6. The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory

Author:Philippa Gregory [Gregory, Philippa]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780857207609
Google: CcFdAwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00GKMNBCG
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2014-08-13T23:00:00+00:00

The king is determined to be charming to his daughter, you would almost think he wanted to win her to his side. From the moment his barge draws up to the pier with a shout of trumpets, to the moment he leaves at dusk, he is beaming at her, her hand tucked into the crook of his arm, his head cocked to hear her speech. He looks as if he is sitting for a portrait entitled ‘A Loving Father’, he looks as if he is an actor performing in a masque, and his role is ‘The Righteous Parent’.

He has only a handful of companions with him: his usual friends, Charles Brandon and his wife Mary the Dowager Queen of France, my cousin Henry Courtenay and his wife Gertrude, my son Montague and a few other gentlemen of the privy chamber. The Boleyn men are on the royal barge but there is no mention of either of the Boleyn whores, and the only ladies who dine with us are those in attendance on the king’s sister.

As soon as the king arrives, his breakfast is served, and he himself cuts the best meats and pours the sweetest watered wine for Princess Mary. He commands her to say grace for him and she does so quietly, in Greek, and he praises her learning and her composure. He nods his thanks to me. ‘You are polishing my jewel,’ he says. ‘I thank you, Lady Margaret, you are a dear friend and kinswoman. I don’t forget that you have been watching over me and mine, like a loving mother, from my childhood.’

I bow. ‘It is a pleasure to serve the princess,’ I say.

He smiles roguishly. ‘Not like me, when I was her age,’ he twinkles, and I think, how urgently you move the conversation to you. How eagerly you prompt praise.

‘Your Grace was the finest prince in the nursery,’ I respond. ‘And so naughty! And so beloved!’

He chuckles and pats Mary’s hand. ‘I loved sport,’ he says. ‘But I never neglected my studies. Everyone said that I excelled at everything I did. But,’ he stages a shrug and a little laugh, ‘people always praise princes.’

They take the horses and go out hunting, and I command a picnic to be ready for them when they are tired. We meet in the woods to dine, and the musicians, hidden in the trees, play music that has been composed by the king himself. He asks the princess to sing for him and she makes a little curtsey to her aunt, the dowager queen, and sings a song in French, to please her.

The dowager queen, who was once a Princess Mary herself, rises from the table and kisses her niece, and gives her a gold and diamond bracelet. ‘She’s a delight,’ she says quietly to me. ‘A princess through and through,’ and I know we are both thinking of the little boy who is not and never can be a prince.

There is dancing after they have dined and I find Montague at my side, as we watch the princess with her young ladies.

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