A Tudor Tale

Chapter 6

When Kate awoke, it took a moment for her to remember where she was and what had happened. She sighed happily and rolled onto her back to look up at the ceiling. Except, unlike yesterday, there was no ceiling. Instead there was wood and curtains. Kate frowned when she sat up and then shrank back; for many reasons. Firstly, she was in a dark, oak, four poster bed, not an ordinary one. Secondly, the room had changed completely. And finally, instead of her normal jeans and jumpers on a chair, there was a beautiful (yet over-extravagant) Tudor styled gown hanging up on the wardrobe. Groggily she swung herself out of bed and immediately recoiled. The floor was covered in rushes and straw, with herbs scattered on them. It sent up a lovely smell, but was very prickly to her feet. She tentatively got back out of bed and went to the window. What had happened in the night? The wardrobe had changed and so had all the furniture. It was darker and had little carvings in it. On closer inspection, the carvings were of roses that seemed to be familiar to her, but she couldn't fathom out where she had seen them. The grounds, thankfully, looked very similar to how they had yesterday. There were the same walled gardens and patios, the same flowerbeds but different flowers.

Kate pulled herself away from the window and picked up a bell on a small table, which she then rung. She sat down heavily on the bed and massaged her temples, trying to comprehend how this could have happened. She pinched herself, as if she might be in a dream but did not wake up. At last a maid appeared and (again) curtsied. She wore plain clothes, just a scratchy-looking white shirt and brown dress and a white apron. The uniform for the servants had changed overnight too. She went to the corner and poured a jug of water into a bowl. Then she went out of the room for a moment and reappeared with Kate's breakfast- freshly baked bread, jam and a slice of bacon. When Kate had finished eating she went to the basin to wash herself. As Kate washed herself (rather primitively) the maid busied herself with getting Kate's dress ready. "What would you like to wear today, Lady Katherine? I laid out this dress for you, but you can choose from more if you'd like." Kate walked over to the bed and looked at the gown.

It was dark red and parted from the waist down to reveal a golden embroidered underskirt. The long red sleeves finished at the elbow and the golden embroidered pattern took its place, puffing out. The golden sleeve was slit in many places to reveal pure white silk underneath. It had a square neck cut peppered with gemstones in all shades of red. It was so beautiful that she couldn't not wear it. It looked so old fashioned though. Tudor-looking in fact. Kate wondered fleetingly how such an old thing had survived, but the material looked in very good condition. Then Kate remembered the necklace she had inherited and went over to the bedside table to pick it up. She showed it to the maid and asked: "Do you think I could wear this with it?" The maid nodded. "It would go beautifully. Would you like me to help you?" Kate nodded yes. The dress looked so heavy she was sure that she could not put it on all by herself. "What's your name?" Kate asked the maid. "Balnche Fryth, my lady." She answered. Kate nodded and told her that it was such a pretty name while wondering where Ellen had gone. But when Blanche took out various underskirts from the wardrobe, Kate was fascinated. "Tell me about all these skirts and things, if you would." She said. Balnche said she would and asked her to take off all her clothes. Kate frowned and felt embarrassed, but she did as she was told and let Blanche dress her like she was a doll, or a young child. It felt odd because after a lifetime of dressing herself, to have someone else do it seemed very, well, old-fashioned. She hadn't known that people still lived like this.

Kate felt as if she was getting ready to do a movie about the life of a Tudor, and she wondered what year it would be back then if she was doing a film.

It took nearly half an hour to dress Kate, and, because of that, Kate had expected the dress to be unbearably heavy. But it wasn't. She was able to move around quite freely, but a little stiffly. Balnche said that it was only for formal occasions that she had to dress like this. (This was a formal occasion because she was going to be given a tour of the house and grounds and then have lunch with the 'neighbours') Other time she could wear just the smock, petticoat and gown. That sounded much better to Kate. Balnche had also given Kath the option to wear a corset, but Kate had declined and Blanche had said it didn't matter because her waist was small anyway.

Blanche brushed Kate's hair and helped her put on the beautiful necklace and then led her down the stairs to the drawing room where she had met Sir Robert the night before. (Even the walls had changed because there was no garden machinery pictures on the wall, just the kings and men on horses.) Except Kate knew that for one reason or another, there would be no Sir Robert this morning. She was right. Instead there was an equally handsome man.

He was tall and clean-shaven. His face was a long oval shape and his eyes were a stormy blue. His hair was brown, slightly wavy and cut quite short. He wore very fine clothes- exquisitely made with gemstones and slashes to reveal a clean, white shirt underneath. His 'trousers' only went to just above his knees and they were very puffed. From there down he wore beige coloured tights to match his beige coloured bodice. He had a small hat perched on his head, decorated with a large, white, fluffy feather. Now Kate realized why Balnche had insisted that she dress like this. In jeans and a t-shirt she would have looked stupid. The sight of him made Kate want to giggle, but she composed herself. As she entered the room he bowed deeply and took off his hat. "My lady. Come and sit with me. Servant! Leave us alone." Blanche curtsied and backed out of the room.

He turned to Kate. "My name is Sir Thomas Colmer, but you may call me Sir Thomas. And what, pray, is your name my fair lady?" he winked as he asked it and Kate realized that he was flirting with her! He had been using such old fashioned language too, to match his clothes. She wondered whether he was the equivalent of Sir Robert, and if so, should she be wary of him? She surveyed his face and looked into his eyes. She decided that she should be wary and made up her mind to ask Blanche. "My name is Katherine Hewes-Saunders, but you may call me Lady Katherine." She frowned a little as it seemed that Sir Thomas was expecting her to do something else. But he let it drop after a few moments when it became apparent that Kate was not going to do it.

"Come and let me show you the house, and then the grounds. It is such a beautiful day." He rose and offered her his hand. Kate smiled at him and took it. It was warm to the touch, but she could feel hardness beneath it. This all felt as if she had stepped back in time. A rather a strange - and slightly worrying - thought was starting to form at the back of Kate's mind. She wondered: was it possible?

Sir Thomas showed her the Ballroom (with beautiful paintings and statues) and the Games Room (filled with pool tables and dart boards). He took her into the chapel and showed her the magnificent stained-glass window. Then he showed Kate the Library and she gasped at all the books; rows and rows of them, from floor to wall and wall to wall. He took her into the large Dining Room and showed her where she would sit which was to the right of him. He didn't take her to the kitchen saying that she was 'too fine a rose to mix with the buttercups.' He also passed by the Study saying airily: 'There's naught to see in there. Just more books and papers.' (Of course, this aroused Kate's curiosity.) Finally he took her into the courtyard and let her admire all the types of plants growing there. Sir Thomas didn't bother to show Kate the first floor seeing as 'we will both go up together when we refresh ourselves before dinner.'

Then he led her out the Entrance Hall and announced that he was going to take her to see the grounds. The footman at the door asked if he should arrange for someone to go with them, but Sir Thomas waved him away, saying that Kate would come to no harm in his company.