‘No they cannot!’ In moments we had both shed our clothes and were sinking into the soft mattress, pulling the curtains closed, the covers up and wrapping ourselves in each other. It was everything I had imagined. Virgin she may have been but she gave herself to me with unmistakable joy.

21

Jane

Pembroke Castle

A LETTER FROM LADY Margaret came at last in June, along with some sunny days when the scented herbs and flowers spilled over the neatly hedged knot-garden where I had taken Harri to play. I had made him several pairs of small hosen with leather soles and patches on the knees so that he did not hurt himself if he fell on gravel paths.

‘I will watch Harri for a while if you like,’ Jasper said, handing me the letter so that I could read it. He swung the little boy up as he always did; Harri squealed with excitement.

I nodded. ‘Thank you, but do not throw him around or he will be sick. He has only just eaten.’

I left them and wandered over to a stone bench in the sun, set against the mansion wall. The seal of the letter was broken but before unfolding it I turned it over in my hands several times, wondering what effect the contents might have had on Jasper. He and I were happy but it had been impossible to keep it a secret that I was sharing his bed. Many of the people around us, Steward Dŵnn and other Pembroke counsellors and their wives, such as Edith and Geoffrey Pole, had been positive about the fact that Jasper had taken a mistress, especially as they already knew me well. Set against this, the straight-laced gentry of castle and town were scandalized, but my friends led the way in persuading the more easily-offended folk that since I was already trusted with the upbringing of young Harri Tudor, I could not be an entirely scarlet woman. Harri’s great-grandfather had apparently taken his daughters’ governess as his mistress and what had been good enough for John of Gaunt should surely be good enough for Lord Jasper. However, Lady Margaret’s opinion was another order of concern altogether; without doubt Jasper would be seriously perturbed by any sign that rumour had reached her of the situation at Pembroke.

To the honourable Lord Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke and brother to the puissant and gracious Henry VI, King of England, France and Ireland, greetings.

Trust Margaret to bring Jasper’s relationship with the king into her greeting, I thought. Although still only fifteen she was acutely aware of the power of royal connections and the importance of parading them.

I hope this finds you well and I thank you most earnestly for keeping me informed on the progress and state of health of my most precious and dearly loved son Henry, Earl of Richmond.