The Scandalous Duchess

I would not wish that for the Duchess.

‘It is not a royal name in England, my lady,’ I suggested lightly, keeping my eyes on the child, keeping my mouth in a smile, selecting the only argument that I thought would hold any weight with her. ‘Monseigneur might not like it.’

‘Why would he not? It is a beautiful name.’ She looked directly at me. ‘Is it not, Katherine?’

There was a rustle of laughter at this rather laboured attempt at humour. But for me, although I kept the smile intact, dismay turned to horror. Constanza could not know that I had kissed the Duke with more than the respect expected from a damsel of the household. She could not.

‘St Katherine is the saint I admire most,’ Constanza continued, impervious to my cold fear.

Of course she did not know. And relief flooded through me. I must learn to control my reactions. I could not allow myself to be so vulnerable, so open to every breath of possible scandal, for the rest of my life. The die was cast and I had the audacity to hold my nerve.

‘It is an admirable name,’ I replied easily now, for I too admired St Katherine, a virgin princess of Alexandria, martyred for her faith by a Roman Emperor.

‘I approve of her courage in adversity, holding fast to her faith in the face of death,’ Constanza announced. ‘As I will hold fast to mine—that my lord will recover Castile for me. And next time I will bear a son. Go to the chapel and give thanks to St Katherine and the Virgin, for my safe delivery,’ she directed us. ‘And for the child, of course. I expect my lord daily.’

As I handed the babe to the waiting wet nurse, my compassion was stirred a little, for I saw the disappointment swim in Constanza’s eyes with the unshed tears. She would not weep. Queens of Castile, she had informed us, did not weep. But that did not mean that she was untouched by what she saw as a failure.

I would see no successful birth of a child of mine as a failure, son or daughter.

And I too looked for the Duke’s arrival. He was in London, in attendance on the King. It was almost three months since we had been together for that shortest of hours, a lifetime of absence and longing.

My sister prayed beside me, then kept step with me as we left the chapel.

‘Since when did you care what she calls the child?’ she asked sotto voce since Lady Alice with her sharp hearing was a mere few steps in front of us. Philippa’s glance was equally sharp. ‘Does it matter?’

My reply was cool. ‘I spoke without any real intent.’

‘You never speak without intent, Kate. Your cheeks are flushed.’

‘Are we not all flushed in this heat?’

‘Perhaps…it’s having an effect on your temper too.’

‘And on my patience!’ I responded as my sister’s barbs got the better of me.

Lady Alice, falling back to walk with us, clicked her tongue. Philippa stalked off ahead. I sighed.

‘I promise to offer up two novenas in penance,’ I remarked, but with a wry smile.

Lady Alice laughed. ‘But your sister is right. Something is troubling your equanimity.’

‘Nothing that a good night’s sleep and a cup of warm ale would not cure. If the Duchess can allow me out of her sight for an hour or two.’

‘Perhaps she will become less demanding when the Duke arrives. It will be good to see him.’

I lay on my bed, the hangings drawn back to allow even a breath of air. I wished with all my heart that the Duke would come.

‘I present to you your daughter, my lord.’

The Duke had arrived at Hertford.

But I did not want this. I did not want to be in this formal audience chamber with the newest royal child in my arms, under the combined eyes of a nursemaid, a servant, a liveried page and William de Burgh, the chaplain, but the office had been given to me. Since Constanza remained secluded in her chambers until she was churched, it was decided that I should be the one to present Katalina, now two weeks old, to her father.

I did not want to do this at all.

I had once shivered at that brutal word hypocrisy. Here it stared me in the face, that I, the mistress, should present the child of the legitimate wife to her lover.

My excuses were ignored, rolled over like a charge of cavalry, my suggestions for one of the Castilian damsels to have the honour swatted away. Mistress Elyot declared herself too busy. And at least, she added, with a jaundiced eye to the damsels, I could speak good French when I conversed with my lord, which was more than…