Read Online Legacy: The Acclaimed Novel of Elizabeth, England's Most Passionate Queen -- and the Three Men Who Loved Her by Susan Kay - Free Book Online
Authors: Susan Kay
Tags: nonfiction, History
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it.”
“I didn’t know that would happen,” she said innocently. “I’m only
a girl.”
Slightly mollified he sat down again, clearing a path in the debris first.
After a moment she began to collect up the branches.
“I’m going to build a better one,” she announced. “Are you going to
help me?”
“No,” he said sullenly. “Why should I?”
She gave him a push with her foot.
“Get out of my way then, you’re sitting in the entrance.”
For the rest of the afternoon he sat and watched and jeered; when she
40
Legacy
had finished he was quietly amazed; it was more than half as big again.
Flushed with triumph she came to stand beside him.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” she said modestly.
“It’s all right, I suppose, for a first attempt. But it won’t last. One gust
of wind and the whole thing will fall to pieces.”
She smiled and said, “We’ll see.”
Buoyant as a cobweb, the thing stood there week after week, defying
the laws of gravity and several storms. Years later, when he heard the
accusations of “no human agency” applied to the fantastic, fragile
substance of her vast success, he remembered that secret place and how
he had thought, It isn’t possible. Tomorrow it’s sure to be down.
They went there often, holding their breaths when Henry’s courtiers
passed to and from within a few feet of them, but they were never
discovered, not even by Guildford Dudley who spent many wasted hours
searching for them.
“Guess what!” said Robin, one cold October morning when they sat
on his cloak because the grass was damp. “John brought a kitchen maid
to our bedroom last night. I saw him take her.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Where did he take her?”
“On his bed of course. You don’t suppose they did it on the floor like
peasants, do you?”
There was a blank, bewildered look on her face and understanding
burst upon him in a delightful thunderclap. So she didn’t know every-
thing, after all!
“Do you want me to tell you how a man takes a woman?” he
inquired loftily.
“Thank you,” she said, stiff and defensive, “I already know.”
He looked at her thoughtfully. “I don’t believe it,” he said slowly.
“You really don’t know, do you? You don’t know the first thing about
it. You—ow!”
She had seized his little finger and bent it backwards.
“Tell me then, master high and mighty Dudley, who can’t decline the
simplest Latin noun—tell me what you know, if anything.”
He pulled his finger away and looked at her, suddenly sly.
“Knowledge is expensive,” he said. “What’s this piece worth to
Your Grace?”
She considered a moment. “I’ll do your Latin translation tomorrow.”
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Susan Kay
“And the next day?”
“Oh, all right!” she said ungraciously. “Now get on with it.”
When he had told her all she needed to know she gave him a
derisive nudge.
“I don’t believe you. Love isn’t like that. Who would want to do
anything so disgusting?”
“It’s true,” he said angrily, “every bit of it. Even kings and queens do
it like that.”
She flushed to the roots of her hair.
“They don’t! My father and Queen Katherine—they do not.”
Suddenly, unexpectedly, she began to cry wildly. “I hate you, Robin
Dudley, I hate you. Go away!”
He went. They did not speak again for over a week, a long tense
week during which the younger children, quick to sense the hostility
between them, sided pointedly with Elizabeth, as experience had
taught them it was wise to do. Even Guildford Dudley decamped to the
enemy with the half-shamed explanation that he had never expected
a princess to pinch so hard. It was Robin’s first experience of royal
disfavour, and he found it every bit as uncomfortable and humiliating
as he was to find the real thing in later life. The only attention he
received in the schoolroom was from their tutor, and that was more
unwelcome than ever.
“I am a patient man, Master
“I didn’t know that would happen,” she said innocently. “I’m only
a girl.”
Slightly mollified he sat down again, clearing a path in the debris first.
After a moment she began to collect up the branches.
“I’m going to build a better one,” she announced. “Are you going to
help me?”
“No,” he said sullenly. “Why should I?”
She gave him a push with her foot.
“Get out of my way then, you’re sitting in the entrance.”
For the rest of the afternoon he sat and watched and jeered; when she
40
Legacy
had finished he was quietly amazed; it was more than half as big again.
Flushed with triumph she came to stand beside him.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” she said modestly.
“It’s all right, I suppose, for a first attempt. But it won’t last. One gust
of wind and the whole thing will fall to pieces.”
She smiled and said, “We’ll see.”
Buoyant as a cobweb, the thing stood there week after week, defying
the laws of gravity and several storms. Years later, when he heard the
accusations of “no human agency” applied to the fantastic, fragile
substance of her vast success, he remembered that secret place and how
he had thought, It isn’t possible. Tomorrow it’s sure to be down.
They went there often, holding their breaths when Henry’s courtiers
passed to and from within a few feet of them, but they were never
discovered, not even by Guildford Dudley who spent many wasted hours
searching for them.
“Guess what!” said Robin, one cold October morning when they sat
on his cloak because the grass was damp. “John brought a kitchen maid
to our bedroom last night. I saw him take her.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Where did he take her?”
“On his bed of course. You don’t suppose they did it on the floor like
peasants, do you?”
There was a blank, bewildered look on her face and understanding
burst upon him in a delightful thunderclap. So she didn’t know every-
thing, after all!
“Do you want me to tell you how a man takes a woman?” he
inquired loftily.
“Thank you,” she said, stiff and defensive, “I already know.”
He looked at her thoughtfully. “I don’t believe it,” he said slowly.
“You really don’t know, do you? You don’t know the first thing about
it. You—ow!”
She had seized his little finger and bent it backwards.
“Tell me then, master high and mighty Dudley, who can’t decline the
simplest Latin noun—tell me what you know, if anything.”
He pulled his finger away and looked at her, suddenly sly.
“Knowledge is expensive,” he said. “What’s this piece worth to
Your Grace?”
She considered a moment. “I’ll do your Latin translation tomorrow.”
41
Susan Kay
“And the next day?”
“Oh, all right!” she said ungraciously. “Now get on with it.”
When he had told her all she needed to know she gave him a
derisive nudge.
“I don’t believe you. Love isn’t like that. Who would want to do
anything so disgusting?”
“It’s true,” he said angrily, “every bit of it. Even kings and queens do
it like that.”
She flushed to the roots of her hair.
“They don’t! My father and Queen Katherine—they do not.”
Suddenly, unexpectedly, she began to cry wildly. “I hate you, Robin
Dudley, I hate you. Go away!”
He went. They did not speak again for over a week, a long tense
week during which the younger children, quick to sense the hostility
between them, sided pointedly with Elizabeth, as experience had
taught them it was wise to do. Even Guildford Dudley decamped to the
enemy with the half-shamed explanation that he had never expected
a princess to pinch so hard. It was Robin’s first experience of royal
disfavour, and he found it every bit as uncomfortable and humiliating
as he was to find the real thing in later life. The only attention he
received in the schoolroom was from their tutor, and that was more
unwelcome than ever.
“I am a patient man, Master
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