Free The Queen's Secret by Victoria Lamb Page A

for you. It is what keeps a courtier safe and in her good graces. I advise you to cultivate the same desire yourself, unless you wish to find yourself far from court – and me.’
    In silence, Lettice watched him step up towards the brightly lit chambers of the royal apartments, leaving her bereft against the cold stone. Was no man ever to show her true love and affection?
    She turned and guided herself down into darkness, blinking back angry tears once again.
To serve the Queen is what I most desire, even beyond my love for you
. What further sign did she need of Robert’s intentions?
    It was July now. If Elizabeth changed her mind and chose to accept him, Robert could be on the throne before the first leaves began to turn.

Nine

    THE TINY SCRATCHING at her door sounded more like a mouse behind the wainscot than someone requesting entry to the Royal Bedchamber. Nonetheless, Elizabeth recognized the sound and halted her restless pacing, turning to the leaded windows of the state apartments. Her ladies stirred but she held them back with a gesture, and they sat back on the floor, attending once more to their embroidery.
    Slowly, she tidied her nightgown and robe, then waited another good minute before giving him permission to enter.
    ‘
Veni
!’
    The castle grounds had fallen into inky darkness now, all trace of fireworks gone, their burning lights submerged beneath the lake like the village which had once stood there, its people driven out of their homes to make way for the castle’s watery defences. High walls, deep water, watchtowers, inner and outer courts, the iron clang of the portcullis being lowered behind her soldiers. She was living in a fortress. Yet such precautions were necessary, it would appear. At their last meeting Walsingham had mentioned another plot against her life, though for once his intelligence was scanty.
    Yet she felt safe here at Kenilworth. Her personal bodyguards stood at arms only a few feet away in the Presence Chamber, with orders to admit none but her ladies-in-waiting and her most trusted courtiers, and Robert had posted men at all possible points of entry to the royal apartments.
    The door had opened quietly in response to her command. It was her own Robin, of course. She did not need to turn her head to assure herself of that as she followed his reflection across the room in the leaded diamonds of the window. With all the candles in the great chamber, flecks of light swimming in the thick glass, it was like a vision in a cathedral with Elizabeth at the altar, waiting for her prayers to be answered.
    Several of her ladies rose in a rustling flurry of skirts and curtseyed low at his entrance. Demurely, they offered him wine and sweetmeats, both of which Robert declined in a smiling voice.
    Too impatient to concern herself with the need for discretion, Elizabeth waved the women away.
    ‘Leave us, all of you.’
    Nevertheless, she waited until the door had closed behind the last of her attendants before turning to him. He was kneeling with uncharacteristic humility, head bowed. She suspected that someone must have informed him of her mood on his way upstairs. Who else but the faithless Countess of Essex?
    Straight-backed in her white nightgown and ermine-trimmed robe, she raised him with an impatient gesture. ‘You cannot stay, Robin. Not tonight.’
    ‘As you wish, Your Majesty.’
    Elizabeth noticed that Robert’s gaze was on the heavy gilt Bible at her bedside, and knew that she was right. Lettice must have spoken to him before he reached her presence.
    ‘I have sent Lady Essex to fetch my own English Bible. That one was not to my taste.’
    ‘Pardon my presumption in providing it, Your Majesty.’ He seemed to hesitate, and she knew a moment of curiosity as she wondered how he would deal with his fear of antagonizing her. ‘With your love of languages, I thought the Latin would please you.’
    She remembered the dancing shadows outside the tent at Long Itchington, and her nails