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Master Leon, a well-made young man with large dark eyes and a skin that could only have been burnished by an Italian summer, wore a sober gown of dusty black over a grey-brown wool tunic and a flat cap that had seen better days. His manner and speech, however, suggested that his education had been exceptional. ‘Dr Spenney,’ he told them, ‘is either trying to offer me the experience or show me how little I know and how much I have yet to learn.’
They laughed, but Aphra said, ‘How little you know about what, sir?’
‘About the curative qualities of plants, madonna,’ he said, smiling.
‘But any housewife knows which plants heal. It’s part of a woman’s training,’ she said. ‘We have recipe books that are generations old.’
‘Aphra,’ said Dr Ben, gently, ‘stop teasing. You know what he means.’
The glances they exchanged seemed to imply much more than words, and the laugh that rose in Aphra’s throat was of a kind not often heard by the others. But his half-sister, Lady Raemon, who also had a special fondness for Ben, suspected that the real reason why he had chosen Master Leon to accompany him was to meet Aphra, and it was not long before the two were gently sparring about which plants were native to their respective countries. Etta joined in, then took them both to inspect the herb garden. So it was quite by chance that they missed the arrival of two more guests in the same barge from further down the river, Baron Somerville and Sir Elion D’Arvall, the eldest son of the late Sir Walter, and elder brother to Lady Raemon.
Sir Elion D’Arvall had once aspired to a senior position in the royal household, having assumed that he might be offered the post as King’s Cofferer on the death of his father. But with the change of sovereign had come a change in many other departments and Sir Elion had been overlooked, only to be instantly recruited by William Cecil, advisor on financial matters to the young Princess Elizabeth. Now she was Queen at last and Sir William made Secretary of State, Sir Elion had become an extra pair of ears and eyes both in England and abroad, acting as diplomat in the courts of Europe. It was inevitable that he and Baron Somerville would one day arrive together, having often met while on business abroad. ‘Where was it last, Nic?’ Sir Elion said, passing him a handsome silver-lidded tankard. ‘Antwerp, wasn’t it?’
Lord Somerville took it from him. ‘I was doing deals with silk merchants,’ he said, remembering with a smile. ‘I’ve learned a lot since then.’
‘And now you’re to marry the lovely Henrietta. Well, you’ll have your work cut out there, lad, and no mistake. Brave man, eh, Jon?’
Lord Raemon twitched an eyebrow in Somerville’s direction. ‘He knows what he’s doing,’ he said, laconically. ‘I’ve warned him. Don’t blame me.’
‘Shame on you both,’ said Lady Virginia. ‘Henrietta’s a lovely young woman and intelligent, too. If she has both of you running round in small circles, you can blame each other for forcing her hand.’
‘What’s this about?’ said Dr Ben, looking from one to the other. ‘Surely you didn’t think you could make Henrietta’s mind up for her, did you? Was that wise?’
‘It was the only thing to do, Ben, if we didn’t want to spend the next twenty years failing to see eye to eye on the subject. She’ll come round,’ said Lord Raemon, ‘once she gets this latest bee out of her bonnet.’
‘Which bee?’ said Ben. He looked at Somerville for enlightenment and was told of Henrietta’s insistence that, because she had Tudor blood, and looks, the new Queen would automatically want to know her. ‘I see,’ said Ben. ‘So if her father won’t oblige and her future husband won’t oblige either, who d’ye think she’ll try next to make it happen? Three guesses.’
Sir Elion shook his head. ‘Oh, no,’ he said. ‘We don’t need three, do we? Any moment now, my niece will be in here to request a quiet word in my ear concerning a matter of courtly introductions. Do I have it right, Nic?’
‘That’s about the sum of it,’ Somerville said. ‘She’s not going to take no for an answer from any of us, anyway. We need a strategy.’
‘I think you need to be careful,’ said Ben.
‘I think you need to be very careful,’ said Lady Sophia, Sir Elion’s wife. ‘She doesn’t know the ways of the court as well as I do. She’ll be hurt.’
‘Not by any of us, my lady,’ said Lord Somerville, gently. ‘And anyone else who tries will have me to deal with.’
Sir Elion was familiar with personal disputes between couples whose marriages had been arranged for them, having helped to smooth the stormy path of his sister Ginny’s marriage to Sir Jon Raemon, as he then was. So he was not surprised to learn that their Tudor stepdaughter meant to have her own way in one direction if she could not have it in another and, knowing the Queen’s mind better than any of them, was able to see where the biggest dangers lay. When his friend Lord Somerville asked him how the new Queen fared once the excitement of the coronation had died down, his reply came as something of a shock. ‘Oh, it’s all about Lord Robert Dudley now,’ he said, witheringly. ‘Since she made him Master of Horse, you’d think a crown came with the job.’
‘What?’ said Ben. ‘He thinks he’ll be made king?’
‘There’s a lot of talk,’ said Sir Elion. ‘And not all of it innocent, either. Ah, here come the ladies. Congratulations, Niece,’ Sir Elion said to Henrietta.
‘Thank you, Uncle. Commiserations are in order. May I have a word in your ear, before we leave?’
‘Certainly, love. About how to cope with mercers, is it?’
And so they laughed and teased each other before the roaring fire that took up half the wall, the logs sizzling and spitting and smelling of last year’s apples.
Obligingly, Sir Elion made himself available to his niece, his answer formed well before her enquiry was delivered. ‘Will you be returning to court any time soon?’ she said.
‘Not before the wedding, I think. Will that be here?’
‘Yes, I expect we shall be going straight to Cheapside afterwards, but I want...well, the truth is, I want to find a way of seeing the Queen and I thought you might...?’
‘You mean, just to see her, or to have her see you? I can tell you now, Etta love, that if Somerville won’t take you, then I don’t see how I can.’
‘I simply want to see her, just to take a look. I don’t expect to be presented. Not until she wishes it, that is. That may take some time.’
‘And you want me to take you there? Is Somerville supposed to know about this? Because I shall not be doing anything unless he knows, Etta.’
‘Uncle, if he knows I’m with you, he won’t object, will he? And it will be all right for me to walk in with you, because you’re known there and I’m your niece. That won’t be against the rules, will it?’
‘Not as long as you abide by them, Etta. I can’t afford to get on the wrong side of court protocol when I earn my living there.’ Sir Elion saw this conversation taking a rather different course from the one discussed earlier, but what she was proposing sounded relatively innocuous, compared to what her father and future husband had anticipated as a head-on confrontation with their sovereign.
‘I know that, Uncle Elion. I would not do anything to embarrass you.’
‘Of course you won’t, m’dear. Shall we be invited to the wedding?’
Etta shook her head and looked away. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I doubt it. Lord Somerville prefers us to have a very modest ceremony. Only Mother and Father, that’s all.’
‘Oh, my dear,’ her uncle replied, taking her hand. ‘I’m sure he has his reasons. But give it time. You’ll get to know each other eventually. He’s a very astute man, you know. The Queen made him a baron at the same time as she knighted William Cecil, my master, and Baron Hunsdon, her half-brother. Somerville sent her money when she was still Princess Elizabeth and without a bean. When Queen Mary released her from imprisonment, she was in a sad state, poor creature. She doesn’t forget those who’ve shown loyalty to her in the past.’
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