‘The shadow King has gone though,’ I muttered. ‘We achieved what we set out to do.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘The world felt so cold before. Cold and dark and hopeless.’ I shivered, remembering the black rain that had been falling for weeks, the violent storms, the months of persecution and plague, the terrible flooding up and down the country, drowning people and livestock . . . Now it seemed as though a weight had been lifted from us all, bright autumn sunshine streaming in through the narrow window, the sound of birds singing again in the trees. ‘Now everything feels different. Warmer, somehow. As though those dark times will soon be coming to an end. Don’t you think so?’
He nodded. ‘Very well. So although you were beheaded in your vision, you still managed to banish the spirit.’
‘Hopefully, yes.’
‘But you said, just before the axe fell, it was no longer the spirit up there with you.’ He looked at me. ‘So who was it, or do I not have to ask?’
I did not wish to remember that part of the vision, not least because of the flash of fear that accompanied its memory. But he was waiting for an answer. ‘It was Marcus Dent,’ I admitted reluctantly. ‘But that means nothing. He is always there in my visions. It’s a dream. A fear. Nothing more.’
‘Perhaps.’
I was suddenly exhausted by this questioning and closed my eyes for a few moments. When I opened them again, I knew time had passed. Yet Richard had not moved, still watching me with that disturbing gaze that seemed to see deep inside me.
‘What?’ I demanded groggily, staring back at him.
Richard pressed me, frowning, ‘What does it mean though? The tower in your vision?’
‘I don’t know.’ I was too tired to examine the significance of my strange visions. As far as I was concerned, the fight I had dreaded was over. Could I not simply sleep? ‘Does it matter?’
He shrugged, but still looked uneasy. ‘That will be for Master Dee to advise us. I will let you sleep now, and write to him directly. I shall have to write in code though, for all his letters are being intercepted these days. It will take me several hours.’ He stood, looking down at me with concern in his face. ‘Would you like me to bring my letter in here, and write while you sleep?’
I smiled faintly, and waved him towards the door. The sunlit room was so unseasonably warm, my eyelids would not stay open, my limbs heavy with the need for sleep. ‘No, Richard, please go and write your letter. The deed is done, the spirit-king has gone. There’s nothing to fear now. I will be perfectly safe.’
Some hours later, I heard voices and knew the others had returned from church. Alice popped in to visit me, bringing me a gift of sweetmeats from the kitchen, and then William dropped by to tell me about the new priest, a stern, unsmiling man who had preached long and hard about the need for Protestant heretics to be rooted out of England. Alejandro came in later and drew up the stool, reading to me from the Scriptures in his low, musical tones, until I was ashamed to find I was falling asleep again, lulled to the edge of oblivion by that velvety-dark voice. Finally, Alice came again and shooed Alejandro out of the chamber, removing the damp cloths wrapped about my feet, then helping me dress so that I could descend the stairs and take my place at the table in the Great Hall for dinner.
Dressed in a clean but plain gown, my hair tidily hidden under a white cap, I made my way downstairs with Alice’s help. My feet hurt horribly, and my legs were still a little shaky, but otherwise I felt much improved. Certainly I did not wish the Lady Elizabeth to think me a burden on her household – an invalid who would cost her money and not earn her keep.
We were almost at the bottom of the staircase when I heard the sound of cartwheels grating over stones on the track to the house. The dog jumped up from the hearth and barked hoarsely, running to the hall door with sudden excitement.
The Lady Elizabeth had looked up from her book to welcome me, but her face darkened as she too heard the sound of wheels, the words of welcome dying on her lips.
Alice, supporting me down the stairs, frowned and looked askance at William below. ‘Who can that be?’
‘Visitors?’ Blanche laid aside her embroidery and stared, first at me – crossing herself, pale-faced at seeing the young dead maid on her feet again – then at the Lady Elizabeth. ‘On the Sabbath too. It must be important. Do you wish to go up to your chamber and change your gown, my lady? What if it is a message from court?’
Elizabeth stood uncertain. She glanced at Alejandro, who had been reading with her as I descended, and saw that he was looking at me.
‘Attend me, sir,’ she said sharply, and frowned as his head swung back to her. ‘Pray remember who you serve, Señor de Castillo. Fetch me that shawl, then let us discover who this visitor may be.’
He bowed, fetching the lacy white shawl she had indicated and setting it gallantly about her shoulders. Then he escorted the princess to the door where Bessie already stood waiting, shielding her eyes as she stared out into the low evening sunlight.
His dark gaze met mine as he passed, as though asking a question. I shook my head, not wanting him to get into trouble with our mistress. For although the Lady Elizabeth’s hostility made me furious, itching to cast a spell which would see her brought to humility, nonetheless I knew she was right. We might love each other, but we were still royal servants. Unless we wished to find ourselves cast adrift in a world where a servant without a master was nothing, we must never forget where our duty lay.
We stepped out onto the track to watch the cart arrive outside Hatfield House. The tall brick chimneys were smoking, for the weather today had been sunny but crisp, and the smoke slipped away through the reddish-gold leaves on the trees that towered about the house. I could not see who it was at first, then saw the driver, an old man in rough clothing, and a cloaked woman in the cart behind him, clutching the side as she was jolted along across uneven ground.
This was no messenger from court, I thought, and saw Alejandro frown, no doubt thinking the same thing.
The Lady Elizabeth took a few steps forward, a hand held to her mouth. ‘Dear Lord,’ she whispered.
The cart halted a few feet away, then the driver jumped down and helped the woman descend. She was older than Blanche, but her figure was still neat and her gown, although plain in style, was elegant. A chain was looped about her waist, with a small cross dangling from it, and when she lifted her head, I saw another plain silver cross about her neck. A pious woman then, though she did not have the look of a Catholic. Her face under the black travelling hood was heart-shaped, yet her mouth was stern and her eyes very intense.
The Lady Elizabeth gasped, and ran forward to embrace her. ‘Kat!’ she cried, her voice unsteady. ‘Oh, my dearest Kat! You have come back to me at last!’
So this was Kat Ashley, the princess’s old governess and chief lady-in-waiting, banished from her service by the Queen before I had even been brought to Woodstock Palace.
She looked like a formidable woman indeed. I wondered how this lady would warm to the rest of us, for Blanche had whispered a few times that Mistress Ashley was jealous of her position and liked to keep a tight rein on those allowed near the Lady Elizabeth.
Kat Ashley embraced her in return, bending to touch a kiss to each cheek, then dropped into a deep curtsey before her mistress. ‘My Lady Elizabeth, I cannot say how overjoyed I am to return to your service. You must forgive my long absence. The Queen forbade me to make myself known to you in any way, by visit or by letter, until I could prove that I was as staunch a Catholic as any at her court. But now Her Majesty relents, seeing me so devout in my prayers, and I am permitted to serve you once more.’
‘I thank God for it!’ the Lady Elizabeth exclaimed fervently.
‘As do I, my dear lady.’ Kat Ashley crossed herself, then rose gracefully from her curtsey. She stared up at Hatfield House, the many narrow windows glittering in the late sunshine. ‘This place has not changed since I was last here, not a whit. It was like coming home, seein
g the chimneys draw ever nearer as the cart came down the track. How I have missed this house . . . and you, my lady. How have you fared without me?’
Elizabeth was flushed and ecstatic to see her old governess again. ‘Oh, since my release from Woodstock, I have gathered a small household about myself again. You remember Bessie? She and her sister Lucy serve here at the House. Then I have two maids, Alice and Meg. These gentlemen are my men-at-arms, Richard . . . and William Lytton.’
She hesitated, coming to Alejandro, who had been standing silent and frowning throughout this. ‘And, of course, Señor de Castillo, who came with me from court to be my spiritual guide at the Queen’s special request. He reads to me from the Bible every day, and we pray together in the mornings and evenings. He is a nobleman of Spain and came to England in the company of King Philip, no less.’
Alejandro bowed to Mistress Ashley. ‘I am honoured to make your acquaintance, my lady.’
Kat Ashley curtseyed, staring at him with undisguised interest but a certain wariness too, as though suspicious that he must be in close contact with Queen Mary.
She looked at each of us in turn, her keen dark eyes missing nothing, then came to me. I curtseyed with a bowed head, as befitted her status as chief lady-in-waiting, then straightened under that searching gaze. I knew at once that I was disliked.
‘You are Meg Lytton?’ she demanded, looking me up and down.
‘Yes, mistress.’
‘I have heard of you, girl.’
Her hostility was like a black beetle crawling down my back under my gown. I could not help myself snapping back, ‘And I of you, mistress.’
Kat Ashley’s face stiffened. ‘Indeed? I hope I do not disappoint in the flesh.’ She turned at once to the Lady Elizabeth and took her hands, squeezing them warmly. ‘I am loath to ask this, my lady, but you must send this girl away at once. I have been at court this past week and heard her name linked with that of Master Dee, and such dark deeds . . . it is even whispered that she was questioned by the Inquisition as a witch!’
The princess looked horrified. ‘Send Meg away? But she has done me good service, it would be wrong to dismiss her now.’
‘Hush, my dearest.’ Kat Ashley drew her close and whispered urgently in her ear, ‘Have I not done you good service too? Have I not been a loving nurse to you since you were a small child, bereft of your natural mother when you were too young to know what had befallen her? I love you dearly, and would not see you in danger, nor have you sully your good reputation by keeping a suspected witch in your household. Whatever “good service” this girl has done you, it will only return to haunt you.’ Her pleas intensified as Elizabeth hesitated. ‘Send her away, my lady. Send the girl back whence she came, and end this madness once and for all.’
There were tears in the Lady Elizabeth’s small dark eyes. She stared at me, then at Alejandro – the merest flicker of a glance, her face wary – and then looked at the ground. I could see the warring of guilt and stubbornness in her expression.
‘I cannot,’ she managed in the end, to my relief. ‘Much as I love you, Kat, you do not know how Meg has served me this past year. To dismiss her so ungratefully would not become the daughter of a King.’
‘To keep a witch in your service would not become the daughter of a King either, my lady.’
‘But, Kat—!’
‘When have I ever given you poor advice or led you into danger? Remember what happened to your poor mother. Queen Anne once stood accused as a witch . . . and worse! And your father sent her, his own wife and the mother of his child, to her death on the scaffold. I would not see you make that terrible climb to the executioner’s axe, my sweet lady, not for the lack of cold common sense. Send this girl away, or else send me away for ever. For I cannot remain in your service and see you in thrall to a witch.’
Elizabeth gave a muffled cry at this ultimatum, and drew back her hands. For a moment she hid her face. Then she turned to me, very stiff and upright, and pronounced the words that sent the blood chilling in my veins.
‘Meg, you heard what Mistress Ashley has said. You are to pack up your possessions at once and leave Hatfield. You will be given whatever fee is owed to you for your services.’
‘My lady!’ Alejandro exploded, his face taut with anger.
‘Silence!’ the Lady Elizabeth countered, equally furious as she glared at him. More furious, perhaps, because she knew that she was in the wrong. ‘You forget your place, señor. I no longer require Meg Lytton’s services, and that is an end to the discussion.’
When Alejandro started towards me, Kat Ashley stepped between us, not bothering to conceal her triumph. ‘You too would do well to avoid her company, señor. Or would you lose your own good reputation at court for too much intimacy with a suspected witch?’
‘I shall take my chances with the English court,’ he bit out savagely, then added, ‘Mistress,’ as her eyebrows arched disdainfully at his tone.
‘Since he has no particular duties to fulfil here, your brother William may accompany you home,’ the Lady Elizabeth told me, and I caught a flash of pity in her face. ‘It is too late for you to leave tonight. You will leave at first light instead.’
‘Meg Lytton can hardly walk from here to Oxfordshire, my lady,’ Alejandro pointed out tightly, his eyes seeking Elizabeth’s. ‘She is still too weak.’
Elizabeth was flushed now. She seemed to become even more guilty at this reminder of how I had just died in her service, exorcizing the dark spirit that had haunted us all for months. ‘Very well,’ she muttered, not looking at me any more, ‘Meg and William may take the small cart, as long as it is returned within the month. That should be sufficient for her comfort.’
Kat Ashley’s face held an expression of profound satisfaction. She had won and the whole household knew her power now. She turned her back on me and curtseyed to the Lady Elizabeth. ‘Shall we go inside, my lady? This autumn air was never good for your chest, and I have much news from court which you will wish to hear.’
They filed into the house, Richard frowning darkly as he carried Mistress Ashley’s bag inside, Alice trailing in last, her expression one of bewilderment as she looked back at us.
Soon only William and Alejandro remained, looking at me. I stood helpless, my hurt feet throbbing, my arms by my sides, and did not know what to say to them.
The Lady Elizabeth had betrayed me. That was all I knew. I would never have thought it possible, not after what we had been through together. But her loyalty to Kat Ashley had outweighed her loyalty to a witch. Why did that surprise me?
‘I had better go up and start packing.’ I managed a fleeting smile at my brother, but dared not look at Alejandro, for fear I might burst into tears. ‘Will you help me, William? It should not take long. God knows I have little enough to take with me.’
‘William, would you give us a moment alone?’ Alejandro asked him quietly, his gaze on my face.
My brother hesitated, then nodded. ‘I will be waiting in your chamber,’ he told me, and disappeared.
I knew William was unhappy to be leaving Hatfield, but would stand by me whatever happened. I tried not to dwell on how it would feel to go home and face my traitorous father; my impending return to Lytton Park was the least of my problems right now.
‘I will speak to her ladyship tonight,’ Alejandro told me deeply, taking my hands. ‘She cannot dismiss you. Not after the dangers you have faced on her account. It is too ungrateful.’
‘When were the Tudors ever grateful towards their servants?’ I asked, but shook my head. ‘No, Alejandro. Mistress Ashley has returned and must have her way, for she is the closest the Lady Elizabeth ever had to a mother. You will only lose your own position here if you try to sway her opinion, and Kat Ashley will hate you for speaking against her.’
‘You think I care?’
‘The Queen herself asked you to guide her sister in spiritual matters,’ I reminded him gently, ‘and King Philip asked you most particularly to watch over the Lady Eli
zabeth and keep her from harm. I do not think you care if you are dismissed. But you will not wish to betray either of them by leaving – in particular your own King.’
He closed his eyes in pain, then nodded. ‘I cannot leave Hatfield, it is true. But I cannot bear for you to leave either.’
‘I must. It is done.’
‘Then use your power. You are a witch, and a talented one. I have seen what you can do. Perform whatever magick you can to—’
I interrupted him, smiling up at him drily. ‘You would have me strike Kat Ashley down and take her place as the princess’s most treasured confidante?’
His eyes darkened, his voice suddenly husky. ‘I would have you stay by my side and not go out into the world where I cannot protect you.’
‘The vile shadow is gone,’ I reminded him. ‘I am safe enough.’
He shook his head. ‘You have forgotten Marcus Dent.’
I had not forgotten him. But to tell the truth, I had hoped he was no longer a threat, except in shadows and visions, his power gone since falling into the void. I knew that was a weak hope. Yet I could not have Alejandro fretting for my safety every day I was away from him, and perhaps putting himself in danger by attempting to persuade the princess to take me back.
‘He has not come at me here, though he could have done if he wished. If Marcus Dent is such a threat, why am I still alive?’
‘You nearly weren’t,’ he pointed out. ‘Besides, you said yourself the place is protected by spells that keep him out. What if he pursues you on the road home?’
That was my fear too. But I could not allow him to see that. ‘Don’t,’ I said softly, and laid a finger on his lips, very aware that we could be seen from the house. ‘I will be safe enough. And I will write to you, when I have the time.’
‘I will write every day,’ he promised me grimly.
‘And neglect your duties to the princess?’ I shook my head with a sudden weariness. My heart hurt as it had never hurt before, not even when I thought myself dead and separated from him for ever. ‘Alejandro, it has been a lovely dream for us, being together this year. But it is over now, and I want you to forget me.’
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