Free A Love Most Dangerous by Martin Lake Page A

glanced
along the table to the dish of honey. 'Dorothy, my dear,' she said to Bray,
'please be so kind as to pass the sweet honey.'
    Bray paused for a moment, as if debating whether or no
to ignore the request. With ill grace she passed the honey down the table.
    'Thank you, my dear,' Susan said, pretending to ignore
Bray's bad humour.
    She spread the honey lightly upon her bread and
offered the dish to me.
    'Do try the honey, Alice. Dorothy has taken the
trouble to pass it to us. It is very sweet.'
    I took the dish and nodded courteously towards Bray.
'Thank you so much, dear Dorothy,' I said. 'I appreciate your kindness. Such
thoughtfulness will not go unnoticed.'
    Bray gave a smile as vicious as a snarl.
    Philippa Wicks rose to her feet and fanned her hand in
front of her nose.
    'Come Dorothy,' she said. 'It grows hot and
unwholesome here. Let us go see how the Queen is faring today.'
    She swept out of the room without a backward glance,
her creature Bray chasing to keep up with her.
    A sigh impalpable as a breeze fluttered through the
room. A low murmur commenced as the Ladies began to chatter amongst themselves.
One of the cooks brought out a platter of eggs soft scrambled and offered it
around. I helped Susan and Lucy to some before spooning a goodly portion upon
my own plate. I suddenly realised how hungry I felt. I had undergone fierce
exercise this last night and needed much sustenance to restore myself.
    I paused in my eating for a moment and, as trial,
placed my spoon to Lucy's lips. She seemed surprised but ate the eggs from my
spoon, a blush warming her cheek.
    I smiled to myself. I was changed and somehow Lucy had
sensed this. I remembered how I had dreamed of Anne Boleyn.
    After we had breakfasted the three of us went into the
Ladies' Sitting Room. It was empty save for Mary who sat at the window looking
at the river below.
    'You were not at breakfast,' Susan said to her. 'Are
you unwell?'
    Mary smiled and nodded her head. 'I breakfasted early,
thank you. I was summoned to the Queen's Chamber in the small hours.'
    'Is the child ailing?' Lucy asked.
    'Not the child,' Mary answered, shaking her head. 'It
is the Queen who is unwell.'
    Susan and I exchanged looks.
    'How so?' Susan asked.
    I felt the clammy hand of dread upon the small of my
back.
    'It was a long labour and a difficult birth,' Mary
said. 'The Queen is exhausted and fretful.'
    'She sent for you in the night?' Susan asked.
    Mary nodded. 'She wanted me to sing to her, to calm
her and lull her to soft slumbers.'
    I smiled. Mary had a voice as enchanting as a
skylark's.
    'And did it work?' I asked. 'Did your songs conjure
her to restfulness?'
    Mary nodded. 'She slept. I did not.'
    She held her hand to her mouth to hide a yawn. 'I must
go to my bed shortly, if only for an hour or two.'
    She looked up sharply, suddenly sensing something had
happened to us. 'Is anything amiss? Alice, Susan?'
    Susan turned to me.
    I took Mary's hand in mine and told her what had
happened at breakfast.
    'It was terrible,' Lucy said. 'It was very cruel of
the other Ladies.'
    'Not so,' I said. 'These little storms and quarrels
are commonplace at Court. You will grow used to it, Lucy. Besides, only two
were at the heart of it.'
    'Philippa and Dorothy?' Mary asked.
    I nodded. 'Who else would it be?'
    Mary shrugged and stifled another yawn. 'If they paid
more regard to their duties they would not have such time for mischief.'
    I hugged myself inwardly. Mary was proving a good
friend indeed, and not just to Queen Jane.
     
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
    King Henry Cannot Help but Hint
     
    'You slept well, Your Majesty?' Nicholas Frost asked.
    The King grunted.
    'I'm glad to hear it,' Frost continued. 'A rested King
is a happy King.'
    Frost bent again to the King's left ear and applied
the ear-stick to it. He worked thoroughly, methodically and gently. He burrowed
deep within the ear to clean out the wax but was careful, very careful, not to
cause his master any pain or discomfort. This was a