Read Online The Flawed Mistress (The Summerville Journals) by Margaret Brazear - Free Book Online Page A

was a
foreign princess who he had never met, but he had sent his portrait painter,
Hans Holbein to Flanders
to capture her image.  She was to come to England to marry the King without
ever having set eyes on him.
       
My heart went out to her.  I recalled my one night with the King, his
disgusting breath and his wet lips, and I shuddered.  This poor princess
was about to commit to suffer that every single night.  While I pitied
her, I also hoped she would hurry and get here before he sought satisfaction
elsewhere.  Richard Summerville had been escorting me about London and although we
had stayed away from court, I lived in fear that someone would have noticed me.
       
I missed Richard but I had my reading matter and my little maid who kept me
company as well as serving me.  Sometimes I went out in the closed
carriage, wearing the black velvet cloak that Richard had given me, and watched
what was going on in the park.  I often passed the palace like this, but I
made a special effort then not to be seen.
       
The King had remarried but had refused to consummate his marriage, declaring
that the Princess Anne of Cleves was far too ugly.  The portrait painter, had not
painted a good likeness, he had made her complexion smoother, her body slimmer,
and Henry had named her the Flanders Mare.  I could not help but wonder
what sort of arrogance a man would have to have, to be so unattractive himself
yet refuse a woman on the grounds of ugliness.  She had indeed had a lucky
escape.
       
The marriage was annulled, making me wonder if Richard had thought any more of
doing the same with his own marriage.  I doubted that this temporary Queen
would have been subjected to an intimate examination.  She and the King
likely only had to declare their aversion toward each other.
       
I hoped his disappointment with his new queen did not cause him to remember the
little girl who had sobbed half the night away in his bed.  I could not
quite convince myself that with all the mistresses he had since had, he would
not even remember me.  I was too afraid of the possibility to think like
that.
       
Richard returned just once more that year, a fleeting visit on his way to visit
his mother's lawyer.
       
"She died three days ago," he told me despondently.  "I
have to see about her will, make sure everybody gets what she wanted them to
have.  She set aside a trust fund for her future grandchildren.  How
is that for a cruel joke?"
       
"Richard, stop, please!"  I cried out.  "You are only
tormenting yourself.  You need to annul the marriage.  You know it, I
know and deep down, Rosemary knows it.  Why not ask this lawyer about it
while you are there?  What have you got to lose?"
       
He looked at me sheepishly for a few moments, then squeezed my hand.  I caught a little smile from Lucy as she came in with
ale.  She knew nothing of my personal pain and believed like everyone else
that Richard and I were more than just friends."
       
"I will think about it," he said softly.
       
"You said that before, but here we are.  My dear, I just hate to see
you so unhappy."
       
He drank his ale and kissed my cheek, but he promised to ask the lawyer. 
The visit lasted but half an hour, yet I still missed him when he had gone.
       
"Lovely looking man, My Lady," Lucy commented with a little knowing
smile when she came to collect the tankards.
       
"Yes, indeed he is, Lucy.  You can admire from afar if you wish but
Lord Summerville and I are friends, nothing more."
       
"Whatever you say, My Lady," she replied but I could tell that she
did not believe me.  No matter.  I was quite flattered actually, though
I would never have told her that.
       
My life continued with its quietude and I thought I could be happy living like
this.  I had believed that if I kept myself hidden and kept to my house
and my closed carriage, all would be well. 
       
Then my uncle died and my world changed once