Winter Blockbuster 2012 (71 page)

It was a strange and delicious feeling. It made her wonder what a life like this could be like—a life in the pretty countryside, with friends and a man to love, as Elizabeth obviously loved Lord Edward. It wouldn’t be such a grand house as Hart Castle, of course, but maybe a cottage with a little garden …

Anna almost laughed at herself. A country cottage was as beyond her reach as a palace would be, and a man like Robert would never share such a place. She just had to enjoy this fine holiday now. She was determined to find a way to enjoy life again at long last. Rob had given her that.

The light outside was turning a mellow golden-pink, the sun beginning to sink towards the horizon, when Elizabeth said, ‘How is it grown so late? I must see to dinner and leave
you to change your gown, Anna. You have let me chatter on too long!’

Suddenly there was the clatter of more carriage wheels down the drive.

‘Who would be arriving so very late?’ Elizabeth wondered, and Anna went with her to peer out of the window once more. The carriage was a sombre black one, and only one lady stepped out into the deserted garden.

As she looked up at the house the hood of her cloak fell back and Anna glimpsed a pale face and light brown hair—a face she had seen only recently.

‘Lady Essex,’ she whispered.

‘So it is,’ Elizabeth said with a frown. ‘Whatever is she doing here? Edward and her husband do not get along at all.’

‘Mayhap she is on an errand for someone else?’ Anna wondered out loud. Someone like her father, Secretary Walsingham? Was she sent here with some new, dangerous task for Robert?

‘Whatever her purpose, I must go down and greet her,’ said Elizabeth. ‘I shall see you at dinner, Anna?’

‘Of course.’

‘I
am
glad you are here,’ Elizabeth called back to her as she hurried from the room. ‘I’m sure we shall be friends!’

Alone again, except for the maids setting up a bath by the fireplace and laying out her clothes, Anna turned back to the window. Lady Essex was gone now, and her empty carriage rolled towards the stables. Why
was
she here? And what was Robert really doing with someone as dangerous as Walsingham?

She had to find out if she was to help him and protect herself. And, just possibly, have a little fun while doing it.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A
NNA
tiptoed down the staircase, past the glow of the stained-glass window and the silent hulk of the armour. She didn’t feel quite like herself, dressed in the deep red velvet gown with gold brocade sleeves, trimmed with gold and cream ribbons and false rubies, a starched lace ruff fanning out around her head. Elizabeth’s own maid had dressed her hair in a high swirl of waves and curls fastened with pearl pins, and she held a feathered fan clutched in her hand. Her grey gowns were packed away, along with her everyday life, and it felt strange and exhilarating not to be cloaked in their disguise.

Nay, she was
not
herself tonight. She was sure she was someone entirely different—someone flirtatious like the lady who had greeted Rob on the garden driveway, and assured like Lady Elizabeth. Someone who could coax secrets from a man.

She could hear the hum of voices from a half-open door at the end of the tapestry-lined corridor, a high-pitched burst of laughter. A servant hurried past, bearing a tray of silver goblets, and Anna followed him, slipping into the chamber behind him.

It was filled with the people she had glimpsed earlier in
the garden, and even more she had never seen. They were all dressed fit for Court, in sumptuous, jewel-coloured velvets, flashing gold embroidery, and snow-white ruffs that all swirled together like the brilliant stained glass of the staircase window. One man was leaping about, seemingly to demonstrate new dance steps, and everyone laughed at his antics. Lady Essex, the surprise guest, was nowhere to be seen.

Rob stood by the fireplace at the far end of the room, with Lord Edward and a few other guests. He wore a black and purple doublet, and his hair was swept back from his face to reveal an onyx teardrop at his ear and the handsome, austere lines of his features. He didn’t laugh with the others, but watched them with an almost brooding look in his eyes. Anna couldn’t fathom what he was seeing and thinking as he observed all the merriment around him.

Then he glimpsed her there by the door. For an instant his eyes widened and he went very still, as if stunned. They stared at each other for a long, frozen moment, and it was as if everyone else in the room vanished. The colour and noise became a mere blur, and all Anna could see was him. All she could remember was her new determination to enjoy herself for a while.

He suddenly smiled at her, a dazzling grin that banished every hint of the darkness that had hung around him only a moment before. He snatched two goblets from the servant’s tray and made his way towards her. He came straight to her, ignoring any attempts to catch his attention, and bowed before her.

‘Anna,’ he said. ‘You look most beautiful.’

‘Beautiful? Nay, you’re just startled to see me without my grey!’ She felt unaccountably nervous with him. After the wild intimacies they had shared in the carriage, and in his bed at the Three Bells, she shouldn’t feel shy with Rob at all.
Yet she did—as if she would start giggling and blushing at any moment. She took the offered goblet and drank deeply of its fine Rhenish wine, hoping it would steady her and bring her back to herself.

All he did was shake his head, and stare as if he couldn’t get enough of her.

The wine didn’t steady her. It just made her feel giddier, and she laughed. ‘Have you no poetic words for me, then?’ she asked. But she wasn’t sure she could take poetry just yet—the mere word ‘beautiful’ was sweet enough.

‘I fear poetry fails me when it comes to you, Anna,’ he said. He took her free hand in his and raised it to his lips. His kiss was warm and soft, lingering on her skin. He turned her palm over and pressed it to his cheek, the heat of him flowing into her and giving her strength.

‘Come, let me introduce you to the other guests,’ Rob said as he looped her arm through his.

‘I would like to meet your friends,’ she said. She wanted to be let into his world, his secrets. Would he let her in? Could she let herself in, and follow her resolve to enjoy herself? To enjoy her life, with Rob, for just a little longer …?

Rob watched Anna where she sat along the length of the banquet table. She was lit by the golden glow of the candles, the red lights in her dark hair like flames, her skin white as a pearl against the fine lace ruff she wore. She laughed at something the man beside her said, her cheeks flushing the palest of pinks.

The man leaned closer to her, as if to whisper in her ear, and Rob saw it was Lord Maddingly—one of the greatest libertines at Court. Women were said to follow him wherever he went, besotted, begging for his attention. And now that attention
was entirely focused on Anna. He refilled her goblet from one of the silver ewers on the table and smiled at her.

Rob’s fist closed hard on the hilt of his eating knife.

‘Robert? Is something amiss?’ asked Elizabeth, who sat beside him.

He forced his hand to open and dropped the knife to the table. It seemed he became a hot-tempered fool when it came to Anna. He had no right to feel jealous of anyone she spoke to, anyone she liked. Not when he would soon be forced to hurt her more than another man ever could.

He thought of poor Mary, and the memory of her scarred face. His promise to her held him back from Anna.

‘Why do you ask that, Elizabeth?’ he said. He reached for his own goblet and took a long drink of the strong spiced wine.

‘Because you had that murderous look on your face. I thought perhaps one of our cook’s fine dishes had displeased you.’

‘Your hospitality is the finest, as always.’

‘Then what …?.’ She looked along the table, and when her gaze alighted on Anna and Lord Maddingly, their heads bent together in close conversation, her eyes widened. ‘I see.’

‘What do you see?’

‘Your fair young lady and Lord Maddingly. But you have nothing to fear from him.’

‘Mistress Barrett can do as she likes,’ Rob said. It took all his hard-won acting skills to make that sound convincing—even to himself.

‘I have not known Mistress Barrett long, but she seems too sensible to believe Maddingly’s nonsense.’

‘Then why did you seat her next to him?’

‘Why, Robert, is that
jealousy
in your tone? I thought she
could do as she liked, with whomever she likes? I thought he might amuse her.’

Rob gave a snort. ‘Amuse?’

‘Aye, for his overblown compliments and attempts at poetry he can be most entertaining to those of us who don’t take him seriously.’ Elizabeth skewered a bit of chicken in cinnamon sauce from a nearby platter and slid it onto his trencher. ‘Mistress Barrett’s father owns the White Heron, does he not? I’m sure she knows just how to handle poetic blandishments from men who are too handsome for their own good. Even you.’

Rob looked again to Anna, who still whispered with Maddingly. She suddenly caught him watching her, and a soft smile touched her lips. She gave him a little nod before she turned away.

Perhaps she did know how to handle him, but he was beginning to suspect that all his long experience with women was no help at all when it came to Anna Barrett. She wasn’t like anyone else he had ever known. She was so much better, so much more beautiful, so much—everything.

‘Does she know about your work?’ Elizabeth whispered.

Rob remembered how she had followed him to Walsingham’s house, how she seemed determined to keep him from protecting her. But he was determined, as well. He had chosen his course. ‘Not really.’

‘You should tell her, then,’ Elizabeth said, surprising him.

‘Nay.’ She would turn from him in an instant if she knew
all
the truth. He wasn’t ready to lose her just yet. That would come all too soon. For now he wanted to revel in her smile, the touch of her hand, the very presence of her. He didn’t deserve it, but he craved it so very much.

‘She hardly seems the sort to swoon if faced with the realities of life. She does live in Southwark, after all.’

‘I will not see her hurt,’ Rob said hoarsely.

Elizabeth looked as if she wanted to say more, but she just shook her head. ‘As you will. But, as my dear Edward had to learn, you men cannot protect us by keeping us in ignorance. We try to make Hart Castle an escape, a place apart from real life, but I fear the world will encroach even here.’

‘And where is Lady Essex this evening?’

Elizabeth shrugged, a little frown creasing her brow. ‘She said she was tired from her journey and wished to dine in her chamber. I think she will complete whatever brought her here and depart in the morning.’

‘And have you discovered
why
she is here?’ That was what he should do—concentrate on his work, on what he had to do. Not watch Anna laughing at the other end of the table. Not think of what he would do to her in her chamber later that night.

‘She merely said she wished to escape the stench of London for a little while. Edward always invites her here—it’s best to keep in Essex’s favour right now, the Queen loves him so, and Edward has his own reasons for keeping well in with her father. But she has never actually come to Hart Castle before.’

‘Then is she here on her husband’s behalf or her father’s?’

‘Who knows? Perhaps she is here on her own errand.’ Elizabeth leaned closer and whispered, ‘Mistress Barrett and I might contrive to talk to her before she leaves. But Edward thinks perhaps Essex sent her here to steal his scientific manuscripts!’

‘His manuscripts? Are they valuable to a man as averse to books as they say Essex is?’ Rob asked, puzzled.

‘Essex seeks to discredit all those the Queen favours besides himself. Edward has made certain interesting discoveries.
Perhaps Mistress Barrett might like to see his laboratory after dinner? I know Edward won’t mind at all if
you
see it.’

There was no time to share more secrets as a loud quarrel had erupted farther down the table and Elizabeth had to play soothing hostess and intervene.

Rob looked again to Anna, who was still laughing with Maddingly. She
did
look beautiful tonight, in her fine gown, her eyes glowing with enjoyment. Far from her home and duties she looked younger, freer, as if she had long missed fun and laughter. She shone in that bright gown, her drab grey left far behind.

He suddenly wished he could give her this all the time, make her life one of constant laughter and life. She deserved that—to be appreciated for her beauty, surrounded by merriment, working at nothing harder than embroidery and country rides.

Aye, she deserved all that and far, far more. She deserved far more than him, a player and intelligencer with a black past and a darker future. What had happened to Mary had changed him forever, just as it had her, and he could never go back to the way he was before. He could not afford tenderness.

But he could give her this time at Hart Castle and keep her safe in the days to come. If Maddingly could make her laugh, Rob shouldn’t mind. Yet he found he
did
mind, violently so.

He rose from his seat and raised his goblet. ‘A toast to our fine hosts!’ he called. ‘And to all the beauty they collect around them.’

‘And the music,’ Edward said with a laugh. ‘Mayhap you will play a fine tune for us after our meal, Robert?’

‘Oh, yes!’ cried Lady Arabella, clapping her hands. ‘A tender ballad full of love and longing.’

‘A tale of ancient battles might be finer for
your
sensibilities, Lady Arabella,’ Lord Maddingly answered.

‘I believe our fair hostess should choose the song,’ Rob said.

‘Then I choose a song of love,’ Elizabeth said, reaching for Edward’s hand. ‘Always.’

As Edward raised her jewelled fingers to his lips for a tender kiss, the company laughed and applauded. Rob looked to Anna, only to find that though she still smiled a cloud seemed to have passed over her face. She turned away from the sweet sight of Edward and Elizabeth’s affection and reached for her wine.