Part 2 (1/2)
I walked around the puddle, avoiding the sorry cloak. Unable to restrain myself, I stared at the man as I pa.s.sed, drinking in his features. His eyes flickered over me and he smiled-surely not at me, but at the memory of the queen's touch.
”Close your mouth, you look moonstruck,” said Emme.
”Who was that?” I whispered.
”He is the queen's new favorite, I daresay,” she replied.
”But what is his name?”
”Why, my dear Catherine, that is Walter Ralegh!”
Chapter 3.
From the Papers of Walter Ralegh November 1583Brother Carew,I flourish in Her Majesty's favor. She grants me the use of Durham House, once the bishop's palace. It is my reward for quelling the savages in Ireland-that forsaken bog!-and for transporting the foolish Monsieur to the Netherlands, where we lost many good men fighting the Spanish papists. G.o.d bless their sacrifice but keep me from the same, for I long for more than a soldier's brief glory.You will remember that our kinsman Humfrey Gilbert obtained from Her Majesty a patent to explore North America. It has been five years since his first voyage, and a year since he perished in his second unsuccessful attempt. My dream now is to continue his efforts to find a northwest pa.s.sage to China and the Indies. If the queen grants me the charter, I will unlock the treasure chest of the New World, and our family name will be exalted!To that end I flatter Her Majesty as if she were a maid half her age. I almost thought she would marry me the day I threw my cloak in her path. That garment cost me 80, for it was trimmed in fur and gilded braid.Still, its ruin was a small sacrifice for such favor. May it ever flow my way, like the Thames to the sea.Yours,W. Ralegh Poetic Musings Like the Thames that flows into the sea, The current of grace proceeds from thee.
Nay, this might offend Her Majesty, for the Thames is often vile and clouded. The sea is the greater body, thus: To my sovereign Queen: As the river to the boundless sea, So flows my tribute unto thee.
'Tis a good beginning of a poem.
13 December 1583Brother,Today she called me her ”Warter,” mocking my Devons.h.i.+re accent while alluding to the verses I lately sent her.Made bold, I asked, ”Would you permit your 'Warter' to sail to North America and return laden with treasure for you? I will christen all the land in your name, and you shall see the size of your kingdom swell. That is the way to defeat Spain and her ambitions.” This was delivered in my intimate voice that causes maids to tremble. I swear she did too, being of flesh and blood like any woman.She did not consent, but neither did she deny me.W.R.14 January 1584Brother Carew,At the New Year I gave Her Majesty a diamond worth even more than that costly cloak. I must go bankrupt if she does not yield soon.Then she summoned me to her music room, making me wait while she practiced on her virginal. Finally she held up the jewel.”Where shall I wear it?” she asked, touching her bosom through her sheer partlet. Then, ”Fix it here,” she said, offering me her sleeve instead. But I, obeying my own impulse, took the stone and went to the window, where I etched this upon the pane:”Fain would I climb, yet I fear to fall.” I kissed the diamond and laid it in Her Majesty's palm, saying, ”I pray you, be not so hard as this stone,” and took my leave.But she commanded me to stay. She went to the window and with the same diamond began to scratch on the pane. Was she obliterating my words? Then she beckoned me to read what she had written beneath: ”If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all.”And then she said, ”Do you know that water can wear away even the hardest stone?”Brother, would you not take this for encouragement? I did, and thus I live in hope.W.R.
Poetic Musings I tire of waiting. Despair wrestles with my hopes. Did I presume too far? If boldness will not move her, I will try humility. Thus: I only sue to serve A saint of such perfection, Whom all desire, but none deserve A place in your affection.
Thus if my plaints do never prove The conquest of your beauty, It comes not from defect of love, But from excess of duty.
How I despise this state of subjection-and to a woman! A man is meant to rule himself.
29 January 1584Dear Carew,The queen has given me the license to a wine farm that will soon yield me 700 per annum. I think she loves my little verses, whether on sc.r.a.ps of paper or in speech.When the renovations are complete, Durham House will rival Whitehall in grandeur. You must visit. I am having four new suits of clothes made, and new armor as well, that my apparel may reflect my status. Many envy me my exalted place.And I envy you, the genial ranger of the Devons.h.i.+re forests. You are free from the anxious fear and striving that attends this court of care.Your humble brother,Walter Memorandum 15 February 1584. Attended the queen in the great hall last evening. Laughed at Tarleton's antics. My eye kept wandering to one of the queen's maids. I have seen her before, but where? Not the loveliest of the lot, but with striking gray eyes and hair black as jet and long as night. And the whitest of teeth, bared prettily when she laughs.
Have learned her name: Catherine Archer, daughter of Sir Thomas. I knew him in the Netherlands: a valiant soldier who deserved a longer life.
I swear the girl reddened when she saw me looking. But she did not look away, like the falsely modest do. Her cheeks are tinged like the dawn, or like the skin of a fresh-plucked peach.
By the Virgin's paps, she has seized my fancy and now moves my pen to praise.
At the table spread with treats, One tasty sweet did tempt me.
But on my plate was richer meat, That I did need to feed me.
That is, my royal mistress, whose ”richer meat” must nourish me. But I think I prefer the other maid's sweetness.
2 March 1584My dear brother,I write with great reluctance, driven by the precarious state of my affairs. The costs to renovate my house and to live in accordance with my high expectations will soon ruin me. Despite Her Majesty's favor, I have as yet no source of income adequate to cover my growing expenses. I am in dire need of 4,500. (I have had to employ forty men and forty horses besides improving the house for comfort, and the silver plates alone cost 1,200.) Therefore I beseech your a.s.sistance. A full accounting is attached. Whatever terms you set I will accept.Begging your indulgence, I remain your devoted brother,Walter R.
Memorandum 18 March 1584. Today C. came to Durham House with the queen. While my mistress admired the new Flemish arras, the maid fixed her gray eyes on me, and from them Cupid hurled his little darts, the sharp needles sticking in my heart. Stirred up, my wit flowed, delighting my queen, though its true purpose was to make her handmaid smile.
Double words do double duty, Praising one and another's beauty.
C. is moon while E. is sunlight; Daytime to the other's dark night.
(Let me not err by sending this to Her Majesty.) 27 March 1584Brother Carew,Praise be to the glorious Elizabeth! At last she has granted me Humfrey's patent to ”discover and occupy those remote and barbarous territories not yet possessed by any Christian prince.” I may hold these lands forever, yielding to her one-fifth of all the gold or silver ore extracted. Such terms are reasonable-indeed liberal-affording scope for great personal gain.Two s.h.i.+ps will sail on a reconnaissance voyage next month, captained by my young servants Barlowe and Amadas. The scholar Thomas Harriot is even now instructing them in the use of the newest tools of navigation.As England still has few skilled pilots, I have engaged the Portuguese Simon Fernandes, with whom I sailed in '77. Some call him a scoundrel and a heretic, but I know him to be a shrewd man of business. Walsingham once kept him from hanging for piracy, so his loyalty to England is firm. He claims to know of a port at a favorable lat.i.tude for establis.h.i.+ng a base from which to conduct raids on Spanish s.h.i.+ps.In America I shall be a veritable king, one rich as Croesus.Your fortunate brother,WalterP.S. Unfortunately the voyages will not be financed from Her Majesty's treasury, forcing me to seek investors. As the success of my endeavors will make us both renowned, can you recruit from the Devons.h.i.+re gentry ten investors at 200 each, or two earls worth 1,000?
Chapter 4.
The Queen's Gifts It was six months since I had arrived at Whitehall, and I had served the queen in loyal submission without so much as a ribbon or sc.r.a.p of lace for a reward.
”I think she does not love me,” I said to Emme one night as we sat in the great hall, watching d.i.c.k Tarleton entertain the court. Everyone had drunk too much and therefore howled with delight as the clown danced a jig, played his fife and drum, and jingled his tabor all at once. ”What will become of me if I do not please her?”
”She does favor you,” Emme insisted. ”She takes you with her when she goes to Durham House.” She prodded me with her elbow and pouted, pretending to be jealous. All the maids and ladies were of one mind, that Walter Ralegh was the queen's handsomest courtier.
I sighed. ”That is because I am plain and silent, a foil for her wit. I cannot hold a candle to her brightness.”
”No, you simply have not mastered the art of flattering conversation,” Emme said. ”You must learn to imitate Anne.”
”I cannot flatter the queen's bright hair, knowing it is false,” I said.
”Or her white skin, knowing that it is covered with lead powder,” said Emme, giggling.
”I wish I could write a poem. Do you know that Walter Ralegh sometimes speaks to the queen in verse? Why, it sounds as if it came naturally to him, and it certainly pleases her.”
”Perhaps his wit is on display for you you, Catherine.”
”Nonsense!” I said, blus.h.i.+ng despite myself. I thought of the way my heart fluttered when I was in the same room with him and fairly leapt when I felt his eyes on me. ”I wish for the queen queen to favor me, for my fortune depends on her.” to favor me, for my fortune depends on her.”
”She sets a great store by those who are learned and pious in the true religion,” said Emme.
Indeed the queen made a spectacle of going to church on Sunday, preceded by heralds and guards in blue and gold livery and accompanied by all her councilors. We, her maids and ladies, wore our soberest attire and pretended to pay attention to the sermon.
”You may borrow my Book of Martyrs Book of Martyrs, by Mr. Foxe, and read it where she is sure to notice you,” Emme suggested.
So while the ladies gossiped and plied their needles, I read about the Christians persecuted in all ages, through the time of the late Queen Mary. It seemed the whole world was the battlefield of the evil papists and believers in the Protestant religion, which Elizabeth had restored in England. It sickened me to read of so many men and women suffering death at the stake, their flesh broiled in the fire until the fat dripped from their bones. I put the book away. Neither the queen nor anyone else had taken note of my study.
Or so I thought. One day while I waited upon Elizabeth at her table, she asked me why I no longer read the Book of Martyrs Book of Martyrs. I nearly spilled the soup I was serving her.
”Your Majesty, I did not think you noticed.”
”Nothing escapes my eyes,” she said evenly. ”I approve of the good Mr. Foxe. Does he displease you?”
Under her gaze I could not craft a flattering reply, so I blurted out the simple truth. ”Your Grace, I could no longer read of the torments the martyrs endured, praising G.o.d all the while. Were flames engulfing me, I would scream in agony.”
To my surprise, the queen burst out laughing, and soup bubbled from her lips. I rushed to hand her a napkin. She dabbed her lips, then grew serious.
”To be weak and fearful will not serve you well in this world or fit you for the next,” she said.
I did not know how to respond. Finally I said, ”Your Grace, I fear nothing but your displeasure.”