Page 56 of Love, Remember Me

"Then perhaps you will speak out for poor Crum," the archbishop suggested. "He was never the easiest of men to get on with, I know, but we all realize these charges against him are feeble, and untrue."

"Your heart is good, my lord, but your wisdom fails you here," the Earl of Southampton told him. "Cromwell's fate is sealed. He is a doomed man, and no one save God Himself can help him. The king has set his mind to wed with Mistress Howard, and we must take the lady's family with her. We have no other choice."

"How did the Howard girl gain the ascendancy?" the Duke of Suffolk wondered aloud. "Was not the king's fancy also taken by the Wyndham girl as well? But then she married Norfolk's grandson so hastily."

His two companions shrugged and settled back. The archbishop said nothing, and the Earl of Southampton knew nothing. The royal barge sailed down the river, out of sight of Richmond, where the former queen was even now telling her ladies that they might depart for the court or their own homes. Most of the women were eager to get back to Greenwich in order to secure themselves places with the new queen. The king's nieces and daughter-in-law had not even come to Richmond. The Countess of Rutland would remain, but only until her husband, the former queen's Lord Chamberlain, was formally dismissed. Sir Thomas Denny, Anne's chancellor, and Dr. Kaye, the almoner, took their leave of the lady Anne and joined the departing women in a line of barges back to London. All were polite, but it was obvious that Anne was now considered a part of the past. Catherine was the future.

There was no room in the barges for the maids of honor.

"You will leave in the morning," the Countess of Rutland said to those who were going.

Nyssa bid her friends a fond farewell. Kate Carey and Bessie FitzGerald both wept. The Bassetts were polite. Helga von Grafsteen and Maria Hesseldorf were going to remain with their mistress for the present. Young Viscount Wyndham bid the Princess of Cleves an elegant goodbye, sweeping his bonnet off and bowing quite low.

"I am honored to have been in your service, madame. I am always at your disposal should you ever need me," he said.

"You are a goot boy, Philip," the lady Anne told him. "I am grateful for your friendship, my lord."

"Are you certain that you do not want to travel home for a visit, Giles?" Nyssa asked her younger brother. "Our parents will be most anxious about you. Are you sure that you would stay?"

"I have to make my mark here at court, Nyssa," he told his elder sister. "You know 'tis the only chance I have. The Church is no longer a good career for second sons. There are three brothers behind me for our parents to match and worry over. Eventually I will move from Princess Anne's service up the ladder, but if I leave now, how will I ever get another place? No, it is best that I stay. Perhaps I will come home sometime in the autumn for a visit. My only regret at remaining is that I will not get to see Papa's face when you present him with a husband." Giles chuckled and his blue eyes twinkled mischievously.

Nyssa laughed. "You are very bad," she said, and bending down, she kissed her little brother. "God watch over you, Giles."

The budding courtier bowed to her and replied, "God protect you and Varian, sister."

"Lady de Winter," the Countess of Rutland called. "You are holding up the barge. Come at once!"

Nyssa turned to the princess, and almost immediately her eyes misted with tears. "I do not like to leave you, dear madame."

Anne of Cleves swallowed back her own welling emotions. "You are not to worry, Nyssa. I haf escaped the English lion's claws vith hardly a scratch. I am now a vealthy and propertied voman, and I haf no man to answer to from this day forvard. No brother Vilhelm, so full of importance and so joyless; and no husband Hendrick, who from the first did not like me for a vife. Ve are better friends, he and I. Do not veep on my behalf, Nyssa. I finally haf vhat I vant.I am free. Free to live my own life as I choose. Nein, liebling. I am not unhappy."

"But what of love, madame? Who is there to love you?" Nyssa's eyes were full of her concern for the princess.

"For you, Nyssa," Anne told her, "romantic luf is important. You haf learned luf at your mama's knee, nein? I learned duty at my mama's knee. Vhat I know of luf is vhat you and a few others have shared vith me. It is enough for me. I vant no more." The princess then kissed the young Countess of March upon her cheeks and her lips, saying, "Go now. Go home vith your handsome bridegroom. You may write to me if you desire to do so. I vould velcome your letters."

Nyssa curtsied low. "It has been a privilege to serve you, madame," she said. Then arising, she hurried to get into the last barge leaving Richmond for Greenwich, where Varian de Winter was awaiting her. Soon she stood on the hot deck of the barge, watching as the palace and the waving women disappeared around a bend. It was over. Another chapter in her life had closed. What would her future hold?

Philip came and stood next to Nyssa. He said nothing, but he sensed her feeling of loss and reached for her. She turned and smiled at her brother even as he squeezed her hand.

"We're going home, Philip, and 'tis summer, and ohhh, I cannot wait to see Mama and Papa, and our baby sisters."

"I have abided by your wishes, Nyssa, but I believe our family will be greatly shocked by the news of your marriage, now almost three months ago," Philip said seriously. "Would it not be better if I rode on ahead with Uncle Owen to prepare them for this news?"

"Nay, Philip, it is not your place to tell our parents of my marriage. It is Varian's and my duty to do so. I know it will be a great surprise, but you must not interfere."

He sighed deeply. "I wish I were a man grown. I hate being in between. And I will miss Helga. Isn't she just the prettiest girl, Nyssa? And her heart is so good and kind," he finished with a blush.

"Why, Philip, I believe you have conceived a tendre for Helga von Grafsteen. Why do you not discuss it with Papa when we return toRiversEdge? I'm certain her dowry is a respectable one."

"Do you think he would listen to me, Nyssa?" Philip asked his sister. "He always makes me feel so young, though I shall be fourteen in October. If the match could be made, and we waited until I was seventeen, Helga would be old enough by then too."

"Then speak with Papa, Philip. You don't want him to make a match for you with some girl you do not like," she advised.

"You were forced into a marriage," he said glumly.

"It is fortunate then that Varian and I like each other," Nyssa told him with a small smile, and then she grew silent again.

Their barge passed the soaring spires of Westminster and on through the city of London, sweeping southeast down the river to Greenwich. There was just the faintest breeze coming up from the sea past Gravesend, and then the towers and turrets of Greenwich came into view. She could see the other barges that had preceded them unloading their passengers. As the ladies and gentlemen who had been a part of Anne of Cleves's household swept up the green lawns, a lone figure remained. Her heart beat a little faster as she recognized that figure. It was Varian de Winter. It was her husband come to take her home.

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