Circle of Pearls Read online

  Looking across at the gown, Katherine wondered again if she could have done anything to stop the destruction of all the rest of the royal wardrobe if she had stayed on at Court after Elizabeth’s demise and become lady-in-waiting to James’s queen. It was a question she had asked herself many times, although she had had no foresight of what was to happen and had left London before the new King had arrived, his queen following still later. In any case it was virtually certain her voice of protest would have made no difference.

  Katherine looked down fondly at her granddaughter. The time had come to end regrets about what had happened in the past. The future of the last remaining gown was ensured. Although Sotherleigh would be Michael’s when the time came, Julia would have a special keepsake to hold in trust for those who came after her.

  And Julia, content at her grandmother’s side, knew that for some reason she might never understand, her strange and lovely dream had become one with the gown. She would never be mystified by the dream again. Why then did she feel that this was only the beginning? Was it that her wish to share her dream with Christopher meant that it had yet to be fulfilled?

  4

  ‘Julia, come here! Such a surprise!’ Anne’s voice reached her daughter in the library. ‘Michael has come from Bletchingdon. Christopher is with him.’

  Julia flung down her pen, heedless of the ink-blots splashing across her set-work. Why were they here? The plan had been that they should go straight back to Oxford from Christopher’s home and Michael had not been expected to return until Christmas. Excited, she ran from the library and by the time she reached the porch outside, Anne was being greeted by both young men at the foot of the steps, a groom leading their horses away. Suddenly Julia was overcome with shyness at seeing Christopher again, not knowing why, and she hung back unnoticed in the shadows of the porch. It was two years since she had told him about her dream and he had visited again last summer, but she had never felt self-conscious before in his presence and it was all she could do not to run back into the house again.

  ‘How I wish Robert were here to see you both,’ Anne was saying to the two young men, clasping her slim hands together and releasing them again expressively. ‘But he has gone to join the King! He took nine men with him, all re-armed and looking brave. They made a proud sight.’ Her voice faltered.

  Michael nodded seriously. ‘We know, Mother. I’ve seen him, but I’ll tell you about that later.’ Then the expression on his still boyish face lightened again. ‘Meanwhile it’s good to be home again. That doesn’t mean Christopher and I haven’t been marvellously well looked after during our stay with Dr and Mrs Holder. While we were there we had cause for celebration. Christopher is now a Bachelor of Arts. He achieved this distinction in two years while I and the rest of my fellow undergraduates have another two of the four-year course to complete.’

  Anne exclaimed with pleasure. ‘How splendid, Christopher! My felicitations on such a wonderful achievement.’

  Christopher looked acutely embarrassed. ‘A fluke, madam. It was no more than that.’

  Michael laughed. ‘Don’t listen to him. He’s already working for more examinations to make him a Master of Arts and the devil of it is that he could do it on his head and be asleep at the same time.’

  Grinning, Christopher made a mock swipe at Michael’s chin. ‘Enough, my friend! Or else — ’

  Anne, much amused, held up her hands. ‘Stop it, both of you! Let us have a little order now. Did you achieve all the study you had hoped for in your time at Bletchingdon?’

  ‘We did indeed,’ Christopher replied. ‘Susan and my brother-in-law both sent their compliments to you.’

  ‘I thank you. And what of your father? Is his enforced retirement from the Church of England still causing him much sorrow?’ She was full of sympathy for the elderly churchman, Dean Wren, who had held the high ecclesiastical position of Dean of Windsor, which also entailed being Keeper of the Royal Treasure House, until the Roundheads had ransacked his home, plundered the Crown jewels, and turned him and his young son out to take refuge where they could. When Dean Wren, a clever and artistic man, had taken up another living at a little church, he had been banished once and for all for making a beautiful altar piece that the Parliamentarians had denounced as Papist. All this had had a disruptive effect on Christopher’s early years, but the stability of school under a brilliant headmaster had done much to settle him into the steady young man that he was.

  ‘My father will ever miss his ecclesiastical duties,’ Christopher replied, ‘but my sister takes good care of him and he spends his days reading and writing.’

  Anne nodded compassionately. ‘I sent him a letter a little while ago. Do you know if he received it?’

  ‘No, I’m certain he hadn’t or else he would have given me a reply to deliver to you.’

  ‘It should reach him soon.’ Anne had never met Dean Wren, but they had kept up a correspondence ever since her son and his had become staunch friends, being the same age, during their first term at Westminster School. She was a strong advocate for the mild and salubrious air of Sussex for anyone in poor health and it was the reason why Christopher had spent a deal of his school vacations at Sotherleigh. She made a little bustling movement with her hands. ‘Come now. We have plenty of time to talk later. I’m sure you must be hungry after your journey. Let us go into the house without further delay.’

  ‘Allow me, Mother.’ Michael smilingly offered his arm and Christopher did the same. Happily she put a hand into the elbow of each as they strolled towards the flight of stone steps.

  ‘I am sure,’ she said, glancing assessingly up at her tall son, ‘that you’ve grown a full three inches since you were last at home.’

  ‘I’m not the only one who has grown,’ Michael replied with amusement, having spotted Julia standing to one side in the porch. ‘Who is this young maiden that I see?’

  Julia giggled at his teasing. He was always the same. She sprang forward to leap down the steps and greet him exuberantly. To her enormous delight Christopher bowed with a flourish and kissed her hand for the first time as if since last seeing her she had become as grown-up as Michael had declared her to be. She curtsied as she had been taught.

  ‘Shall you be here a nice long time, Christopher?’ she asked him hopefully.

  ‘I can stay a little longer than your brother, who is only here on a flying visit.’ He glanced at Michael. ‘Is that not so, friend?’

  Anne’s pupils dilated momentarily as if in shock at this information and she looked questioningly from Michael to Christopher and then back again. ‘Do you really have to make it a short sojourn?’

  ‘It has to be.’ Michael tried to ease the disappointment for her. ‘But all being well, I should be home again before long.’ She summoned up a smile. ‘That’s something to look forward to.’ Then she appeared to recover her original joyousness at their arrival. ‘We shall make the most of the time you’re here.’

  Julia moved to Michael’s side as they went up the steps. ‘How is Father?’ she asked eagerly. ‘Where did you see him?’ It seemed to her that he hesitated slightly before replying. ‘I’m going to give Mother all the details first, but I will say he looked fit and well.’

  ‘Did he send his love to me?’

  ‘Of course he did. He also sent you this.’ He dived into the pocket of his jacket and brought out a necklace of small blue beads such as pedlars sold, obviously purchased by Robert at some wayside. She exclaimed with pleasure and dangled the gift in front of her as she ran ahead to show Katherine what she had received.

  ‘I’ve something for you, too,’ Michael said to his mother as he drew a letter out of his pocket for her. ‘It comes with Father’s fondest felicitations.’

  Anne’s eyes were misty as she took it from him. ‘You couldn’t have brought me anything more welcome.’

  As soon as they were indoors Anne went to see about extra dishes for dinner before retreating to read her letter privately and the two young men went to g
reet Katherine. She was sitting in a high-backed chair in the Queen’s Parlour with Julia perched on the footstool, preening in the new necklace. Christopher let Michael converse with his grandmother first after they had both kissed her hand.

  ‘I trust you are in good health, Grandmother,’ Michael said with his cheery smile.

  ‘I’m perfectly well, I thank you.’ Katherine was aware of being cantankerous at times, but she prided herself on never moaning about her aches and pains. ‘Your home-coming is most welcome, but very unexpected.’

  He shrugged easily. ‘I decided that a visit of twenty-four hours at home would be most agreeable.’

  Under her wrinkled lids she observed him closely, reading behind the relaxed air and the smile the serious purpose of his coming home. Her heart contracted on the pain of it. She felt sure he was about to enlist and was here to say farewell before he went to join the King. She loved him no less than Julia, this hard-working, good-humoured and determined lad with so much of his father in him. He had never lacked courage and would serve the King well. If he had a vulnerable streak in his nature it was that of sentiment that he had inherited from his mother, his heart coming before his head at times, particularly when faced with someone’s tale of woe. As a boy he once had given away his brand-new jacket to a beggar child and on another occasion he opened the cellar door to a horde of thieving gypsies, who had pleaded hunger, and they had stripped it bare of its winter stores.

  ‘You did well to come home,’ she said in a tone softer than was normal to her. Then she gestured to Christopher to come forward while Julia sprang up from the footstool to chatter to her brother as they went together from the room. Katherine nodded approvingly. ‘It is good that you came too, Christopher. I can see that Oxford continues to suit you.’

  ‘It does indeed, madam.’ He was in his element there and had dedicated himself to keep opening new doors into knowledge and above all to make the world a better place for it. He had a deeply religious faith and although the reading of the liturgy was forbidden by Parliament, he listened to it at a private meeting place of Anglican worshippers every Sunday and was devout in his prayers.

  ‘Perhaps you could stay a little longer than Michael,’ Katherine suggested hopefully. She had a strong affection for this thin, short, bright-eyed young man, whose lack of physical strength had been compensated for in his remarkably brilliant brain. There could be no military service for him.

  ‘I thought by two or three days. I have a deal of work awaiting my return to Oxford.’

  ‘More inventions?’

  ‘Yes, in addition to my research and studies.’

  She reached a hand to him and when he took it she drew him closer to her chair, looking up earnestly into his face. ‘I think my daughter-in-law would appreciate having your company for as long as possible since Michael is set on a speedy departure for reasons of his own.’

  He saw by her whole expression that she had guessed her grandson’s intention and that Anne would be in need of comfort when Michael left. He did not hesitate in his reply. If his presence would help Anne Pallister in any way it was the least he could do for this family that had shown him such warm hospitality over the years. ‘In that case, I’ll be glad to extend my sojourn to a week.’

  ‘Good. I know Julia will be particularly pleased as well. During the Roundhead raid we suffered recently her doll’s house was damaged and she will trust only you to mend it.’

  ‘That shall be done.’

  Dinner was a merry meal. It was traditional that all troubles should be set aside when sitting down to meat and in the Great Hall that day the custom was fully upheld. Christopher was particularly partial to a dish, virtually unique to Sussex, which in poorer homes was served first to help fill the belly and enable the spit-roasted joint of the day to go further, but in homes like Sotherleigh it was served as an accompaniment to meat. Known as ‘drip pudding,’ the suet and flour mixture was first boiled in a cloth in the shape of a roll and then thick slices of it were placed in a pan beneath the spit that collected the drippings. There it fried, rich and golden, soft in the middle and crisp on the outside. Christopher’s immense enjoyment of it in boyhood had soon taken its place with the family jokes, and so on these days a dish of this Sussex speciality was always brought in with ceremony and placed in front of him. There was laughter and applause as he bowed his head to all at the table and then plunged his three-pronged fork into the nearest slice.

  After dinner Katherine went to take her customary doze while Michael drew his mother outside for a stroll. They made their way to the Knot Garden, chatting about things generally until they came to a seat. There they sat down, turning to face each other.

  ‘Where is Christopher?’ she asked, remembering their guest and straining her neck to look for him.

  ‘He and Julia were going to fetch some items from Ridley’s workshop.’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ She settled again. ‘I heard her ask him if he would mend her doll’s house. Quite a few things were damaged in the Parliamentary raid.’

  ‘I want to hear about that. When we came through the village someone called out that troopers had been here, but had failed to find the horses they sought. I haven’t asked any questions before now, because I didn’t want to spoil the happiness and merriment of our unexpected visit and also because I wanted to hear a quiet and steady account from you without others interrupting.’

  She smiled slightly and then gave him a brief description of all that had happened, but almost as if it were of little interest at that moment. ‘That’s over and done with, but now you’ve something important to tell me, haven’t you?’ she said discerningly, the suspense she had been enduring revealed at last in the quiver in her voice. ‘I think I can guess what it is.’

  He did not take his eyes from hers. ‘Father met me as he had arranged on his way north. There was a nasty moment when two soldiers asked to see his travelling permit, because everywhere they’re on the lookout to stop anyone they suspect of being on the way to join the King. Fortunately the papers showed Father to be just a good parent checking on his son’s studies.’

  She gave a nod. ‘He has forged papers for every stage of the journey. Go on.’

  ‘We ate together in a tavern and talked for quite a while. Then he had to leave. I wanted to ride with him then to the royal standard. I’ve been practising my swordsmanship daily ever since I heard our new monarch was on Scottish soil, but Father insisted that I come home to see you for twenty-four hours before I rode to enlist.’

  Her head dropped like a rose on a broken stem and she covered her face with her hands. ‘I knew it from the moment Christopher said that this was to be a short visit.’

  ‘Don’t weep, Mother,’ he implored. ‘The King needs every sword and mine must be among them or I should feel I had failed in my duty to him and to my country.’

  She raised her head again. There were no tears on her cheeks, but her eyes were bright as jewels with those unshed for the anguish within her. ‘Surely there has never been a war as pointless as this one or as cruel!’ she burst out. ‘Political and religious differences have split families apart, setting brother against brother and even father against son. It is only by lucky chance that you and Robert are on the same side, because there are hundreds of wives and mothers less fortunate than I in that respect.’

  She broke down at that point and he put an arm about her. ‘Listen to me, please,’ he said. ‘I’m not denying that the late King made grave errors during his reign and that there was cause for grievances, but now tyranny has taken over and the rest of the civilized world has drawn back in horror at the regicide committed on the scaffold at Whitehall. Only the sick should stand back at this time.’

  She knew he was thinking of Christopher, whose lungs were unable to take any undue exertion. Once at school and again during the early part of a sojourn at Sotherleigh he had seen his friend gasping for breath and had been in terror of his dying. Anne dried her eyes with her lace-trimmed handkerchief and b
lew her pretty nose. Then she looked up at him again, knowing that her eyelids must be swollen and red-rimmed.

  ‘I can’t go back into the house as yet looking as I do. It would cause distress to Julia and your grandmother, whom I believe to be less well than she would have us suppose.’

  ‘Shall we take a turn down to the fountain?’ he suggested. They rose from the seat and she took his arm as they went up the steps out of the Knot Garden. ‘It’s always shady and cool there.’

  She was grateful to have a little extra time on her own with him, understanding Robert’s insistence that he should come home to see her before going into battle. The young believed themselves to be inviolate to death, but Robert had seen too much of war not to know that the youngest and the bravest were often the first to fall before enemy fire. There had been no mention of such a possibility in his letter, no word about the war at all, only loving words about what she meant to him as his wife. Yet the very air was charged with the unspoken knowledge between her and her son that these few hours he was to spend at home constituted a special farewell. All she could do was to hope and pray that he and his father would both be spared.

  Two hundred yards away from the Knot Garden, Christopher sat at a garden table in the shade of an oak tree, the doll’s house in front of him amid a selection of paints, clay, tools, small pieces of wood and a giant pot of glue. Julia’s elbows were resting on the table, her chin in her hands, as she sat watching him shape some tiny slates to replace those missing from the back of the roof.

  ‘There’s nothing here that I can’t fix,’ he told her reassuringly.

  She heaved a satisfied sigh. ‘I was sure that was what you’d say. Can I help?’

  ‘You can scrape the old glue off the bottom of those chimneys that were knocked off.’

  For a few moments she worked at her task in silence. ‘One day I’d like you to build me a real house to live in,’ she said suddenly.

  He shot her a smiling glance. ‘You told me once that you were never going to leave Sotherleigh.’