Free Secrets of the Tudor Court Boxed Set by Kate Emerson Page B

said.
    Another humorless snort of laughter answered me.
    “ Use that, Harry. Prince Henry won’t want you to go to the Holy Land. Let that be your answer to your father.”
    For a long time we sat listening to the wind howl outside the chamber window. I could say little more. I consoled myself with the thought that it would be weeks yet, perhaps even months, before anyone could set sail. The destruction of King Philip’s fleet was proof enough of the foolishness of travel by sea at this time of year.
    “He has never asked anything of me before,” Harry murmured.
    Scrambling to my feet, I circled the brazier and fell to my knees beside him and hugged him tightly. “Stay here, Harry. You belong with Prince Henry. You cannot abandon a brilliant future for an uncertain fate.”
    My face was so close to his that I could see the agony of indecision in his eyes.
    “Someday Prince Henry will be king. He’ll make you a knight, if his father has not already done so. Serve him well and you’ll end up a baron at the least, or perhaps even a viscount. Kings reward loyalty, Harry.”
    He still did not look convinced, so I searched harder for an argument that would convince him.
    “Prince Henry will need you beside him when he passes his sixteenth birthday and begins training for the lists. With your jousting experience, you’ll know how to keep His Grace safe from injuries while he learns how to fight in tournaments.”
    Like dawn breaking, relief flooded into Harry’s face. “I knew I could count on your good sense!” He leaned over and squeezed me so tightly that I let out a squeak of protest. Grinning, he releasedme and stood. “That excuse is one my father will understand. He will see that I have no choice but to stay with the prince.”
     
    T O ENTERTAIN K ING Philip there was more dancing, as well as hunts and tennis matches, bear baitings and horse baitings. Then, a week after Candlemas, Queen Juana arrived.
    The very next day, the Lady Mary and her household and the princess dowager and her attendants left Windsor to go ahead to Richmond Palace. King Henry was to follow with King Philip in a few days.
    “Such a pity,” the Lady Mary murmured as we set out aboard one of the royal barges. The Thames was open again and our journey would be far easier and far swifter than it had been by road.
    “What is, Your Grace?”
    “That Queen Juana remains behind at Windsor when she and the princess dowager have only just been reunited.”
    “They will be able to spend time together at Richmond.”
    But the princess shook her head. “No, they will not. By the time King Philip and my father join us there, Juana will be on her way to Plymouth, where their ships are being repaired.”
    “But they cannot hope to sail for many weeks yet.”
    Mary looked more solemn than her years. “It is a ploy, Jane, to keep Catherine and Juana apart. Do you not remember who their father is?”
    “King Ferdinand of Aragon,” I said slowly, comprehending at last. At the time of the marriage between Princess Catherine and Prince Arthur, King Ferdinand had been England’s ally. But now, no doubt because he had refused to pay the remainder of Catherine’s dowry after Arthur’s death, King Ferdinand and King Henry were at odds. King Henry feared that the two sisters might somehow conspire against him to aid their father.

    A tournament was held at Richmond to entertain King Philip. Charles Brandon acquitted himself well. During the next weeks, Charles continued to pay court to me and even stole the occasional kiss, but he made no further attempt to spirit me away to some secluded chamber. I convinced myself that he was being careful of my reputation.
     
    K ING P HILIP TOOK his leave of the English court in early March. In early April, Sir Richard Guildford, newly pardoned by King Henry, sailed from England for the Holy Land—without Harry. By then, Charles Brandon seemed to have lost all interest in me. I consoled myself by flirting with