The Queen's Lady (14 page)

Her argument struck home. He had brushed over the burr of James’s loyalty to him, but it stuck in the way of pretending his detached stance was smooth and untangled. At Lacey Hall he had thought himself apart from these English people; now he had fallen in love with one, he was being drawn into ties he had not had since leaving his village in Africa.

‘But what can I do to help him, Milly?’ He turned her palm to plant a kiss in the centre. Lady Jane tactfully pretended to be occupied with a pattern book to allow them privacy. ‘He has to fight his own battles.’

‘But none of us should have to do that alone.’ Milly’s eyes filled with tears – his wife-to-be was so soft-hearted it was a wonder she had survived thus far in this cruel world. ‘You told me yourself he suffers from terrible nightmares – that he can’t bear to share a room with others in case they see him in that state. Think what it will be like for him in the close confines of a ship.’

‘He’ll get himself a new man. Servants like me are ten-a-penny.’

She shook her head. ‘That’s not true and you know it. You were with him in the Low Countries; you understand. He won’t find another person who can look after him like you can.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Lady Jane loves him. I want them to have their chance as we have ours but they won’t get it until James Lacey is … is … healed, I suppose you would say … healed in mind and spirit.’ She pressed the tip of her finger into his breastbone. ‘Remember that we are only able to be together thanks to their generosity.’

Diego reflected ruefully that sometimes it was a burden to have a betrothed who was so much nicer than him. ‘So you think I should go after him?’

Milly closed her eyes briefly then nodded.

He leant forward and kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Consider it done.’

‘I love you,’ she whispered.

‘Love you too, Milly-mine.’

She thumped his chest. ‘And don’t you dare not come back!’

‘I will command the waves to be smooth just for you.’

She rested her head on his breast and sighed. ‘I’m going to regret this.’

He nestled his cheek against her hair. ‘No, you will not. You must always remember, whatever happens, that you are right. I was blinded by my desire to be with you, but I am sure that we must not start our life together with a failure to do our duty to others.’ He winked. ‘Particularly when we want to continue in their service for the rest of our married life.’

‘How long will you be away?’

‘Only for the summer, if all goes to plan.’

‘Then we marry at Harvest?’

‘Aye. If your father agrees.’

‘How can he not when I am betrothed to a heroic explorer?’

‘Hmm, we will see.’

Hand in hand, the pair turned to Lady Jane. Diego gave her a bow.

‘My lady, it seems that my service to you is to be very brief. Milly has reminded me of my duty to Master Lacey. I must hurry if I am to catch up with him in Plymouth.’

Lady Jane dropped the pattern book back on the table. ‘So you will go after him? But what about your marriage?’

Milly squeezed Diego’s hand. ‘That’s only delayed by a few months, Jane. We’ll cope, but I very much fear your James won’t if he doesn’t have a friend beside him.’

The lady sat back in her chair and gave a deep sigh. ‘I cannot tell you, Diego, how relieved I am to know that you’ll be with him. He’s seemed so alone, not at all his old self. He needs you.’

Diego was flattered by the faith the two girls had in him, even if undeserved. ‘I will do my best.’

Jane felt in her purse. ‘Such loyalty must not go unrewarded. Here, take this – two sovereigns – these should see you to Plymouth.’

‘And beyond, mistress.’ Diego pocketed her generous payment, relieved the practicalities of chasing after his master had been solved. ‘I will be able to equip myself for the voyage in style thanks to you.’

‘I regret your service is so brief, but I …’ her voice broke with emotion. She regained control and continued, ‘… I will never forget what you are doing for James. I will look after Milly for you while you are away, and try to smooth the path with her father too.’

‘Then I will be more than repaid for what is merely my duty.’

Dashing away a tear and smiling over-brightly, Jane stood and went to the door. ‘I will go below to give you a chance to say your farewells in private.’

Diego swept Milly into his arms and hugged her tightly until she gave a little squeak. ‘I am going to miss you,’ he whispered.

‘And I you.’

‘Do not worry. My talisman will protect me.’

Milly fumbled for the cord then kissed his necklace. ‘What is it made from?’

‘A few things, including a lock of your hair, shamelessly stolen when you were not looking.’

‘I’m glad – and I give it freely. Travel safely and come back soon, my love.’

Diego set her back on her feet. ‘Will you do one thing for me, Milly?’

‘Anything.’

‘Do not let that player near you. He is too charming. I do not trust him.’

She giggled. ‘You have to understand, Diego, I am immune to him. But I’ll keep him at arm’s length, never you fear.’

‘Make sure they are very long arms.’

13

The Red Lion, Plymouth

James finished his letter to Will with a drop of wax on the fold and pressed his signet ring of a knight on horseback to make a seal. The image blurred, the hapless hero squelched off on one side, but it would do. Brushing aside some hazelnut shells left over from a midnight snack, he stood the letter upright against a candlestick to remind himself that he had to send it on the morrow. What would Will make of the news that they had another brother – an actor with a disposition like the bears at the baiting ring? He would put his money on Will taking a trip to London in the very near future to meet Christopher in person; his older brother was in essence the kindest of men and would hate to think one of his blood had been so neglected, even if it had been through no fault of his own.

His duty by his half-brother done, James threw himself on his lumpy bed and stared at the ceiling, hands linked behind his head, wallowing in his loneliness. There was no one in this city who knew him, no one who cared if he went out or stayed inside. He felt as rootless as a dandelion seed spinning in the wind. Out of doors, life carried on without him. The Red Lion, on Exeter Street, was one of the better establishments near the harbour in Plymouth, but even it could not remove itself from the noise that went with being one of England’s busiest ports. James, who had thought he had little to learn about low life after being in the army, had garnered a few new curses listening in to the exchanges on the street below, thanks to the drabs that earned their living from the tides of sailors that flowed in and out of the town. The girls’ tongues were as sharp and colourful as their clothes.

A tap at the door interrupted his solitude.

‘My lord?’ The landlord stuck his head into the room, hesitant to disturb the moody occupier of his best chamber.

‘What is it, Jarvis?’

‘There’s a blackamoor below – claims he’s in your service, sir.’

‘What?’ James sat up. Diego here? Was there bad news? Had something happened to Jane – or to his family?

The portly landlord tucked his thumbs in the strings of his apron and nodded sagely. ‘So you don’t know him then. Thought as much. I’ll send him off with a flea in his ear.’

Moving quickly to dispel the misunderstanding, James got to his feet. ‘No, no. He’s my man. Send him up.’

A few moments later, Diego arrived outside the door, taking in the messy lair in which James had been brooding for two days now like a lion nursing a sore paw.

‘I see you did not engage another man as yet, my lord.’ Diego ventured across the threshold and picked up a shirt lying in a rumpled heap on top of a pair of muddy boots. ‘Or, if you did, you must sack him at once – he is not worth his wage.’

James smiled, swamped with relief to see his man’s familiar face back where it should be – at his side. He hadn’t realized how lonely he had been without his closest companion. ‘It was such liberation to be rid of my last plague of a servant that I thought I would shift for myself.’

‘And that was such a good plan.’ Diego put the boots outside the door for a serving boy to clean.

James thought that Diego did not look like a messenger bearing bad tidings, but that still did not answer the question as to what he was doing there. ‘You bring news?’

‘No, sir.’

‘Then why are you here? Did you fall out with your lady love?’

Diego touched his talisman – the one round his neck that he refused to take off even when bathing. ‘No, sir. It was she who sent me to you. With the Lady Jane’s blessing and assistance, for you forgot to pay me my earnings for the last quarter.’

James thumped his forehead, cursing himself for being ten types of fool. Of course, Diego hadn’t come for him. ‘I left you stranded in London and you’ve come to collect what I owe you. You should’ve gone to the earl – he’d’ve seen to your pay without putting you to the trouble of crossing half of England.’

‘I did not come for my wages.’ Diego opened the window and shook out James’s cloak, which was covered in horsehair and straw.

James scratched his head. ‘Diego, I am not a wizard skilled in reading the minds of stubborn African servants.’

Diego stopped his tidying and turned to face James, his expression taking on a steely cast as if he anticipated an argument. ‘I came because it is my duty to accompany you on this voyage. I promised your brother I would do so.’

James felt queasy from the pitch and toss of hope and disappointment, like a landlubber on his first rough sea. Though he wanted the companion, he couldn’t take Diego with him just because the servant felt obliged to his family – that would not be fair. ‘And I released you from that promise, remember? You have a duty now to Mistress Porter.’

‘I also came because Milly brought me to my senses. I want to be with you on this adventure.’ Diego picked up a discarded doublet and brushed off the dust. ‘We have been together for the last year and I … you have my loyal service, my lord.’

Being a man of action and plain dealing, James did not claim great skill at reading the meanings hidden behind surface words as a subtler mind could do. Yet, if he were not mistaken, Diego had just confessed that he felt a kind of friendship towards him. For what was camaraderie between men but a mutual promise to stand shoulder to shoulder? Having felt so worthless, James was moved that Diego, who knew all his weaknesses, could still feel that way about him.

‘I should refuse to take you with me.’

‘But you will not, my lord, because you recognize that you need a servant with you on this journey – one who understands you.’

James flexed his fingers, annoyed at how thankful he was that he was no longer alone. ‘Oh God,’ he groaned, ‘I just know I am going to be selfish and agree to take you with me.’

‘And that is what I want, sir. You should understand that it is also what my lady love desires. And yours.’ Diego held out a pocketful of coins.

‘What’s this?’

‘Funds for our expedition – courtesy of the Lady Jane.’

James swallowed, his throat closing with emotion that he was not comfortable in displaying even before Diego. He turned away to the window. Jane should have sent him curses, not money and a companion.

‘Now, my lord, we must think how best to make ourselves ready for our adventure, and that includes what we can do to make sure we will come back. My Milly thinks the only way to persuade you not to do anything reckless is to tell you that she fully expects you to return me to London safe and sound.’

James raised an eyebrow at being lectured, albeit at a distance, by a seamstress.

Diego smiled knowingly at his expression. ‘You have only met her once, my lord, but my lady in a temper is quite a sight. It might involve scissors.’

For the first time in days, James laughed. ‘’Swounds! That I would like to see.’

‘Like the wildcat of my homeland, she may be small but she packs in a lot of power, my lord. I would not stand in the way of her claws.’

James grinned. ‘Sound advice about any irate female, I would say.’

‘I am glad you say that, for I have been promised similar retribution from the marchioness should I not bring you back in one piece. I trust you will not abandon me to that lioness’s paws.’

James dropped into the chair by the fireplace and kicked up his heels to rest on the low bench. ‘So we are to be governed by the ladies in this?’

‘Aye, my lord. You had better submit gracefully.’

James threw his arms wide. ‘So be it; I submit, Diego.’ Before adding in a serious tone: ‘And thank you. I am more grateful than I can say.’

The two captains of Ralegh’s tiny fleet greeted James and his servant on board the
Dorothy
the following day. The ships bound for America were currently bobbing at anchor in Sutton Harbour in sight of the city of Plymouth with its thicket of roofs and steeples. As they discussed the voyage over the best charts available, Arthur Barlowe impressed James with his calm demeanour and obvious experience – he rather hoped he would be spending the voyage on the vessel he commanded. Philip Amadas by contrast was a small firebrand of a man, spitting with temper and barely suppressed violence. He had already made an enemy of both James and Diego by pushing the servant out of his way with unnecessary force as they came into the cabin. Angry and impatient with life, Amadas would surely make for a capricious captain in the long days at sea.

‘We leave as soon as our last stores are aboard,’ Barlowe explained to James. ‘We should make landfall in America two months later.’

James studied Barlowe’s weatherbeaten fingers tracing lines on the maps as if he could see the ships crossing with similar ease. The captain had square nails; one thumb was tinged with a bluish cast where it had got trapped in a hatch. Such workaday hands inspired confidence, proclaiming that this was a man who knew every inch of his vessel and was not above turning his skills to the necessary duties. ‘You have a full crew, captain?’

Barlowe’s face cracked into a wry smile. ‘Not yet, lad – I mean, Master Lacey. There aren’t many tars in Plymouth keen to sail anywhere near the Spanish Americas – they’ve heard what has happened to others who’ve fallen into the hands of the Inquisition – not pretty.’

James knew all about the Inquisition from its work in the Low Countries; his sympathies were entirely with the reluctant sailors. ‘But you’re not worried that we won’t be able to man the ships?’

Barlowe rolled up the chart. ‘Have no fear, sir. About a week before we depart, I’ll start a rumour in the alehouses of Spanish gold – that’s the medicine to purge the Inquisition rot. We’ll have Englishmen lining up on the shore to be taken aboard.’

‘They should come for England’s honour!’ Amadas threw the remark over his shoulder as he rummaged through the chest of charts to find one of the Caribbean.

Barlowe clapped him on the back with the ease of long familiarity. ‘But, Philip, not everyone has your high principles. At least we know where we stand with the men if good old honest avarice can be relied on to keep them happy in our service.’

The tour of the ships was brief as they were each no larger than a tennis court. James was pleased with his accommodation, a small cabin near the captain’s berth on the
Bark Ralegh
, which he would share with Diego. The bunk was too short for him and he could touch both walls if he stood in the centre and stretched out his arms, but he knew it was palatial compared to the accommodation given to ordinary seamen.

Diego sniffed. ‘At least you will not be able to make much of a mess, sir. Less work for me.’

‘Watch yourself!’ growled James good-humouredly, rather enjoying the less servile attitude his servant had acquired since their brief separation in London. He felt he was for the first time really seeing the man behind the servant; Diego was no longer hiding so many of his thoughts from his master. ‘If you don’t behave, I’ll leave you with the Indians.’

Diego scoffed at that, but continued with his exploration of the meagre storage space allowed them.

‘You have more experience of long voyages, Diego: what do you think we will need?’ James asked, ceding the reins to him on this matter.

‘Stout shoes, heavy coats – and a lot of luck.’

‘We can buy the former and pray for the latter.’

Diego toed the vile chamber pot back under the bunk. ‘Oh, and, sir, I think I should remind you of something.’

James flicked through the mouldy-looking bedding on the bunk, making a mental note to bring his own. ‘Foul – I swear I can see the lice. What’s that?’

‘I get seasick.’

James raised his eyes to heaven, only now recalling the hellish crossing of the Channel in Diego’s company. Wonderful. ‘Then let’s also pray that, on this voyage, I don’t.’

Greenwich Palace, south bank of the Thames

Life was most definitely not fair. Not only had Jane just said farewell, perhaps forever, to the man she loved, she was now being ordered to pretend to be enamoured of an unlovable Frenchman.

‘He’s a fine man!’ her father blustered once he had cornered her in a corridor of Greenwich Palace to give her a piece of his mind. ‘Most girls would jump at the chance to wed him.’

Jane tapped her foot irritably, making the pearls dangling from her ears judder. ‘I am not “most girls”, Father. It seems my standards are somewhat higher.’ She curtsied and attempted an escape.

‘Come, Janie, can’t you even pretend to a semblance of liking for the man, enough to accompany him to the Easter Day celebrations?’ her brother cajoled, cutting off her retreat on the other side so that she was herded into the doorway to her chamber. She stayed where she was, preferring to remain in the public areas of the palace with her loving family, knowing they were not averse to resorting to violence to get their way.

‘Henry, I can think of no redeeming features upon which I can build even the faintest pretence. It would be a mere snowflake, melting on the first breath of laughter. No one would believe it.’

Henry glanced across to the flushed face of their father – the earl looked on the point of a seizure, so angered was he by a daughter who exercised her own judgement. ‘Father, give me a moment with her alone.’

Thaddeus reluctantly withdrew further up the corridor muttering vile threats against rebellious Eve’s daughters.

‘Janie, my sweet, I’ve been talking to your maid,’ Henry began casually, leaning over her with his hand planted on the wall beside her head.

Jane snorted. ‘Debauching her more like. No wonder she’s been so hostile of late.’

‘She’s a talkative little thing abed.’

Jane rolled her eyes. ‘Really, Henry, I think you would have the decency to spare me the details.’

He gave a lupine smile. ‘She mentioned your habit of disappearing into the city for the flimsiest of excuses.’

The blood drained from Jane’s face.

‘First I speculated that my not-so-proper sister was concealing a lover – I’m still not sure that isn’t the case – but consider my wonder when I discovered an old acquaintance had taken up residence in Silver Street. How is dear Milly, Janie?’