By Royal Command (23 page)

We paused on the riverbank, where the river was high and a watery sun was just showing through cloud.

‘So this is farewell,’ he said.

I nodded. ‘I know I may not see you for some time.’

He shrugged. ‘Some considerable time. Who can tell? After Whitehall Her Grace usually goes to Windsor or Eltham, and then on summer progress to see some of her country-dwelling subjects.’

‘And her fool always goes too.’

‘Of course.’

‘Then . . .’ I felt a prickling at the back of my eyes and tried hard not to give way to tears, for I had no reason at all to presume that there was anything more than friendship between us. There had been no promises, no words spoken, no kiss. ‘Then I may not see you for some months, Tomas. Nigh on a year, perhaps . . .’

‘Ah,’ he said, with some weight to this word.

I looked at him, frowning slightly. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Just that.
Ah.
’

‘And what does “
Ah
”
mean?’

He smiled broadly. ‘It means that we’ll see each other long before a year, Lucy, for I happen to know that in this month of January Dr Dee and his household are taking temporary lodgings in Whitehall in order to be near to the queen.’

I gasped. ‘Never!’

He nodded. ‘And there is already a certain matter awaiting your attention.’

‘There is?’ I asked.

He smiled. ‘You may remember that we’ve never found the false Jack Frost: the varlet – or indeed the wicked young doxy – who impersonated me.’

‘Of course! Do you think, then, that he’ll be at Whitehall?’

‘For sure he’ll be wherever the Court is, spying and eavesdropping and trying to gain access to its secrets.’

‘And I shall be there too. In London!’ I stopped, fearful excited – and then had a thought. ‘This is not another of your jests, is it?’

‘It is not.’

‘Truly?’

‘By my troth, no.’ He took my hand. ‘And, Lucy, you look so lovely in your delight that I’m sorely tempted to kiss you.’

My heart gave a great leap.
At last!
I thought, and closed my eyes and tilted my face up towards his in readiness. Twelfth Night had come and gone and the kissing bough had been consigned to the fire, but it was never too late for kisses.

‘I say I am
tempted
,’ Tomas continued, ‘but of course I would not venture to kiss a maid in such a public place for fear of ruining her reputation . . .’

‘Oh!’ Quite horrified, my eyes sprang open again – in time to see Tomas’s lips coming towards my own.

‘My sweet, I am jesting,’ he murmured. And then we spoke no more until Mistress Midge rapped sharply on the kitchen window and I hurried in.

Whitehall. London. Close to Her Grace and close to Tomas. I could not ask for more . . .

Some Historical Notes from the Author

The Queen and Her Suitors

This book is set sometime during the start of the second half of Elizabeth I’s reign. At this time her ministers had not given up hope that she would marry and even, perhaps, provide the heir that England so needed. Various suitors appeared from all over Europe and the queen, while accepting their gifts and their professed love, played one off against the other, trying to gain the best deal for England and also foreign support in the event of a war. It seems she was especially fond of the French Duke of Anjou, for their courtship was an on-and-off affair which went on for months. They exchanged presents and rings, and once the queen actually announced to her ministers that they were betrothed. He was seventeen years younger, though, and her ministers were not happy that she was marrying a Frenchman and a Catholic, so eventually it came to nothing.

There was much public speculation about who might or might not be her lover, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and Master of the Queen’s Horse, was a long-term favourite. His first wife died in suspicious circumstances, causing him to be hurriedly sent from Court and, eventually giving up hope that the queen would marry him, he secretly wed the Countess of Essex, one of her ladies-in-waiting.

The Real Dr Dee

Dr Dee was a mathematician, linguist and scholar – but was also very gullible. Kelly, his ‘scryer’, purported to speak to angels who gave him details of how to turn base metal into gold (by using the so-called ‘philosopher’s stone’), but unfortunately these details were in a strange angelic language which could never be properly deciphered. Dr Dee collected books from all over the world and was said to have the largest library in the country. As court astrologer he was frequently consulted by the queen – once, after a wax image of her was found lying in Lincoln’s Inn Fields with a great pin through its eyes. He was able to assure her that it had no powers to harm her and generally calmed her superstitious fears.

Court Entertainments

These were lavish and costly and usually included music and singing, dance and fireworks. When the queen went ‘on progress’ around her kingdom, staying at her richest subject’s castles and stately homes, the owners would spend an astonishing amount of money on rebuilding, refurbishing and generally providing extravagant diversions and attractions, inside and out, in order to entertain her and her Court. These ranged from plays, music, fireworks, bear-baiting and jousting, to the half-moon-shaped lake which the Earl of Hertford dug in his grounds for a lavish water pageant, during which the ‘lady of the lake’ recited poetry specially composed for the occasion, and little boats sailed between miniature islands. Sometimes as many as a thousand people would accompany the queen on her progresses, and of course catering and accommodating this great number could sometimes bankrupt even an extremely wealthy man.

Puritans

Puritans were an extreme type of Protestant who sought purity in life and in worship. They dressed plainly, usually in black and white, and disliked any ornamentation or decoration on their persons or in their churches. In this they were at the opposite end of the scale to Roman Catholics, whose churches were rich with stained-glass windows and had candles in shiny candlesticks, decorative carvings and lace altar cloths.

Mary Queen of Scots

Mary was cousin to the queen and had a good claim to the throne. She and her supporters were thorns in Elizabeth’s side for most of her reign. Various plots to unseat the Protestant Elizabeth and replace her with the Catholic Mary were hatched and discovered (sometimes by one of Sir Francis Walsingham’s team of spies) until in 1587 Elizabeth had had enough and signed her cousin’s death warrant.

Frost Fairs

The earliest recorded frost fair on the Thames was in 1309 when there were sports, dancing, a bonfire and a hare hunt on the ice. Later, frost fairs grew in content and sophistication and became much like the street fairs held in summer months. In the seventeenth century a printing press was erected on the frozen Thames, near London Bridge, and for a small fee you could take home a souvenir card printed with your name to prove you’d been there. (In the Museum of London there’s one such card recording the fact that King Charles II and his family attended a frost fair on 31 January 1684.)

The Ladies-in-Waiting

These ladies, and the more intimate maids of honour, formed an elegant and decorative backdrop to the person of the queen, providing support, entertainment, advice and good company for Her Grace. Girls from titled families sometimes entered the Court aged about twelve and, after serving the queen for a number of years, were found suitable husbands. The queen did not approve of marriage for all, however, and was known to punish her ladies by sending them to the Tower if they fell in love with someone she didn’t approve of – or someone whose attentions she wanted for herself. After she discovered that one of her ladies, the Countess of Essex, had been secretly married to Robert Dudley and was also pregnant, she banished them both and, although he later came back into favour, she never received the new Lady Leicester, whom she thereafter referred to as the ‘she-wolf’.