‘Madame, this is impossible. We have so recently been fighting a bitter war – they in one camp, I in another.’

‘That is why it must be done, dear Admiral. I cannot have that rash boy going about speaking of these matters, inflaming his followers. We have peace – an uneasy one, it is true – and we must make it a lasting one. This must be done for the sake of that rash boy, if not for yours.’

‘You think that by taking my hand and kissing my cheek he would become my friend, Madame?’

‘I wish to proclaim to all that there is no enmity between you. You must do this. I insist. I command.’

Coligny bowed.

‘You will be there at Blois to do as I wish?’ said Catherine.

‘It is your command, Madame.’


* * *

High above the village stood the imposing Castle of Blois. Its embrasured windows looked down on the wide stream of the Loire, bounded by the hills and vineyards of Touraine. There was uneasiness in the village; all knew that inside the château the Queen Mother had organised a banquet to promote friendship between the Colignys and the Guises. This was disquieting, for if trouble were to break out in the castle, it would extend to the surrounding villages. Huguenots trembled and thought of the massacre at Vassy, when Duke Francis of Guise had slaughtered Huguenots while they knelt at worship. Catholics told themselves to be ready to rally to the little Duke.

They had seen Duke Henry riding near the castle, handsome and remarkably like his father, so that Huguenots trembled to behold him, while Catholics exulted. The Admiral they had also seen – stern of face, handsome, though in a different manner from the arrogant and dashing Henry of Guise. A great and a good man, it was said; and yet if he had had a hand in the murder of that young boy’s father, it could be well understood that there was danger of strife within the castle walls to-day.

Catherine was pleased with the arrangements she had made. Once the two men had kissed in friendship, the young Duke must cease vowing vengeance on the Admiral. The fact that Coligny had come to Blois should show him that the Admiral wished to be friends. And, on his part, when the Admiral took the boy in his arms, he must think of him, not as the son of his old enemy, but as a young boy who had lost his father.

There was one other who occupied Catherine’s thoughts on that day – the Prince of Condé, who was now a widower. It was said that the Prince of Condé grieved deeply for his Princess, but he was living as gaily as ever. Catherine felt uncomfortable when she remembered how once she had not been so wise as she was to-day; she had thought a little too often and too tenderly of that man. How easy it would have been to have committed follies on his account! There should be no more folly. At least King Henry had been faithful to one mistress, and Catherine had known who was her enemy.

She felt strengthened in her wisdom. She learned, it was true, often through bitter lessons, but when a lesson was mastered, it should be mastered for life. No more tender feelings, then. Men were made not to love, but to serve her.

These men gathered together here at Blois were here to serve her. It suited her that they should be friends … outwardly at least. She wanted no more civil strife, for every time it occurred she and her family were in danger. She should not feel the least regret that Condé was a philanderer bringing disrepute on his party, for Condé’s weakness added to her strength. That was how men should be used – not to give a brief erotic pleasure. If she had at one time fancied she would enjoy a lover, she no longer did. She was grateful to her tally of years, for it had brought her wisdom; it had stilled her longing for what was, at best, transient; it had made her grasp with both hands and hold firmly to what should henceforth be the love of her life – power.

In the great hall at Blois were assembled men and women of the highest rank. The light came through the coloured glass of the embrasured windows, shining on the jewels and rich garments of her guests. Catherine had decided that she herself would proclaim the innocence of Coligny before them all, and command that kiss of friendship between the Admiral and Henry of Guise.

There was Anna d’Esté, the widowed Duchess of Guise, keeping close to the side of her son. Surely Anna need not have appeared in such deep mourning! Catherine laughed to herself. Poor Anna! Meek as a lamb. She would be glad enough, if allowed by her ferocious son and her brother-in-law, to accept reconciliation. Anna hated bloodshed. Catherine remembered how she had protested at the Amboise massacre. She could not bear to see men tortured; she could not bear to see them butchered. Hardly the sort of woman to have mated with Le Balafré; yet it was said that he had been fond of her for her gentleness, and that theirs had been a comparatively happy marriage. Besides, her rank doubtless compensated the ambitious Duke for her mildness. Yes, Catherine felt sure that it was Anna’s son and her brothers-in-law who had insisted on that ostentatious mourning.

There was Duke Henry beside her, already proclaiming to the world, with his arrogant demeanour, that he was head of the great House of Lorraine and Guise – the most feared, the most important in the country. Margot was eyeing him in an unseemly manner for which she should be punished later. When Margot met her mother’s eyes she smiled innocently, but Catherine’s expression grew a shade colder as she surveyed her daughter, and she knew that she had caused icy shivers to run through that body which, a moment before, had thrilled at the handsome arrogance of Henry of Guise.

There too was the Cardinal of Lorraine, the marks of his dissipation already marring the almost incomparable beauty of his features. It was said that there was nothing sufficiently licentious to please the Cardinal now; his erotic senses must be titillated as regularly as his palate. His mistresses were numerous. In his Cardinal’s robes, adorned with magnificent jewels, he attracted every eye, the debauched man of the Church, the Catholic lecher. He bowed to Catherine, and his gaze as he met hers was haughty.

‘Welcome, my lord Cardinal,’ said Catherine. ‘It does me good to see your pious face.’

‘May I be so bold as to say that it does me good to see your Majesty’s honest one? Madame, you are a light in our court. Your shining virtues are an example to everyone; and above all, your Majesty’s deep sincerity puts us all to shame.’

‘You flatter me, Cardinal.’

‘Nothing, dear Madame, was farther from my mind.’

‘Then I will not flatter you, dear Cardinal. I will only say that the whole of France should take as an example the piety and virtue of such a man of God.’

She turned to greet another. She was thinking: One of these days that lecher shall take a goblet of wine, shall eat of roast peacock, or perhaps finger some beautiful jewel – and then, no more of Monsieur le Cardinal!

But what was the use of thinking thus? She must continually guard against her impulse to destroy these notable people. Francis of Guise was dead – let that suffice for the moment – for who knew what the result of his death would be?

If a member of the Flying Squadron became impertinent, if a minor statesman became intransigent, then the procedure was simple; but with these prominent men and women it was always necessary to work in secret, to approach the object by devious roads, along which it was imperative to leave no traces. She would have to postpone dealing with the Cardinal.

Coligny was approaching. Ah, there was a man who was as easy to read as a book. Now he was looking stern, and his cold features said quite clearly: It is no wish of mine to be here. I have no desire for the friendship of the Catholic Guises. I was commanded to come. I gave my word that I would come; so come I did.

‘Well met, Admiral,’ said Catherine. ‘It pleases me to see you here.’

‘I but obeyed your command, Madame.’

Catherine tried to infuse into her expression that deep sincerity which had been the object of the Cardinal’s jibe. But Coligny, that straightforward, honest man, was not the wily Cardinal. If the Queen Mother appeared sincere to him, Coligny would not doubt that she was so.

‘Forgive a weak woman’s desire for peace in her realm, dear Admiral.’

He bowed. ‘I have no desire at any time but to carry out your Majesty’s wishes.’

He passed on, and Catherine looked about her; she did not see the Duke of Aumale among the assembly, although she had commanded his presence.

She called to the Duchess of Guise: ‘Madame, I do not see your brother Aumale here.’

‘No, Madame. He is not here.’

‘Why not?’

‘Madame, he suffers from a fever.’

Catherine’s eyes narrowed. ‘A fever of pride!’ she said angrily. She beckoned young Henry of Guise to her side. How attractive he was! And how handsome! And what a man he would be one day!

‘I am grieved not to see your uncle Aumale,’ she said.

‘I am sorry that your Majesty should be grieved.’

‘A fever?’ she said.

‘Madame, you sent no express command to him.’

‘I said I wished your family to be present.’

‘Madame, he thought that, as your Majesty wished our family to be represented, you would only need myself and my uncle, the Cardinal.’

‘I wished Aumale to be here,’ said Catherine haughtily. ‘It is no good excuse to plead a fever.’

‘Madame,’ said the boy, ‘it is not pleasant for members of my family to show friendship to their enemies.’

‘Have a care, boy,’ she said. ‘I’ll have you thrashed if you give yourself airs. You are not yet a man, you know. A short while ago you were in the nursery. It would be well for you to remember that.’

Many watching eyes noticed the sudden heightened colour of the young Duke.

‘My dear Duke,’ continued Catherine more gently, ‘it would be well for you to remember your youth and the need for obedience.’

Henry bowed formally and left the Queen Mother.

It would not be a good policy, Catherine realised, to have the Colignys and the Guises sitting near each other at table; she had taken the precaution of ensuring that they were separated by other guests. And when the feast was over, Catherine rose to address the assembly:

‘Lords and ladies, you know that I have asked you here for a purpose this day, and my purpose is to put an end to evil rumour; for rumour is a foolish thing and when it is without truth it is an evil thing indeed. We mourn the untimely death of our dearly beloved Duke Francis of Guise, our greatest soldier, slain by the hand of a cowardly assassin. That in itself was a foul deed, and we offer to the bereaved family our sincerest condolence while we mourn with them for one we loved as our own brother. But the rumours which have circulated since his death have been as evil as that bloody deed, and there is one man among us here – one of our finest men, a man whom we all honour and revere – who has been accused of complicity in the murder of the Duke.

‘Lords and ladies, these rumours are evil. They are proved to be slanders. The assassin has confessed them to be lies; and for that reason I have brought together here my greatly respected Admiral of France and the one who has perhaps suffered more than any of us from this horrible deed. I mean, of course, Duke Francis’s son, Duke Henry of Guise, who is now the head of his house and who will, I know, bring it honour and glory as his father did before him. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and Henry Duke of Guise, come forth.’

They stepped forward slowly towards the Queen Mother: the Admiral pale-faced, his mouth sternly set, the Duke with the rich colour in his face and his head held high.

Catherine stood between them. ‘Give me your hand, Admiral,’ she said. ‘And yours, my lord Duke.’

She placed their two right hands together. Henry’s was limp in that of the Admiral; his left hand rested on his sword.

There was silence while the two enemies faced each other and made it quite obvious to all that they had no liking for what the Queen Mother was pleased to consider a reconciliation. But Catherine had little understanding of others. Had she been in Coligny’s place, she would have made a great show of embracing Henry of Guise, hoping thereby to assure the spectators of her wish for friendship. If she had been Henry of Guise, she would have accepted Coligny’s embrace while she made her plans to destroy him. Catherine’s greatest weakness was her lack of understanding of others.