by Mary Hooper
We entered the palace. I’d thought that every guard and parish constable in London might be looking out for me, but of course this was not the case, and Tomas (for they knew him, of course) and I passed through door after door without being apprehended. The deeper we went into the palace, however, the more nervous I became, until I felt such sickness and dread in my stomach that I felt I might vomit. For a pin, I thought, I would run out of there, go back to Hazelgrove and live in peace all on my own.
But I did not run, and soon we were in the apartments of the royal ladies. Here Tomas, asking a passing servant of their whereabouts, was told that a dancing master was in attendance in the music room and the queen and her ladies were all gone to be taught a new galliard. This, Tomas said to me, was always the queen’s way of forgetting her troubles. ‘She loves to dance – and is more sprightly on her feet than women half her age,’ he told me, and though normally I would have been charmed by this insight, I could not take any pleasure in such things at that moment.
Tomas hesitated in the hallway outside Juliette’s bedchamber, then recalled the servant and asked that a message be taken to her, requesting that she return there.
‘You and I will wait for her within,’ he said to me. ‘Perhaps the three of us can talk quietly and have the whole thing settled without recourse elsewhere.’ He took my hand and squeezed it, as if to give me courage. ‘And then things can return to normal and we may go on as before.’
I looked at him bleakly and did not return the pressure of his hand, for I was afeared in my heart that we would not be going on as before, and that after today everything would change. I wanted to pause a moment and tell him this, but I could not for, believing Juliette to be in the music room, Tomas was already opening the door of her chamber and ushering me inside.
Thus it was that my enemy and I came face to face, and it would have been difficult to say which of us was the more shocked.
I stopped dead. I didn’t believe in her any longer, thought her to be false, yet I’d been brought up to show respect to my betters and instinctively lowered my head and curtseyed.
‘Juliette!’ Tomas said. ‘I’ve just sent you a message. I thought …’ He stopped suddenly and looked to the bed, and I did the same. What we saw were several leather saddlebags filled to the brim with her gowns and petticoats, their frills and lace showing at each buckled opening. The room behind Juliette was almost bare: there was no jewellery box nor any of those little items that a lady might display on her dressing table. This lady, it was clear, was going away – although I knew the queen had no progress planned.
‘You’re leaving us?’ Tomas asked. ‘Does Her Grace know?’
She didn’t reply.
‘Or is this, perhaps, a private progress of your own?’ I asked boldly. On her still not replying, I added, ‘We’ve come here today to clear up various misunderstandings. And just in time, it seems.’
She smiled then, seemingly perfectly composed. ‘Indeed. Do come in.’ She ushered us further into her room and closed the door behind us.
‘Lucy has the idea that you are not who you say you are,’ said Tomas. ‘I told her that she must be mistaken, but seeing this …’
I suddenly felt so angry that it overcame any predisposition to be respectful to my betters. ‘I am not mistaken!’ I said. ‘I know that Lady Ashe’s niece is dead, so you cannot be her! You are therefore false and no doubt an enemy to the queen. What’s more, I did not steal your jewellery.’
There was a silence, then a strange smile spread across Juliette’s face. I could not think why this was, but a second later became acquainted with the reason: someone had come silently through the adjoining door and was standing behind us. I immediately turned – but alas, too late, for this person had their arm tightly about my waist, and I felt the cold point of a knife at my throat.
‘Do not move, or I assure you my maid will not hesitate to use that dagger,’ Juliette said. ‘We have not come this far to be stopped at the last moment.’
Tomas nodded slowly and thoughtfully. ‘So, Lucy was right …’
‘Yes, she was,’ Juliette said, with a hard look at me. ‘Once I knew of her role as your helper and found that she knew my aunt – my so-called aunt – then I knew I’d have to discredit her. As she managed to evade capture yesterday, I thought it was time that we left. Especially as I have what I came for.’
I moved slightly, testing the grasp of whoever held me, and felt the point of the blade nick my skin. I couldn’t see the woman, but had the feeling that it was the same burly maid who’d discovered me the previous day. ‘Shall I tie her up, Madam?’ I heard.
Juliette nodded. ‘Tie them both up. Don’t hesitate to use the knife on the girl if either of them make a move.’
She took two stools and placed them next to each other, then her maid pushed me down on to one and told Tomas to sit on the other so that we were back-to-back. Using a length of rope found in one of the panniers, they lashed us together, bolt upright and very tightly, so that the rope cut into my upper arms. Only then was the knife against my neck removed.
‘The other ladies-in-waiting will be downstairs for perhaps two hours,’ Juliette said, ‘which will enable us to make our escape with some ease.’
‘The queen will send armed men after you,’ I burst out. ‘The queen will …’
‘The queen!? ’ Juliette interrupted. ‘Do you mean that tawdry puppet who does naught but dance on the strings pulled by her ministers? That is no queen.’
I was shocked to silence.
‘Madam,’ Tomas said, ‘I now perceive your true colours. You are a follower of the Scottish queen, are you not?’
‘I am a follower of the rightful queen,’ Juliette corrected. ‘The legitimate queen who follows the true religion.’
‘And I presume you are set now for Fotheringay?’ said Tomas.
‘So we will know where to find you!’ I cut in.
‘I am able to disguise myself quite as well as you.’
‘But you will never succeed in putting Mary of Scotland on the throne!’ Tomas said.
‘Do you not think so? Even now, her loyal soldiers are gathering to overthrow those who keep her prisoner.’
‘But not enough soldiers …’ said Tomas.
‘Soon there will be many more.’
‘I doubt that.’
‘Do you?’ She smiled, opened her jacket and pointed to a pocket sewn into the embroidered belt she wore. ‘With what I have here, I can pay a hundred – nay, a thousand men!’
‘So you’ve stolen money,’ said Tomas. ‘Is that why you came to Court?’
‘I’ve stolen better than that,’ she said with some pride, and it seemed she could not resist boasting of her feat, for she added, ‘I have Drake’s Diamond.’
‘Never!’ Tomas exclaimed, while I gasped in horror.
‘Do you doubt me?’ She reached into the pocket, brought out the stone and displayed it on her hand.
This made me gasp anew, for I had never seen such a beautiful thing in all my life. ’Twas about as big as a hen’s egg and a deep, deep blue which flashed fire and rainbows where its facets caught the light.
‘Lovely, is it not? And ’twas surprisingly easy to purloin.’
‘But everyone knows of it,’ I blurted out. ‘You’ll never be able to sell it.’
‘No?’ she said mockingly. ‘How perceptive of you, dear Mistress Lucy.’ She replaced the stone in her pocket. ‘I have a skilled jeweller just ten miles outside London waiting to cut this diamond into forty smaller ones. ’Twill be a shame, for ’tis a very pretty thing but, as you cleverly pointed out, too recognisable by far.’
‘Before you go,’ I asked, ‘why did you choose to take the identity of Lady Ashe’s niece? Her of all others.’
She shrugged. ‘Why? You might as well ask why not. I chose her from a list of twenty young misses whose relatives were known to the queen but who were out of the country. One fly-witted girl is as good as any other!’ She looked to her c
ompanion. ‘Are you ready, Joan?’
The maid nodded, picked up two of the saddlebags, went to the door and looked outside.
Juliette paused, smiling down at me. ‘And now, Mistress Lucy – so loyal to that whey-faced woman they call the Queen of England – I bid you farewell.’
I did not look up but stared at the floor, hating her with a deep passion.
‘And Tomas. So devoted to the queen, so brave … and so willing to befriend a lady!’ She bent down and I could not think what she might be doing, then saw her reflection in the mirror and realised that she was kissing Tomas. And he was not turning his head away from her!
They left, and as the door closed quietly behind them my eyes began to sting with tears. Whether this was because she had beaten us, or because Tomas hadn’t evaded her kiss, however, I wasn’t sure.
After a moment Tomas said, sounding almost matter of fact, ‘They will have fast horses waiting and be on the turnpike road within ten minutes.’
I said nothing, knowing that my voice might give me away. She had kissed him, and he had not objected!
‘She said they are set for Fotheringay, but I think it’s more likely that they’ll hide up somewhere beyond, some little village where no one will think of looking for them.’ There was a pause, then he asked, ‘Are you all right, Lucy? The ropes are not too tight around you?’
I composed myself, swallowed hard. ‘I am well, thank you. Or as well as I might be when someone has implicated me in a robbery, hideously insulted our lady queen and stolen away with a diamond large enough to raise a thousand soldiers against her.’
‘Ah,’ he said, ‘the world never ceases to surprise us, does it?’
I gave a frustrated cry. ‘Are you not angry? How can you remain so calm?’
‘I am the queen’s fool,’ he replied amiably. ‘I must always present an agreeable demeanour.’
I wriggled on my stool, trying to wrench my hands out from the ropes. ‘But we must get out! We must scream for help … have her stopped … prevent her getting away with that diamond!’
‘Of course. All in good time.’ I stopped wriggling, hardly able to believe his words. ‘It won’t be more than an hour before someone finds us. And in the meantime we can talk. But ’tis a great pity we are tied together back-to-back, don’t you think?’
I said nothing, astonished.
‘Have you any idea who Mistress Juliette really is?’ he asked after a moment.
‘Of course not!’ I said. ‘Have you?’
‘I believe she may be the daughter of the Duke of Northumberland; the Catholic Duke of Northumberland, who – Walsingham tells me – is a secret supporter of the Scottish queen.’
‘What? Do you know that for sure?’
‘I was not sure, but am now convinced of it.’
‘So when you brought me here today to confront her, why didn’t you tell me what you knew?’ I burst out. ‘I was frightened almost to death that I might be thrown into gaol.’
‘I’m sorry for that, Lucy, but I wanted you to behave perfectly naturally with her. I was not sure of my facts, and wished to know what she might do if confronted; if she would implicate someone else. Of course, I had no idea that we’d arrive just in time to see her escape!’
I was not happy with this explanation, nor the fact that he had not taken me into his confidence. ‘But why aren’t you in a hurry to go after her?’
‘Because she can do no harm now. The enemy has shown her hand and she, her father and their accomplices will be picked up all in good time.’
I wished to be looking into his eyes for my next observation so that I could better discern the truth, but asked anyway, ‘You must be sorry that Juliette turned out to be a traitor, for I think you and she reached a certain closeness while she was a lady-in-waiting.’ I paused, trying to make my tone even. ‘I believe she mentioned how willing you were to befriend a lady …’
‘It is my job to befriend all the ladies.’
‘Indeed. But with her, the befriending seemed of a special kind.’ As I spoke I saw, in my mind’s eye, their reflections, kissing.
‘I can juggle, sing, turn somersaults and walk upon ropes, Lucy. I can also, when necessary, act the fine fellow, flirt and bend a knee to a lady.’
I swallowed. ‘And were you still acting when you kissed her goodbye?’
He laughed. ‘I believe it was she who kissed me ! I am but a man, Lucy. If a pretty girl wants to press a kiss on my cheek, it would be ungallant to refuse.’
‘On your cheek?’
‘There only.’
I was silent, thinking about it.
‘Lucy, I promise!’ he said, sounding so sincere that I decided I would bestow upon him the benefit of the doubt.
‘But what of the diamond ?’ I asked. ‘She said that it would be at a jeweller’s just …’
As I spoke, there came the sound of someone humming outside the door, and two seconds later it opened and Barbara came in with a pile of clean towels. ‘God’s teeth!’ she gasped, dropping her towels. ‘What’s going on here?’
‘Ah,’ said Tomas with some joviality. ‘Here you find two persons trussed like a pair of bantams for market!’
She peered around him to see me. ‘Lord! It’s you again, Miss! D’you want me to untie you?’
‘I think that would be a very good idea,’ said Tomas.
Barbara knelt on the floor and struggled for some moments, trying to unpick our fastenings, but the rope was thin and snaky and the knots pulled tight, causing her to swear several times under her breath.
‘Perhaps you should ask one of the guards to come along with his dagger and cut us free,’ said Tomas and, saying that was exactly what she would do, she shot me another wondering glance and went off.
‘Before they return – what about the diamond?’ I asked urgently. ‘Do you know the jeweller that Juliette is bound for?’
‘Alas, no.’
I gave a cry of despair. ‘Then the diamond will be cut up, and each of the new stones will pay for a company of soldiers who will oppose our queen!’
‘No, they will not.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Just this: did you know that I was absent from Court last night?’
‘I hoped you might have been,’ I said, ‘or I felt sure that you wouldn’t have allowed Juliette to send the watch to Dr Dee’s house.’
‘I was in Salisbury. I was also there on St Valentine’s Day, and so could not be the first lad you set eyes on that day and make you a present of a pair of gloves.’
I gave a gasp of surprise. So that’s why he’d questioned me about the suitability of gloves as a gift.
‘But don’t you want to know why I was in Salisbury?’
Quickly recalling myself, I nodded.
‘It was to visit the workshops of one of the most skilled craftsmen in the country. And yesterday I collected what he’d made.’
‘Which was?’
‘I think you can guess …’
‘Tell me quickly, before the guard returns!’ I begged.
‘Very well. ’Twas a replica of Drake’s Diamond, so like it in shape, weight and colour that Drake himself could not tell between the two of them.’ He laughed. ‘This fake was substituted for the real one, and then left as bait to see who might steal it, for Walsingham knew it would be irresistible. We hadn’t thought that it might be snatched up so quickly, however!’
‘So the one that Juliette is carrying so tenderly about her person …’
‘Is made of glass, and will shatter into a thousand pieces if a jeweller tries to cut it!’
Chapter Nineteen
Barbara returned with the guard, who freed us in an instant, and Tomas went to seek an audience with Walsingham to tell him all that had occurred. Before he left, he arranged for someone to go ahead of me to the house on Green Lane and inform the guard there that his presence was no longer required.
Going back along the palace corridors with Barbara, I parried her questions as b
est I could and, as we parted, promised to give her best regards to my brother. I made a silent vow to myself to tell her the truth at the first opportunity: feeling infinitely weary by this time, I could not think of beginning the saga then. Yawning as I went, I walked back to the house on Green Lane and, after telling Mistress Midge and Sonny, in brief, all that had happened, climbed into bed and slept for near twelve hours.
I awoke to hear Sonny outside in the courtyard chopping wood for the kitchen fire and, quickly getting dressed, went to the kitchen and found Mistress Midge taking a new batch of mice out of the oven.
She informed me that a letter had arrived. ‘I’m supposing it’s for you,’ she said, pointing to a folded parchment on the table. ‘Someone wearing palace livery came with it at nine o’clock this morning.’
I seized the letter, which had my name writ large on the outside. ‘Mistress Midge! You should have woken me.’
‘We tried to,’ she said tartly. ‘Sonny tickled your toes and I dabbed your face with a wet sponge, but you were as dead as a side of mutton.’
I unfolded the letter and, with growing excitement, read it out to her:
‘My dear Mistress Lucy,
Her Majesty has been informed of your actions in regard to a certain event, and would like to acknowledge your services to her with a small token of her appreciation. I therefore write to request your presence at Whitehall Palace tomorrow evening, when Her Majesty is hosting a gathering of friends loyal to the Crown.
I trust I shall have the pleasure of seeing you there.
Tomas.’
‘Lord above!’ Mistress Midge said as I finished. ‘You do get yourself into some gallivantings. Back to the palace, eh? An’ this time a-mixing with the gentry, if you please.’
‘Indeed,’ I said wonderingly. And moreover, a small token of her appreciation, whatever that meant.
Having been so late to rise, I went about my household duties diligently for the rest of the day, even undertaking that most hateful of jobs: scouring the sink with sand. Apart from this, my daily duties were not so very onerous and did not involve any deep thinking, which left me time to reflect on some most important questions concerning the evening ahead. Firstly, what form would this royal ‘gathering of friends’ take: would it be entertainment, dancing, feast or masque? I certainly hoped it would be something to do, or watch, rather than anything which involved having to make conversation with my elders and betters. Secondly, and even more importantly: what was I to wear? Seeing as the green velvet gown was a little grander than the pale blue, should I put this on again? Or should I try to add something extra to the blue – a sash or some lace – to make it more distinguished?