Mary, Queen of France: The Story of the Youngest Sister of Henry VIII

other.”

“Poor Claude! I fear it is inevitable that she should be a little jealous.”

“Is she of a jealous nature?”

“I believe that, like most of us, if she thought she had reason to be jealous, she could be so.”

“And has she reason?”

“Having recently acquired such a beautiful stepmother, only a year or so older than herself, must necessarily accentuate her own ungainliness, particularly when …,” Marguerite hesitated and Mary raised her eyebrows enquiringly, “… when her husband seems so very much aware of that stepmother’s charm.”

“You are telling me that Claude is jealous … on my account!” Mary’s surprise was clearly feigned, and she meant Marguerite to know that it was.

“Francois is so clearly attracted to you.”

“Then should you not speak to him? I can assure you that I have done nothing to make Claude jealous.”

“He is impetuous and reckless.”

“I see.” Mary turned her clear gaze on Marguerite. “I certainly think you should warn him in that case.”

Marguerite laid a hand on Mary’s arm. “If the King were to be aware of this …”

Mary said coolly: “I can set your mind at rest. There is nothing in the matter that I am aware of which could give the King the slightest cause for displeasure.”

She was reminding Marguerite that she was the Queen of France, and that she had no wish to discuss the matter further; but secretly she was amused because she had learned a great deal about the relationships of that family. Louise of Savoy had been tortured all through her life by fear that a son of Louis might follow his father to the throne. And now they had actually gone so far as to believe that she might be Francois’s lover and have a child which she would pretend was Louis’s.

In her present position it was good to have something to laugh at. Francois greatly desired the crown and yet the need to satisfy his sexual impulses was so demanding that he was prepared to risk the first in order to assuage the second! And the devoted mother and sister were fearfully looking on.

She might have said to them: Francois shall never be my lover. There is only one who could be that, and he is in England.

But the knowledge of intrigue around her was helping her through these melancholy days.

The royal party had been at Abbeville for almost a fortnight, and Louis was showing signs of recovery. Mary, still acting as nurse, watched him uneasily as she sat by his couch.

He took her hand and said: “Thanks to our ministrations I am beginning to recover.”

“You must be very careful not to exert yourself too much,” said Mary quickly.

“Have no fear. I think we shall be able to leave here within a few days, and our first stop shall be at Beauvais. I have a surprise for you.”

Mary opened her eyes wide in an endeavor to express excitement. A ruby? A diamond? She knew what his surprises usually were and she was beginning to dread them because she must pretend to show enthusiasm which she could not possibly feel.

“We shall have a joust to celebrate your coronation, and I thought that it would please you if we made it a contest between the country of your birth and your adopted one. It would be a symbol of the friendship between us. The people will remember that not long ago we were fighting each other in a real war. Now we will have a mock- battle and see who is the more skilled in the joust.”

“There are few Englishmen here who would be able to give a good account of themselves.”

“I know, and this must be a fair contest. So I thought it would please you if I wrote to your brother and asked him to send over some of his most skilled knights to challenge ours. This I have done.”

For a moment she found speech impossible. She was asking herself: Whom will Henry send?

“I can see that the thought of this match between the two countries please you more than jewels. I am content.”

“You are very good to me,” murmured Mary.

He laughed. “Remember though that you are a Frenchwoman now. You must support us, you know.”

“We shall see,” she answered.

They left Abbeville for Beauvais and as she rode beside the King, acknowledging the cheers of the people, Mary was asking herself the question: Is it possible? Would Henry send Charles?

Louis had said that he was asking that the most skilled men might be sent. In that case Charles must come. For the honor of England he must come. Henry would see to that. Yet, knowing the state of her feelings, would Henry consider it unwise to send Charles?

Rarely had she looked so beautiful as she did then; there was a suppressed excitement in her eyes which did not pass unnoticed by Marguerite.

The Queen is in love? she thought. Has it gone as far as that? Oh, Francois, beloved, have a care.

It was a golden October day when they rode into Beauvais; and as they reached the mansion where they were to stay for the night, Mary was alert for a sign of the English party.

A banquet had been prepared in the great hall, and she had taken her place at the center table, when the news was brought to the King that the English knights had arrived.

“Have them brought in at once,” was Louis’s answer. “We must give them a good welcome, for they come on