Katherine by Anya Seton

Author:Anya Seton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780340839881
Publisher: Hodder
Published: 2006-01-15T07:00:00+00:00

That night when the guests had all retired, Katherine lay waiting between silken sheets for her lord to come. Her naked body glowed from the sweet herbs with which Hawise had cleansed her, her skin was fragrant with the amber scent, and she rejoiced that it was firm and fresh as it had ever been. She thought how the responses of this body had increased and that her passion now was equal to his, though for modesty she tried sometimes to hide it. Yet carnal love was no sin, she thought stoutly, if the love be true-hearted. A hundred romances had taught her this, and since no strict confessor exhorted her, she no longer felt the sense of sin. Brother Walter Dysse, the Carmelite friar, listened with placid indulgence to her infrequent confessions, as he did to the Duke's. And she went to Mass only as an example to the children and the castle folk.

The room grew chill in the April dawn before John came, sliding without a word into her bed while her arms closed about him hungrily; but later he did not fall asleep on her breast. He lay staring up at the shadowy bed canopy that was strewn with tiny diamond stars.

She put her hand softly on his forehead, for sometimes he liked to have her stroke his hair, but he turned his head away.

"What is it, my dear heart?" she whispered. "The Blessed Mother forfend you are not displeased with me?"

"No, no - lovedy," he drew her tight against him so that her cheek was in the hollow of his neck, but still he stared up at the canopy. He would not speak, lest the baffled rage which fermented in his soul should sound like fear.

It was Raulin, his stolid Flemish squire, who had given him a hint of what they said in London. John had listened in contempt, unmoved at first, so ridiculous were the slanders. Corruption, disloyalty, designs against his brother, the dying Prince, against little Richard, the heir apparent - this was but monkey talk, the spiteful chatter of the rabble which would never dare say these things to his face. But then Raulin went on "Another thing they visper, Your Grace - ach - such folly, 'tis not vorth repeating."

But John had commanded him to speak, knowing that he would be better armed to protect the crown for the coming fight in Parliament if he knew all their preposterous weapons.

"Some cock-and-bull tale that Your Grace is a changeling, not of royal birth."

"Bah! How feeble" - John had laughed. "Their other inventions are better. What more do they say of this? What particulars?"

" 'Tis all I heard," said Raulin, "no von beliefs it."

John had shrugged and spoken of something else, but in his stomach it was as though a cannon ball had gutted him, and his whole body trembled inwardly like that of the child who had first heard the word "changeling" nearly thirty years ago. Beneath his intercourse with others, beneath his joy at seeing Katherine, he had been trying to turn cool logic on this shameful fear.

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