and other dignitaries.
-:-:-
The royal attendant announced a name in loud, ringing tones, startling Edward from his memories. A new supplicant stepped forward eagerly and bowed to the Queen. Edward and the others all shuffled forward one step. He looked around the giant hall and thought back to the time his father had danced attendance at Elizabeth's Court. The Queen's invitation had arrived shortly after her stay at Castle Hedingham.
-:-:-
Like Edward, John found the royal court to be a treacherous world of dissolute emotions and rancorous rivalries. By day, he and Margery hunted and feasted with the Queen. After dark, they donned lavish costumes and outlandish masks to dance amidst swirling courtiers.
At first, the Earl and his attractive young wife ignored the deep currents of envy and treachery swirling beneath the Court's festive, glittering surface. They succeeded in closing their ears to the gossip about Elizabeth Tudor. Many of these whisperings revolved around the Queen's habit of picking lovers from among her Gentlemen Pensioners. These were the crown's private bodyguard, recruited from good-looking, well-born youths.
According to the whisperers, her Majesty, having announced herself "joined in marriage to a husband, namely the Kingdom of England," felt free to satisfy her earthy needs with Gentlemen Pensioners. The maids of honor were in a more-or-less constant state of agitation, giggling behind closed doors and discreetly raised fans about which gentleman was currently measuring up to the Queen's stringent standards.
As the months drifted by, John found himself drawn into the courtly games of influence and intrigue. When Elizabeth appointed him to the Privy Council, her group of top advisors, it became impossible for John not to side against Burghley and the new politicians. He and Margery were soon caught up in a dizzying whirlpool of feud-riven ambition and corruption.
At court one man's rise to prominence inevitably signaled another's fall from influence. And as always, those who lost favor could also lose their lives.
-:-:-
Not surprisingly, John began to relish his visits to Castle Hedingham almost as much as Edward, who found life without this once familiar figure very difficult. In common with children everywhere, all Edward ever wanted was his father and mother's constant, devoted attention.
In 1562, John was at Castle Hedingham on a rare visit home when grim-faced messengers arrived with a sealed letter from London. As John read the message, sadness swept over his features. A sudden fever had carried away his good friend, the Earl of Shropshire, leaving vacant the vital post of Lord Chamberlain, chief advisor to Elizabeth. Calling for his boots and horse, John set out for London.
Upset over his father's hasty departure, Edward begged for, and received, permission to ride the first few miles with him.
"Why do you have to rush back to London, father?"
"Because a very important man has just died."
"Must you go, father?"
"Yes," John said sadly, guiding his mount around a fallen branch. "Your mother will join me in a few days time."
"May I accompany her?"
"No. You have your studies to keep you busy."
"I'd rather ride with you."
"And I'd rather you attended to your uncle and tutor, Arthur."
"But, father..."
"Your mother only recently convinced her brother to leave his post at Cambridge University and become your tutor. You must not repay his great generosity by wasting the man's time."
"I'd rather study fencing than Latin."
"You're going to need both, Edward," John said patiently.
"Why?"
"Because an Earl must have a well-rounded education. It isn't enough to be able to swing a sword in battle. Great things are also expected of you and your pen."
"What manner of things?"
"Consider the fine example Uncle Arthur is setting for you. He's hard at work translating Ovid's poem "Metamorphoses" into English, all fifteen books."
"I know, father," Edward sighed. "We read that epic daily, in English and Latin."
"Good. I want you to know it by heart."
"I'll never manage that, father."
"Oh, you will. It just takes time. Literature's in your blood, my boy. Never forget that your other uncle, Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, wrote the first English sonnets."
"I can write sonnets. Uncle Arthur showed me. Let me ride to London and I'll write one about you."
"No. I've told you that I ride on important and sober business."
"Yes, a very important man has just died."
"That's right. The late Earl held the most powerful position at Court."
"More powerful than the Queen?"
"No, of course not, my dear Edward the Seventh," John replied gently, employing his secret pet name for the boy in an attempt to soften the blow of his sudden departure. "He was Lord Chamberlain, and I have to help decide who'll replace him."
"Cannot Queen Elizabeth do that on her own?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because the Queen's advisors are fiercely divided. On our side there's the old loyal nobility. Against us are the new self-made men, cowardly curs who prefer the Court's dark shadows to the bright sun of tournament fighting."
"They're bad men?"
"Yes, because they're all merchants and meddlers who care nothing for our traditions or loyalties. Once such men become bureaucrats, they thrive on discord, shifting allegiances faster than shuttlecocks flying back and forth."
"Is Burghley a bureaucrat?"
"Burghley's their leader. He's the Baron of the Bureaucrats," said John with a grim smile.
"I didn't like him, father."
"There's no reason why you should, my little king, he's a baseborn knave. His grandfather was a steward. Now, the upstart seeks to fish in the Court's troubled waters for his own treacherous profit. I'm riding to London to stop him, and you must turn back right now. Uncle Arthur will be waiting."
-:-:-
Although Burghley professed the Protestant creed, he pursued power with a distinctly amoral zeal. The Earl of Shropshire's sudden death placed everything he wanted within his reach. Burghley knew that Elizabeth trusted him, not least because his careful frugality matched her own instinctive thriftiness. He was the natural successor to Shropshire as Lord Chamberlain.
Then, the ancient families put John forward for the vacant post. Burghley seethed with anger. He rallied Lord Cobham and his other supporters around him. But, even as they cast about for ways to discredit Oxford, a servant
