If Sir Owein had noticed the byplay between the two he was far too polite to mention it. A plate of hot food was brought to him, and he began to eat while his hosts waited politely for him to finish. His goblet was filled and refilled, and when he had mopped the last of the gravy from his pewter plate, he finally felt warm for the first time in almost two weeks.
“Well, sir, why have you come?” Henry Bolton demanded rudely.
To their surprise Sir Owein spoke directly to Rosamund. “My lady,” he began, “your late husband, Sir Hugh Cabot—”
“Sir Hugh?”Henry Bolton began to laugh. “The man was no lordling, sir. Is it possible you have come to the wrong house?”
“Sir Hugh Cabot was knighted on the battlefield many years ago. He saved the life of Edmund Tudor, the king’s father, when he was eighteen,” Sir Owein said quietly. He did not like the man with the fat face. He was rude, and had he been worth the trouble, which Owein Meredith concluded he was not, he would have thrashed him soundly.
“It is true,” Edmund Bolton said.
“You know?”Henry Bolton was incredulous.
“Hugh was a modest man. While he was grateful to his friend for knighting him and the honor it entailed, he was landless. He thought it presumptuous for a man without property to use a title, and so he did not. But he had the right to do so, and our niece is Lady Rosamund, Henry,” Edmund Bolton concluded, staring hard at his youngest sibling.
Sir Owein turned back to Rosamund, whose face was a mixture of surprise and shock. “Your husband knew he faced his death, my lady. He wished you to be safe from those who might attempt to steal your rightful inheritance. So it was that he sent to the king and asked him to accept you as his ward with all the responsibilities it entailed. King Henry has graciously agreed, and has sent me to bring you to his court. I have been told that your uncle Edmund Bolton will have the stewardship over Friarsgate in your absence. Is this satisfactory to you?”
Rosamund nodded slowly. “Aye, sir, it is. But why must I leave Friarsgate? It is my home, and I love it here.”
“Do you not wish to meet the king, my lady?” Sir Owein asked.
“Meet the king?”she repeated. “I am to meet the king?”
“The king is placing you in the queen’s household for now, my lady. Eventually, when your period of mourning is over, a suitable husband will be chosen for you. It is then you will return home, my lady,” Sir Owein explained to the girl. “The queen is a gentle and good lady with daughters of her own. Princess Margaret is about your age, I would think. Princess Katherine, Prince Arthur’s wife, is now a widow, as are you, and then there is the Princess Mary, a most charming imp.”
“I have never been farther from Friarsgate than a few miles,” Rosamund said. “This place is all I know, sir. Could the king not leave me here to be as I have always been?”
“Your late husband, Sir Hugh, believed it better that you leave Friarsgate for a time,” Sir Owein replied. “You need not come alone, my lady. You may bring a servant with you.”
“There has been a mistake,” Henry Bolton finally spoke up. “My niece is in my charge, and so she has been since the deaths of her parents, my elder brother Guy and his wife. Hugh Cabot had no authority to give her wardship to the king. You must return to him and tell him this, Sir Owein. Rosamund is to wed with my son Henry.”
“I would never marry that snot-nosed brat,” Rosamund cried.
“Was not Sir Hugh Cabot Rosamund’s legal and lawful husband?” Owein Meredith asked them.
“He was,” Richard Bolton said. “I have in my possession the betrothal papers he gave to me when they were wed.”
The king’s man turned to Rosamund. “Do you remember a ceremony being performed, my lady? Before a priest?”
“We were wed on the twentieth day of October, by Father Bernard. I wore a gown of grass-green jersey. It was just before Hugh’s sixtieth birthday. Aye, I remember my wedding day to Hugh Cabot. It was a happy day for me,” Rosamund said quietly.
“This being so, you have no authority, legal or otherwise, over your niece, Henry Bolton,” Owein Meredith said. “Her husband held the authority, and he has passed it to the king. The Lady Rosamund will return with me to Richmond and take her place in the queen’s household.”
“I... I... I shall go to the courts!” Henry Bolton sputtered angrily.
Owein Meredith was forced to laugh. “The king, sir, is the highest authority in the land, but if you wish to pursue the matter, you must do so,” he told him.
“When must I leave?” Rosamund asked the king’s man.
“Not until you are ready, my lady,” the knight assured her. “I realize that a lady decamping her household for another place needs time to gather her belongings, arrange her affairs, and pack. I am in no hurry to return south. Cumbrian springs are fair as long as the Scots don’t come over the border to pillage, but there is little danger of that now. The king has arranged a marriage between his eldest daughter, the lady Margaret, and the Scots king, James IV. You must take your time so you will be comfortable in your new life. And, of course, you will need horses as well as your servant. There is a great deal to be done, my lady. It will surely take several months before you are ready to depart. Perhaps we will leave in late summer or early autumn, eh? In the meantime I will send to the king to tell him of the death of his old friend and that his young widow is grateful to be in his royal charge.” Sir Owein smiled at Rosamund, and she saw that his teeth were even and white.
“You must bide a while with us, sir,” Rosamund said to him. “You have traveled a long distance, and have yet again a long distance to return. Rest yourself and your beastie for a bit before you go.”
“I shall, my lady, and you have my thanks for your hospitality.”
“Prepare a room for our guest,” Rosamund ordered a servant. Then she signaled that more wine be served. She could see her uncle Henry was already well in his cups while Henry the younger had fallen asleep by her chair beneath the table. She looked at Sir Owein and asked in a soft voice, “Am I really safe from him?” nodding to Henry Bolton. “He cannot force me to wed his odious little son?”
“Nay, lady, he cannot,” the king’s man said softly. “It is my understanding that your late husband wished otherwise. Normally I should not be privy to a communiqué between the king and a correspondent, but his majesty wanted me to have a clear understanding of the situation here at Friarsgate so I would not unwittingly or unknowingly circumvent your husband’s wishes.”
