Chapter II

GUY felt very strange, and not a little exhilarated, two mornings later as he stood in the gallery of the hall with Master Norris, one of the gentlemen-pensioners, to watch the ceremonial observed at the Queen's dinner and to learn his own duties at that function.

He had been told on the previous day that by her Grace's wish many of the customary duties of his post would be cancelled, and that he would only have to take his turn each day at waiting at either dinner or supper, at officiating at public audiences and the occasional progresses-in-state. Besides this he would be expected to be present at one mass each day behind the Queen's chair; and to occupy his spare time, the accounts of the game-department of the kitchen were to pass through his hands before going on to the steward. Sir Robert Rochester had warned him to keep a sharp eye on those, as her Grace was determined to cut down the vast extravagances of the previous reigns. He was provided also with two horses of his own kept in the royal stables, and three servants, and he found no difficulty in including Tom Bradshawe in his tiny staff. He was allowed to take his meals alone or in company as he wished, except on certain occasions when the whole household dined together. The title he bore was that of Gentleman-Usher.

It was a very splendid sight that he looked down on now, as he stood leaning with his hands on the carved

The Queen's Tragedy railing with Master Nonis beside him. Overhead the roof rose up into dusty sunlight, from which stood out a profusion of decorated work, and between the bright windows hung tapestries of green and gold. The Queen's table at the further end shone with silver and linen, and behind the chair rose up the splendid cloth-of-estate before which stood a row of silent figures waiting for the Queen's eoming. At the door on the right stood a double line of ushers; and it was to these that Mr. Norris directed his attention in a whisper.

" You will have to stand there, Master Manton, five minutes before the Queen arrives. You observe the dress — " he pointed out one or two details " — " and then "

Through the door came the sound of trumpets; and Guy's heart quickened at it. They sounded again nearer; and a moment later the procession began to come in. He turned quickly to the other.

" Who are they all, sir? "

The first few were ushers, it seemed; and after that came a few personages.

" There is Sir Robert Rochester — the Comptroller — " whispered Mr. Norris. " You know him — you see where he stands. And that is Master Gage, in the velvet, with the grey hair. He is Chamberlain of the Household — he ran away in Wyatt's rebellion, — and the Vice-Chamberlain beside him, Sir Henry Jerningham. He is Captain of the Guard, too...."

There was another burst of music, and a small stately figure came in with shining headdress and dark shimmering robes over cloth-of-gold; and Guy gripped the rail and watched, as she passed up to her solitary place and stood there a moment while a priest, stepping forward from behind, blessed the table with the sign of the cross. Then she sat down, and an ordered bustle began.

Master Manton Learns his Trade

Guy hardly noticed what was happening. Figures moved below with dishes and napkins, coming swiftly from beneath the gallery where he stood, handing their burdens on to others who passed them on in turn, and returning silently again across the sunlit rushes. Mr. Norris gabbled in a quick whisper at his side, pointing out the duties of this man and that, and the precise etiquette of each action; but he heard very little of it all. His eyes were on that lonely figure in the centre of the shining table, with the arms of England burning in tapestry behind her high chair — the white, refracted light on her face, the deliberate movement of her head, her downcast eyes, the slow gestures of her jewelled hands. It was very strange to think that he was in real relations with this woman now; that it would be his duty to move about there below, day by day, watching and ministering to her on whom all eyes were set; that she would no longer be merely a person in tales to him, a pivot on whom government turned, a stiff figure head of pageants and processions, but a living creature who ate and drank before his eyes, into whose private life he would at least in a measure be admitted. He wished however, that that private life were more interesting.

He turned to Mr. Norris again.

I" Thank you, sir. I fear I cannot remember it all yet. Tell me some more of the great folks, if you please. Which of them were with her in the old days? "

" Well, sir, there are two you should know quickly. Master Englefield and Master Waldegrave. They are standing together there, behind her Grace's chair " — he pointed them out — " they were in her household in the old days, and fell into trouble with the Council because they would have nought to do with putting down the mass there. That tall girl is the Lady Magdalene Dacre, lately come to Court. She is a friend of mine already.

The Queen's Tragedy

And beside her is Mistress Jane Dormer, who sleeps in her Grace's room sometimes. But observe, Master Manton — you see what is to be done when her Grace drinks...."

He was off again with explanations of the ceremonial.

It was over presently, and the two descended and went out into the court.

Guy had more leisure now to observe his companion, whom he had met for the first time in the gallery that morning. He was a well made man of about thirty years old, remarkably handsome with yellow curls and blue eyes, and looked very well in his cloak and green and white livery, plumed cap and sword, and seemed very perfect in his knowledge of the Court.

Guy was pleased when he proposed that they should walk in the garden for a little, for he had a friendly air and would no doubt be very useful as an instructor.

A minute later they were going up and down together on the broad walk in the shadow of the ivy-covered wall of the privy-garden on one side, and with the glowing lawn and flower beds on the other. There was a fresh breeze blowing off the river, and Guy, in his gay suit and satin shoes for the first time, with his sword at his side, felt his spirits rise.

" Tell me everything, Master Norris," he said. " I know nothing."

The other smiled at him pleasantly.

" Well, sir," he said, " you will find it happy enough, if you know how to please yourself. The ladies are very kind. There is plenty of sport, tilting, riding, singing — what you will; and the duties are not severe. It is better than in King Edward's time — We all pulled long faces then. God rest his soul! "

Master Norris signed himself devoutly.

Master Manton Learns his Trade

" Well, sir? And what else? "

" There are some knaves," he said, " of whom you will do well to keep clear. We learnt that in the spring."

" And their names, Master Norris? "

The young man pursed his lips humorously.

" Their names are best left alone," he said, " but I will tell you one. Master Edward Underbill, whom I have the honour to command."

" He is in the Court then? " asked Guy astonished.

" Why, yes; and there are others, in high places too; but it is best not to speak of them."

" And what of the gentlemen? "

" Well, sir, there is old Dick Kearsley whom you have not seen yet. A good fellow enough, but as sour as a berry. You had best not cross him. He is away on an errand; but you will see him in the parlour some day, I dare say. We three are to share the little room by the lodge."

" And the ladies? " Aha! " said Jack, " You will not see much of them, less you be one of the fortunate ones. They keep close to her Grace. You will see them in the barge metimes, maybe, or in the gardens."

Guy began to have a better idea of this gentleman presently, and to understand that he would be a useful gossip; but for a while he could not turn him from the ladies.

" Mistress Jane Dormer is old beyond her years," he proceeded. " She is hardly twenty yet; but as discreet as forty. She is always with her Grace. She will make a great match some day. She has refused my lord of Norfolk already. She is very intimate with her Grace. She had an uncle who suffered under Henry for the Faith, you know, and that makes her dear. Then there is old Mrs. Clarentia, a stiff old thing, but very much

The Queen's Tragedy attached; and there are others — Mrs. Rise and Mrs. Young; and best of all there is my lady Magdalene Dacre."

Jack looked so significant that Guy put in a word here.

" You must not ask too much," cried Jack archly; " it will be enough for you to see her at a distance." — God bless her bright eyes! "

Before the two gentlemen went in to their own dinner, Guy put his last question.

" And what of her Grace, Master Norris? "

Jack took him by the arm confidentially.

" See here, sir, you must not put a question like that to all you meet. They would take it amiss; they would tell you she was royal and holy; or they would tell you she was a bastard and a brute. But I will tell you what I think."

He looked so profound that Guy expected a revelation.

" Well, sir? "

" Well, sir," said Jack, pressing his arm, " this is what I think. God alone knows! "

He released his arm dramatically, and stared him in the face. Then he burst out laughing.

Guy was a little aggrieved and showed it by his silence.

" There, there, Master Manton, you must not take it amiss," whispered Jack, grasping his arm again. " It is God's truth. I think no one knows but He. She is pious; she is zealous; she has a will of her own; she is cold; she is hot; she is miserly; she is liberal; she has a sad soul and a merry dress; she is silent; she can speak like an orator, for I heard her at the Guildhall in February, and she set my heart a-fire; then she put it out again next day by her coldness. She cut off the head of her cousin, and half a score more; and she let four hundred rebels go free. There, Master Manton;

Master Manton Learns his Trade and if you can make a woman out of that, you are wiser than I."

The bell began to ring for the pensioners' dinner; and the two went in without another word.

The Queen's Tragedy

A week or two later Guy had made progress in more ways than one.

First, he had learnt his very simple duties, and took his place at dinner and in processions with scarcely more than a tremor. He had been sent for once by the Queen, and had sat by her in her own room, listening to her rendering of the Mattins lessons for the day; and had gone again more perplexed than ever by her character, and still less attracted towards it. She was terribly self -controlled; she had reproved him passionlessly because he did not correct her more, and received his spasmodic attempts afterwards with silence.

Jack had been perfectly right about her. There was no inspiration to be found there; there was scarcely even interest. He had been right too about her miserliness; the accounts were checked with a disagreeable accuracy; and a rebuke had actually come down to Guy from Lord Winchester himself, who superintended her Grace's finances, for some small oversight.

In larger affairs too Guy had learnt more in a few days than he would have thought possible, under Jack's tuition.

He understood that there were three parties, each striving to influence the Queen; Bishop Gardiner's, which represented the loyal insularity of England, and the Spanish and French factions under Renard and De Noailles. The former of these two, who had triumphed at last in the matter of the Spanish marriage, was supported by such persons as Sir William Petre of Ingate-stone and other members of the Council. De Noailles, on the other hand, still struggled to overthrow it as involving a continental coalition antagonistic to French interests. In this the Frenchman was supported by a large English party, whose leader, some said, and whose

Master Manton Learns his Trade dupe, others said, was no less a person than the Lady Elizabeth herself.

It was wonderful, observed Jack, to see these two ambassadors, with their courtly friendliness in public, and to remember their fierce antagonism behind the scenes. It seemed to Guy, as he lounged and listened in the parlour, that they resembled two ringed and scented hands, stretched across the Channel, alert and strong to grasp or stab or salute as occasion served, capable, remorseless and gentle all at once.

He learnt gradually, too, day by day, to know the other great folks by sight; and to discern their significance in the bewildering warp of royal and political life — the small black-haired Duke of Norfolk, the ruddy Bishop of London, loud-voiced and hearty, and above all Stephen Gardiner, the strong and genial Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of the realm, on whom Mary relied so much in her schemes for Catholicising the runtry. He saw too that times were strange — there were few about the Queen who had not changed their creed or their politics at least once to save their position; and he began to understand, as never at Cambridge, the conditions of the intricate game that lay under Mary's hand. For those who served her there were two roads to success, the one pliability and the other rigidity; and he determined that the latter should be his own.

Meanwhile, until something should open out, he gave himself up to observing the life round him, and joining in it so far as he could.

I He was not greatly taken with Master Kearsley. He was sitting in the parlour with Tom one evening after supper, when the door was thrust open, and a stranger walked in, covered with dust.

The Queen's Tragedy

" I beg your pardon, sir," said Guy stiffly, " but this is the private parlour."

The stranger looked at him from under bushy eyebrows, and his mouth twitched in his lean face; but he said nothing, went across the rushes and sat down in the window-seat.

Guy stood up indignant.

" I tell you this is the privy parlour of her Grace's gentlemen."

" Then what does that lad do here? " snarled the stranger.

" He is my servant, sir."

" Her Grace's gentlemen's servants are not allowed in her Grace's gentlemen's privy parlour," remarked the other caustically.

" Who are you, sir? By what right do you speak to me like that? "

Guy was aware that the stranger's eyebrows twitched at him fiercely; but he came a step towards him, hitching forward his sword, and trembling like a terrier-dog.

" I tell you, sir " he began; but turned round at the sound of the latch to see Jack Norris come in.

"Ah! Master Norris "

" Why, Dick," said Jack, paying no attention, " when did you come back? "

Guy stepped aside feeling a fool.

" But five minutes ago," said Master Kearsley drily, " and am met by a fellow who would have me out of my own room."

" I beg your pardon, Master Kearsley," put in Guy confusedly. " I did not know "

Dick sniffed and stood up.

" I suppose you are Master Guy Man ton," he said.

" Yes; this is Master Manton," put in Jack, looking from one to the other.

Master Manton Learns his Trade

" Then Master Manton had best bid his lad begone," went on Kearsley, " I have had the honour to inform the gentleman already of the regulations."

" Go, Tom," said Guy, abashed.

Jack gave a squirt of laughter.

" Already, Dick? " he said.

" If Master Manton considers himself aggrieved," went on Dick coolly; "he has only to ask

" I am very willing to do what is proper," said Guy, deliberately hitching forward his sword again, " but I will say for the last time that I regret I did not know, Master Kearsley."

Dick sat down again.

" Very well," he said brusquely, " that is enough."

The three sat together amicably for a few minutes; but Guy was not greatly pleased with his new fellow. Master Kearsley was sour both in appearance and speech, and said very little, except to complain of the bad roads and the heat, and the stupidity he had found in the small household at Richmond whither he had been sent to prepare for the Queen's coming.

" The landing-stage was all to pieces," he said, " and not one had had the sense to repair it."

" Her Grace will have no unnecessary expense," began Jack.

" It is not her Grace," cried Dick angrily, " it is those idle folk of hers."

He snarled so fiercely that Guy was glad when he got up presently, and said that he must be off to supper. When the door closed behind him Guy looked at the other questioningly.

Jack's face broke into lines of mirth.

" To think that you should have met him so," he said, and bidden him begone from his own parlour! "

The Queen's Tragedy

" He did not explain," began Guy with some irritation.

" Why, of course, he did not. Dick loves a sour jest like that."

" He is a sour fellow, I think."

" Why, yes; you have hit him there. And see, Master Manton, that you do not slight her Grace before him. He will have none of that."

" Does he love her then, so much? "

Jack lifted his eyebrows.

" Why, we all love her," he sneered, " and Dick is one of us."

When Guy had gone presently to look after Tom, Jack sat still in the window-seat for a few minutes, looking out on to the cobbled court and the pleasant activity of the green-and-white figures that went to and fro. He was wondering what this new pensioner would make of the life at Court. He did not think he would be altogether happy there.

From a word or two that Guy had let slip, Jack understood that he took his position very seriously and looked forward to some sort of a career; and that, Jack knew very well, was not an easy ambition for a gentleman-usher. There were no great openings for distinction except for persons of an extraordinary ability. Besides, Guy did not seem to him to have the brutality necessary for a career. Only that afternoon the two had ridden together past Cheapside pillory at the moment that a woman had fainted during her flogging for harlotry, and Jack had been astonished at his companion's white face. Guy had recovered himself the next moment, and rapped out a harsh word or two, but it did not quite compensate for his appearance the instant before.

On the other hand he had taken to his new duties with sufficient address; he knew how to behave and to carry

Master Manton Learns his Trade himself, and even Mrs. Clarentia had remarked on it that morning as she and Jack waited for the Queen in the antechamber.

The old lady had confided to him that she had had a terrible time with young Magdalene Dacre, her Grace's new lady; she had found the girl in hysterics with home-sickness in her own room, and had been forced to correct her sharply, telling her that the Queen's Majesty did not want pining misses about her.

" The poor child! " said Jack sympathetically. " Let me talk to her, mistress."

Mrs. Clarentia eyed him severely.

" I felt that myself," she said, " but I did not tell her so."

" She should take example by Master Manton," observed Jack sententiously.

The old lady threw up her hands.

" Eh! that young man! And you should see how he bears himself with her Grace. He might have been born at Court."

That was all well enough, Jack told himself now, as he sat in the window-seat and played with the shutter. If Master Manton would be content with the small affairs of life, and would develop his courtierly graces, and learn perhaps to play on the virginal and accompany that divine boy of his, and talk to the ladies properly in the barge — all might go very smoothly; but it was a pity for him to attempt higher flights, unless he was able and prepared to develop the sterner virtues.

He determined to talk to him paternally.

Jack Norris found the text and the occasion for his fatherly discourse a week later.

The Court moved to Richmond at the end of June; and the gentlemen had a very merry journey by water, preceding the Queen's barge by an hour or two, in order to have all things ready for her arrival. Masters Norris and Manton escorted four of the Queen's ladies, among whom was the Lady Magdalene Dacre herself; and there was a good deal of pleasant talking under the canopy between the tall, innocent-eyed girl, who seemed to have recovered her spirits, and the kind gentleman who wished to help her to it; as the painted barge swept up the river, driven by the twelve oars in the hands of the silver and blue-liveried watermen.

It was a glorious summer day; and after they had dined under the trees on the Brentford shore, and thrown pebbles at an overbold water hen, Jack got out his lute and sang a love-song or two, sitting apart in his comely dress, with his sword unbuckled and his jewelled cap on the ground beside him; — he had drunk a trifle too much of the spiced wine —; rolling shallow, passionate eyes between the verses at the pale downcast face of the splendid girl, who sat in her place with her buckled shoes crossed before her, her gemmed hands in her lap, with the flecked sunlight on her white head-dress and great coils of black hair.

He was thankful that Mistress Jane Dormer was not there: she would have checked the singing in five minutes; but the other women were quacking ampng themselves on the bank; and the girl sat still and listened, and made no attempt to call them back.

Jack strutted like a peacock beside Guy on the way up from the landing-stage to the palace. He was

Master Manton Learns his Trade delighted with his success, and his pleasure presently overflowed in admonition.

" That is the way to get on, Master Manton," he said. " You must not be glum, as you have been all day. Is she not glorious? "

Guy roused himself from abstraction.

" The Lady Magdalene? Indeed, she is. What were you saying? "

" I was saying you must not be glum, sir. That is no way for her Grace's gentlemen to carry themselves."

" How should I carry myself? "

Jack showed his white teeth; he felt extraordinarily gay.

" Why," he said, " though I say it with shame, you should take example by me."

" But Master Norris," said Guy gravely, " I do not wish to be like you. I am come here to make a way for myself."

Jack gave a shout of laughter.

" Then you must carry yourself differently again. You are too kindly, sir, to make such a way."

" Too kindly? Too soft, do you mean? "

" Well, it is your word not mine."

Guy set his teeth.

" Thank you, sir. You are perfectly right. It is what I have told myself."

Jack looked at him queerly: this fellow was really too solemn, he thought.

" You shall not see it again, Master Norris; I promise you that. I shall correct it."

This was serious talking, but Jack did not see his way to pursue it.

" I saw that damned heretic Underbill in the City yesterday with two fellows," he went on as they neared the entrance. " One of them, I think, was Master Ash ton."

The Queen's Tragedy

He was astonished by his companion's start. Guy was looking at him.

" When you were with my boy Tom? " he said.

Jack nodded.

" I thought your boy Tom knew one of them," he said, " but he swore he did not."

Guy laid a hand on his arm to stop him.

" Who is Master Underbill? " he asked.

" Why, he is a pestilent fellow in the Court. I sent him packing from my company in Wyatt's revolt; but he is back again now."

" He is a heretic? "

" He is a heretic and a bloody traitor; and I am a devout Churchman, as you have no doubt observed. Let me pass, Master Manton."

" And the other? " insisted Guy, still detaining him.

" Master Ashton? I do not know — I have seen him at Court. But I cannot prove what I said just now about Master Underbill. I would to God I could. Let me go, sir."

There was a great deal to be done that evening before the Queen arrived, although they were to stay at Richmond only a few days; and it was not until nine o'clock when supper had been despatched, and her Grace gone to her rooms with trumpets before her, that Guy had an opportunity of speaking to his boy Tom.

Tom was in a whirl of excitement. It was his first journey by water; and he had been made much of all the way by the household servants in the red barge that came last after the Queen. He had sung song after song, and had been kissed and petted by the women, and smiled upon by the men; and all that, with the splendid exhilaration of the summer day, the crash of music, the flocks of swans his own gorgeous dress, the swift clean

Master Manton Learns his Trade water in which he trailed his hands, the sight of the wooded banks and the deer and the birds streaming past; and finally the arrival at the tall towered palace, and a piece of news he had heard there — all combined to make him jubilant and noisy.

He burst into his master's room to tell him that he had heard he was to be appointed to her Grace's choir — that Master Norris had told him so and clapped him on the back; but he stopped short and stared as he saw his master's expression.

Guy was sitting in the window-seat, his arm flung across the sill, and he turned a heavy face as the boy came in. He nodded to him to shut the door.

" Tell me, Tom No, I am not angry. Tell me again where you saw Master Brownrigg, and what he was doing."

Tom put his hands behind his back and looked at him nervously.

" It was on the steps of Paul's, sir, as I said. He was with two gentlemen. He turned away when we came by."

" How was he dressed? "

" He was dressed in a dark suit — like — like a clerk."

" Did Master Norris say aught? "

" He asked if I knew any of them; I suppose I said something, sir."

" What did you tell him? "

" I told him ' No,' sir. I remembered what you said about Master Brownrigg."

" What was that? "

" You told me to keep my eyes open, sir; and say nothing but to you."

Guy looked at him intently a moment.

" That is very good, Tom. I am pleased with you."

The Queen's Tragedy

The boy flushed with pleasure.

" Listen, Tom. I am going to tell you a secret. Understand, you must tell no one. I fear that Master Stephen will be in trouble soon. He was with a plotter yesterday, against her Grace. It was about that that we quarrelled."

Tom's face fell; then it brightened again with excitement.

" And what will you do, Master Manton? "

Guy looked at him, and went on, as if talking to himself.

" I shall do nothing," he said. " I shall not inform. I shall do nothing. He must see to himself. But I cannot act against him this time."

He stood up suddenly.

" By God, I cannot, this first time. But, by God, the next time "

He broke off, wheeled round and stood staring out of the window.

Presently he turned round again, and his face was steady.

" You understand me, do you not? You are not to speak of this again. Master Brownrigg must do as he will."

" And what may I do, sir? "

" Do? You may keep your eyes open, as I told you, and your tongue silent."

Donee eris felix, mullos numerabis amicos; Tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris.

Ov. Trist.