Grasso, Patricia (33 page)

And then there was the minor matter of her husband. Richard would be furious if she failed to attend the queen.

Keely needed to get to that royal sitting room. There just had to be another route.

Keely squared her shoulders and walked back down the corridor. Rounding a corner, she spied a page dressed in the queen's livery and called, "Please wait, boy."

The boy stopped and turned around.

"Can you tell me how to get to the royal apartments?" Keely asked.

The freckle-faced boy gave her a grin. "Walk through the Long Gallery, my lady."

"I mean, other than through the gallery," she amended.

"Through the privy garden."

Keely dazzled the twelve-year-old with a relieved smile, thanked him, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Roger Debrett."

"Lead the way to the privy garden, Roger."

"With pleasure, Lady Devereux."

Roger led her outside the palace to the wide expanse of lawns that teemed with courtiers. The two of them passed dozens of nobles and servants who were coming or going to the courtyard and the stables.

At one point, Keely saw her father speaking with the Earl of Leicester and waved to them. Finally, Roger halted in a deserted section of the landscaped garden.

"Here we are," he said.

" 'Tis a stone wall," Keely replied.

"The privy garden lies on the other side of the wall."

Keely looked from Roger to the wall. Her gaze slid past and then returned to the majestic leaf-barren oak that stood like a sentinel beside the wall.

Keely smiled to herself and advanced on the oak, calling over her shoulder, "Give me a boost."

"Sneaking into the queen's garden is unwise," Roger advised her, beginning to regret escorting Basildon's beautiful countess here. Borrowing trouble was folly in the extreme. He wanted to live long enough to futter a few pretty maids.

"The queen invited me to sit with her this afternoon," Keely told him.

"Why don't you walk through the Long Gallery like everyone else?" Roger asked.

" 'Tis haunted."

The boy gaped at her in surprise. "A ghost haunts the Long Gallery?"

Keely nodded in all seriousness. "Will you give me a boost?"

Roger waged an inner battle. On the one hand, he feared catching trouble. At the same time, he itched to be away and spread the gossip that Lady Devereux believed the Long Gallery haunted.

Giving her a mischievous grin, Roger crouched down and cupped his hands together. Keely placed a slippered foot in his hands, and up she went.

Keely inched her way carefully along the oak's thickest branch and leaped the short distance to the top of the stone wall. She sat down and caught the tapestry bag that

Roger tossed her. "My thanks for all your help," she called.

"At your service, Lady Devereux." Roger grinned and bowed from the waist, but he lingered where he was to be certain she didn't injure herself leaping into the garden.

Keely threw her bag down. From her sitting position, she dropped into the garden but turned toward the wall when she heard the page calling.

"Lady Devereux, are you well?"

"Fine, Roger. Thank you."

Keely spared a moment to brush the dust from her skirt and then turned in the direction of the palace. What she saw formed her lips into a perfect
O
of surprise.

Standing less than ten feet away, three people stared at her. Queen Elizabeth and Lord Burghley appeared shocked. Richard looked furious.

Keely silently cursed her stupidity for failing to cast an invisibility shield around herself. There was nothing to be done for it now. She dropped a throne room curtsy as the three of them advanced on her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Richard demanded.

Keely looked from her angry husband to the queen and Burghley. She couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Answer your husband," Burghley ordered. "What are you doing in the queen's garden?"

"Her Majesty invited me to sit with her this afternoon," Keely explained.

"Yes, but why are you vaulting over the wall to get here?" Elizabeth asked in a mildly amused voice. Nothing could mar the excellent news that her dear Midas had just delivered.

Keely wet her lips, gone dry from nervousness. Before answering, she glanced at her husband. His gaze warned her to caution, but as she saw it, only the truth would suffice in this matter. Nothing else made sense.

"A fear comes upon me whenever I step into the Long

Gallery," Keely told the queen in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"What do you mean by a
fear
?" Lord Burghley asked. "Explain yourself."

Keely looked at Richard. Her husband had suddenly developed a twitch in his right cheek.

Dropping her gaze to the ground, Keely answered, "I believe a ghost haunts the Long Gallery."

Keely peeked at her husband. The twitch had spread to his left cheek.

"You've seen a ghost in my gallery?" Elizabeth asked, astounded.

"I never saw it," Keely qualified, shaking her head. "I sensed its presence."

Heedless of protocol, Keely looked at her husband and pleaded for understanding, "I started to walk through the gallery, but its aura of hopelessness frightened me. I swear, my lord, I tried to do as you bade me."

Her pathetically remorseful expression softened Lord Burghley. He glanced at his furious protégé and remarked, "If Lady Devereux climbed undetected into the privy garden, others could do the same. We must tighten Her Majesty's security." He looked at Keely and added, "You have drawn our attention to a most important matter, Lady Devereux. We owe you a debt of gratitude."

Richard snapped his head around to stare at his mentor. He couldn't credit what he'd just heard.

"Her Majesty's safety is of paramount importance," Burghley went on. "Don't you agree, Richard?"

"Yes, of course."

Keely gave the somber Burghley a grateful look.

"Why were you absent from mass today?" the queen asked, unwilling to let the girl off the hook. She wondered idly when Devereux would leap to his wife's defense.

"I suffered from the morning sickness," Keely answered.

"Feeling better, dearest?" Richard asked, his emerald gaze softening on her.

Keely nodded and managed a nervous smile.

"Congratulations," Elizabeth said, and then flicked a meaningful glance at Burghley. She looked at the young woman standing in front of her. "So will you give my dear Midas his heir and send him off to Ireland?" she asked.

Keely shook her head. "I carry a girl."

Elizabeth chuckled at the ridiculous notion that Keely could possibly know what her husband had planted inside her. Burghley smiled. Except for the twitch that returned to his cheek, Richard kept his face expressionless. Uncomfortably, he wondered if his wife did possess unnatural abilities. The chit had sneaked into the Queen of England's privy garden and was about to walk away unscathed.

"Follow this path to the end," Elizabeth instructed Keely. " 'Twill bring you to my apartments, where several of the ladies already gather."

Keely curtsied, lifted her tapestry bag off the ground, and started down the garden path. Though she felt three pairs of eyes watching her, she never looked back.

The queen's female entourage consisted of sixteen women: four chamberers who slept at the foot of her bed and performed the duties of tiringwomen, six married ladies who acted as official companions, and six unmarried maids of honor. Because the official companions and maids of honor had very few duties, they passed an inordinate amount of time in gossiping, flirting, and spreading rumors.

Dim and stuffy, the queen's privy chamber sported only one small window. Adornment smothered the tiny, richly appointed room.

Keely's spirits sagged when she walked into the room. The only ladies present were Morgana, Sarah, and Jane.

Their reactions to her unexpected arrival varied. Morgana lifted her nose into the air and made an exaggerated show of turning away, which made Sarah giggle. Jane inspected her rival for the earl's affection, starting at the top of her uncovered ebony mane and ending at the tips of her slippered feet.

"Sit down," Lady Jane invited her.

"Thank you," Keely said, managing a polite smile. Holy stones, but she felt conspicuous. Keely opened her tapestry bag, removed one of her husband's handkerchiefs as well as a needle and thread, and began embroidering his initials on one of its corners.

"I cannot believe I am forced to sit with this Welsh bastard," Morgana grumbled, loud enough for all to hear.

Keely pretended deafness. How could she defend herself against the truth? At least, neither her husband nor the queen was present to witness her humiliation.

"I wonder how England's premier earl could have been tricked into marrying an ignorant
taffy,"
Sarah remarked, taking her cue from the other girl's attitude.

Keely said nothing but lifted her gaze to look at the other girl. Jealousy rules her tongue, Keely told herself. All the slurs in the world could never change the fact that the earl had desired her above these three women. That thought gave her the patient courage to endure whatever they would fling at her.

Keely felt somewhat encouraged when Jane deigned to smile at her. "What a beautiful necklace," Keely complimented the sultry brunette in return.

"Thank you," Jane purred, fingering the double strand of pearls.

" 'Twas Devereux's last New Year's gift to her," Sarah piped up.

Keely felt her heart sink to her stomach. Apparently, the earl and the brunette had been on very friendly terms.

"My husband is a generous man," Keely said in a choked whisper.

It was then the brunette went in for the kill. "Basildon is generous in more ways than you know," Jane told her. "What do you think of his freckle? Is it not the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

Keely's composure crashed. The English blood that surged through her body screamed at her to throttle the slut; but before she could act upon that impulse, the voice of reason sounded from the doorway.

"Everyone at court knows where Devereux carries a freckle," Lady Dawn announced, walking with two companions into the chamber. "Even those who never bedded the man speak about that distinguishing mark."

Keely relaxed. The three vampires sitting across from her wouldn't dare draw blood while Cheshire remained within their midst.

"Keely, darling. I present Lady Blair and Lady Tessie," Cheshire drawled.

Keely smiled at them. Lady Blair was short, dark-haired, and moderately pregnant. Lady Tessie was short, blond, and exceedingly pregnant.

"You cannot believe how aggravated I am with Pines," Tessie complained.

Lady Dawn leaned close to Keely and whispered, "Lord Pines is her husband."

"I asked Pines if he would watch me model my two new gowns because I wasn't certain which I should wear today," Tessie went on. "Both looked absolutely horrible, but I desperately needed to know which gown looked
less
horrible. Pines said, T have no wish to commit matrimonial suicide,' and bolted out of our chamber."

"Husbands can be so unhelpful," Lady Dawn commiserated with her friend. She flicked a glance at the two unmarrieds and added, "Poor Morgana and Sarah wouldn't know about that, though."

Sarah blushed with embarrassment. Morgana curled her lip at her new stepmother and muttered something unintelligible.

Lady Dawn turned to Lady Blair and asked, "How is dear Horatio?"

"Vastly improved," the other woman replied. "He's even gained some weight."

Keely smiled politely and inquired, "Horatio is your husband, my lady?"

Morgana, Sarah, and Jane burst out laughing. Keely blushed, though she didn't actually understand why they were laughing at her.

"Horatio is a pig," Blair told her. "Though I do love him like a son."

"I see." Keely decided the whole damned English race was insane. The vile lot of them were vicious or eccentric or seducers.

"When is your baby due?" Keely asked Lady Blair.

"April."

"Mine arrives in February," Tessie spoke up.

Keely flicked a glance at Lady Dawn and announced, "I am due in August."

Six ladies gaped at her in surprise; Lady Dawn recovered first. She bolted out of her chair and hugged her stepdaughter.

"I'm much too young to become a grandmother," Lady Dawn moaned suddenly. "What will Ludlow do when he realizes he's married someone's grandmother?"

Everyone laughed. Even Morgana managed a smile.

"I'm quite certain I carry a boy," Lady Blair joked. "I was on the top when
it
happened."

"I carry a girl," Keely said, falling in with the woman's merriment. "I was on the bottom."

"Oh, God! I do believe I'm carrying a
puppy,"
Tessie cried.

Dawn, Blair, and Jane burst out laughing. Keely, Morgana, and Sarah looked confused.

"I don't understand," Keely admitted.

Lady Dawn leaned close and whispered in her ear. Blushing furiously, Keely dissolved into giggles.

"Tell Sarah and me what the joke is," Morgana said. "We want to know too."

Forgetting the enmity that existed between them,

Keely quipped, " 'Tis unseemly for a maiden to listen to such vulgar talk."

"How dare a common bastard speak to me in that haughty tone," Morgana snapped. "Why, you're no
real
lady at all! Do you even know if Devereux sired your brat?"

Keely paled. Lady Dawn opened her mouth to defend her, but another voice spoke.

"Morgana Talbot, control that ugly spite," Queen Elizabeth ordered, marching into the room.

All seven ladies leaped out of their chairs and curtsied deeply to the queen. They stood in uncomfortable silence, awaiting her signal to sit.

"Cast no aspersions on Devereux's heir," Queen Elizabeth said, fixing her gaze on Morgana. "Apologize at once."

" 'Tis unnecessary," Keely said in a small voice. That sharp gray-eyed gaze slid to Keely. " 'Tis, We say."

Reluctantly, Morgana turned to Keely and said, "I beg your pardon."

Uncertain of how to respond without making her sister even angrier, Keely nodded her acceptance of the girl's frigid apology. Everyone in the chamber, including the queen, knew the blonde's apology was insincere.