And with these scornful words, Catherine flung Margot from her; and Margot, who would have been quick-witted, who would have made her escape from any other, lay where she had fallen, as though petrified, unable to move, while her mother, portly and vengeful, swept slowly and majestically towards her.

‘Get up!’ she cried; and Margot rose immediately.

Catherine slapped Margot’s face, her rings cutting into the girl’s cheek.

‘Ah!’ said Catherine. ‘That must not be. We must not let your future husband know that we have had to beat you for wantonness with the Duke of Guise.’ Catherine pulled Margot towards her. ‘And why do you think Guise has made you his mistress? Because he loves you? Because he is as mad for you as you so shamelessly are for him? Never! Because, foolish wanton, the Cardinal of Lorraine told him to seduce you in the hope that, having been his mistress, it would be impossible for you to marry him whom I have chosen for you. That is their scheme. “Henry, I long for you.” “And I for you, Margot. And for all that you can bring me. Not your wanton body, you fool, but your name, your rank, for besides being a harlot you are the daughter of a royal house, the most noble house in France.” ’

‘You lie,’ said Margot. ‘He loves me … me.’

‘You little fool. Monsieur de Guise is not the sort to say “No” when a woman begs so insistently.’

‘You lie …’

Catherine took Margot by the sleeve of her gown and dragged her to a couch. She pushed her down and bent over her. ‘You may well show fear. You dare to tell me, your mother, that I lie! You dare to solicit favours of Monsieur de Guise! You dare to become the mistress of the man who threatens your brother the King and the whole of your family!’

This was one of those rare occasions when Catherine’s control broke. She imagined she heard Margot’s voice: ‘Henry, I long for you.’ She imagined she heard the deep, passionate response of Henry of Guise. But it was not these two she pictured; it was another Henry, oh, long ago, loving his mistress as he never could his wife.

In a sudden rush of fury, she tore off Margot’s clothes and beat her savagely.

‘Not the face this time!’ she cried. ‘We must not show the King of Portugal that we have a wanton for a daughter. We must beat you where the marks of a beating will not be seen … except, perhaps, by Monsieur de Guise.’

Margot lay panting under the fury of her mother, who had picked up a cane with a jewelled handle which Charles used when he left the palace on flagellating orgies. It came down again and again on Margot’s body; and all the time it seemed to Catherine that she was watching two lovers through a hole in the floor of the palace at Saint-Germain. It was not, it seemed to her then, Margot who lay there, but Diane.

Eventually her passion was spent. She reflected that it was a rare thing for her to indulge in such emotion. Yet it had been irresistible. Margot had called up too many memories. It had been foolish of her to compare Henry of Guise with Henry of Valois, simply because they both bore the same name.

Margot lay limp on the couch, and Catherine stared down at her bruised body.

‘Go,’ said Catherine. ‘Put on your dress. Later I will discuss with you the arrangements for the greeting of the King of Portugal.’

And while Margot, in her own apartments, was bathing her wounds, terrified lest some mark should spoil the perfection of her body, Catherine reproached herself for that outburst of fury.

Looking back was something in which she knew it was folly to indulge. There were too many dangers of the moment for past insults and humiliations to be of any importance.


* * *

Margot was preparing to meet her suitor. Her dress was of cloth of gold; her jewels magnificent; and her eyes were as hard and as brilliant as the diamonds she wore. She was saying to herself: ‘I will never marry him. I will marry Henry. There will be a way, and we will find it.’

She had seen Henry of Guise earlier that day. He was constantly in the company of the Princess of Clèves, being so much wiser than she could ever be. He knew of that interview she had had with her mother; he begged her to be calm, discreet. It was for Henry’s sake that she had feigned meekness and pretended to submit to her mother’s commands.

She had said to Henry when they met: ‘I must see you later. I want to come to you in my rich gown and my jewels. I have said I will wear them to greet my bridegroom. You are my bridegroom.’

‘It is dangerous,’ he said.

But Margot’s passion carried her beyond the thought of danger. She must see him. It was so long since they had made love. Two days ago … It was an age! To-night, after the ceremonial meeting with the King of Portugal, they would meet. Did he know that small chamber close to his own apartments in this palace of the Louvre? She would come to him there, and he must be ready for her. They would spend the whole night together. They must. She would not be put off with a mere hour. They must be together all through the night. It was only with such a prospect before her that she could face the ordeal of the evening’s ceremony.

He had agreed to be at the rendezvous, and Margot, having dressed herself with the greatest care, knew she had never looked so beautiful.

‘Ah!’ said one of her women. ‘You look like a Princess who is going to meet her lover.’

Margot embraced her warmly, and the woman knew what that meant.

‘Keep my doors locked to-night,’ whispered Margot.

‘My dearest lady Princess, be careful.’

‘Have no fears for me.’

‘It is dangerous, my lady.’

Margot laughed; she loved danger if it meant love-making with Henry of Guise.

‘Ah, my Princess, I can understand. There is no one like him in the whole of France.’

‘There is no one like him in the whole world,’ corrected Margot.

She conducted herself with decorum at the ceremony of meeting her suitor, who was deeply impressed with the wild beauty of the Princess. It was true, he concluded, that she was the most fascinating lady at the court of France.

Henry of Guise was there, watching. Margot wondered if he suffered similar pangs to those she felt when he bent his handsome head towards that of Catherine of Clèves.

Catherine watched too. The girl was defiant, but she knew she must obey. During her chastisement she had cringed in a manner which had been quite gratifying. Margot was wild; she was passionate, more desirous – and perhaps therefore more desirable – than a woman should be; but Catherine believed she knew how to manage Margot’s affairs with satisfaction.

For Margot the evening seemed endless; the bright lights were too dazzling. She was charming to the King of Portugal and his attendants. She gave the impression that the match would not be distasteful to her; but all the time she was scarcely aware of her suitor; she was only aware of Henry, now talking to the Princess of Clèves, now dancing with her, while the latter – the little fool that she was! – looked as though all she desired on Earth was the smile of the young Duke of Guise.

Margot fretted and waited; and during those long hours of ceremony she yearned for her lover.

At last it was over, and the palace was quiet.

Margot was ready, waiting in her robes of state, for the moment when she should slip out and along to that little chamber where Henry would be waiting for her. Her women ran about eagerly, touching her dress here and there, putting a fold of her gown in place, telling her she was more beautiful tonight than she had ever been; they looked into the corridor to make sure that no one was lurking there; and then Margot was speeding through corridors, up stairs to her meeting with her lover.

She clung to him while they murmured words of love. He told of his jealousy, she of hers. She lit the candles that he might see her in all her finery.

‘You were more beautiful than ever to-night,’ he said.

‘It was because I was coming here to you. If I had not been coming to you, I should have been ugly … hating them all. Oh, Henry, shall I ever cease to love you like this?’

‘Never,’ he said, ‘I hope.’

He had made a bed of his velvet cloak; she saw it and laughed. ‘We have known so many strange beds. When shall we know our marriage bed?’

‘Soon, Margot, soon. But we must be doubly cautious now that this man from Portugal is here.’

The candles guttered out, and they lay in the darkness. The night passed and, when the first signs of the new day were in the sky, Margot regretted its passing.

‘The most wonderful night of my life!’ she sighed. ‘I shall remember it always.’

‘There will be many such when we are married. Then we shall have no fear of discovery.’

She was laughing, demanding more kisses. Neither of them heard the door open, so engrossed were they in each other; nor did they see the figure standing there watching them. The door was quietly closed again, and not long after there was a great commotion in the corridor which even they could not fail to hear.

‘Keep very still,’ said Henry. ‘Make no sound.’

He had risen silently, but before he had his coat on and his sword at his side, the door burst open. The King stood there; his clothes had been hastily thrown on; his eyes were bloodshot and his mouth working. Behind him stood several of the attendants of his bedchamber.

He screamed an order. ‘Take them to my mother’s apartments. With all speed. No delay.’

The lovers were surrounded. Four men were needed to overcome the struggles of Guise. Two seized Margot; and the pair were then hustled along the corridors to the apartments of the Queen Mother.