, and that was another matter which annoyed his family. But what did Bess care, since she was now one of the richest women in England; and as such naturally she looked to one of the leading peers of the realm and found George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, greatly to her liking.

George Talbot behaved exactly as Bess could have wished. He was so eager for the marriage that she could feign a certain aloofness; and thus, before their nuptials took place, she succeeded in arranging two excellent marriages for her children. Her eldest son Henry was married to Lady Grace Talbot, Shrewsbury’s youngest daughter—a good match for Henry. But Bess was never one to be satisfied when she saw further advancement for her family within reach; and as George Talbot had an unmarried son, she did not see why he should not be paired off with one of her daughters; thus Gilbert Talbot, Shrewsbury’s second son, was married to Bess’s youngest daughter, Mary. A very satisfactory linking of the families. These two marriages celebrated, Bess graciously gave her hand to Shrewsbury, so cementing the family alliance still further, and satisfying Bess’s passion for arranging the lives of others.

The union of Bess and Shrewsbury had been smiled on by Queen Elizabeth and, doubtless to show her approval, she was now appointing them guardians of the Queen of Scots. So Bess, determined to continue in the Queen’s favor, bustled about her castle giving orders.

The party must soon arrive, although the inclement weather was doubtless the reason for the delay. She climbed the stairs to those apartments which had been set aside for the use of the Queen.

“H’m!” she murmured with a grim smile, for they were two miserable rooms very sparsely furnished. There were patches of damp on the wall where the rain had seeped through the broken roof; and as there was no tapestry or hangings of any sort to cover the cracks in the walls the general effect was depressing.

Even Bess shivered slightly, although she prided herself on no coddling and was passionately devoted to fresh air.

Fresh air! The air in this chamber was far from fresh. That unmistakable odor came from the privy, immediately below the window, which was emptied every Saturday; then, of course, the stench was unbearable. There was always an unpleasant smell in these apartments; it was merely increased when the process of emptying was carried out.

But she will soon become accustomed to it, Bess decided.

The point was that Queen Elizabeth knew what Tutbury was like and she had expressly ordered that Mary was to be taken there.

But she will have the view, Bess told herself. The view? Well, the Queen, looking from her window, would see the marshes; they were not considered very healthy and doubtless the dampness of Tutbury was in some measure due to them, but the River Dove was charming enough, and Bess thought it pleasant because she could look across it to her beloved Derbyshire and felt when doing so that she was not far from home.

Bess went to the window. The smell of the privy made her draw back slightly, but as she did so she caught sight of a party of riders in the distance. Yes, and surely that was a litter she saw. The Queen would be traveling in a litter. At last they were approaching Tutbury.

Bess left the room and started on her way down to the hall. She saw one of the servants about to enter a room as she did so and called: “Come here, girl.”

The girl looked startled, but that did not displease Bess. It was how she expected her servants to look when she turned her attention to them.

“Come here!” she repeated.

The girl came shyly and, when she reached her mistress, she dropped an embarrassed curtsy. A flush stained her cheeks, giving them a soft, peach-like bloom. She was inclined to be plump and was rather more comely than Bess liked her maids to be.

“You are Eleanor Britton,” she said, for she made a point of knowing the names of even her humblest servants and would expect an account of their efficiency or lack of it from those whom she put in authority over them. This Eleanor Britton was a newcomer to the household and had been among the extra staff engaged for the coming of the Queen.

“Yes, my lady.”

“And why are you not in the kitchens?”

“My . . . lady,” stammered the girl, “I was sent to prepare one of the rooms for the Queen’s party.”

“I see. I believe my lord Earl to be in his bedchamber. Go to him now and tell him that the Queen will be arriving very soon. I have sighted her party less than half a mile away.”

Eleanor Britton bobbed another curtsy and made off with all speed, delighted to escape. One of the main occupations of the staff, both male and female, was to avoid claiming the attention of the lady of the house, and when they failed to do so, they rarely escaped without some reprimand.

Eleanor hurried to the Earl’s apartment. He called to her to enter when she tapped and she found him seated in his chair, dozing. He would have liked to stretch out on his bed, but Bess did not approve of sleeping during the day. It was a lazy habit and Bess, who was never lazy, deplored the fault in others.

The maid dropped a curtsy: “Begging your pardon, my lord,” she said, “but my lady says . . . you’re to . . . ”

She stopped, because it hardly seemed right to her that a noble Earl should receive commands from his wife.

George Talbot understood the girl’s feelings and he smiled faintly, and because she seemed an intelligent and perceptive girl, he looked at her with interest and noticed the color in her cheeks and how soft her skin was.

She was very young of course—little more than a child, younger than his own daughters. A pretty creature.

“What were my lady’s orders?” he asked gently.

“My lord . . . my lady has seen the Queen’s party. She says they’re not half a mile away.”

George Talbot rose. “Is that so then?” he said. And he went toward the girl, smiling.

She dropped a low curtsy and said in a frightened voice: “Is there aught your lordship wishes?”

“You must not be frightened, you know,” he told her. “There is nothing to fear.”

Then he wondered that he had bothered to say such a thing to a servant; it was most unusual. Why had he done it? he wondered. Was it because she seemed sorry to bring him one of Bess’s peremptory messages? Was it because he guessed that her recent encounter with Bess had terrified her? Was it because she looked so young and pretty in her embarrassment?

On impulse he said: “What is your name? I do not think I have seen you before.”

“It is Eleanor Britton, my lord.”

“Well, Eleanor, go on your way. I will tell the Countess that you gave me her message.”

“Thank you, my lord.”