After a brief catch-up with Bridget and Lucinda, I asked if they could watch over things while I took a nap. My eyelids had become sheets of lead.
As Bridget and Lucinda sat in the corner and quietly shared theories about where Susanna Grey could have been all this time, I dozed off. When I woke to the distant blast of trumpets announcing dinner, my bedchamber was empty. The robust flames in the hearth said that the fire had been tended, and there was a jug of water and a cup beside my bed. I opened the double doors leading to the drawing-room, bracing myself for what I might find.
Girlish laughter trilled through the comfy space. Shining faces glanced at me from a cluster of fringed cushions on the floor. Alice, Violet, Lucinda, and Bridget scrambled to rise.
“Stay where you are,” I said soothingly, crouching beside Alice on the floor. Lady Grey sat in a chair before us, like a librarian instructing an eager circle of children. In just hours, she looked ten years younger.
“Mother was speaking of Hatfield,” Alice said a little breathlessly. “It seems the lady has been there these past years, but she keeps speaking of a moving coach with no horses and then laughs and laughs.”
The smile slid off my face. Everyone else, however, looked more amused than concerned, including Susanna. There was color in her cheeks, and life had kindled in her eyes.
“Lady Pembroke, we are most heartily pleased to have our mother returned,” Violet said to me. “The lady has no memory of how she came to return to court, but we are truly thankful you brought us to her before informing the Council.”
“They will wish to question her,” Alice added, her mouth tightening. “However, I fear our dear mother has become frantic.”
Susanna just stared at her daughters with her narrow lips curled into a frozen smile. It was the face of someone who didn’t have a clue what was going on but felt content.
When a single tap sounded at the doors, Lucinda welcomed a wooden trolley packed with steaming pewter serving platters. We arranged six chairs around the circular table. Over dinner, I filled the girls in on my fabricated tale about how I’d come upon Susanna wandering along the nearby River Thames, not only drumming the story into Susanna’s head, but also hopefully blocking her from telling more tales about cars or modern inventions.
It was time to experiment with my growing influence around here, especially now that I felt sure I wanted to stay here with Nick and accept his world for what it was—provided he returned from the north with his head still on his shoulders. I erased that thought as soon as it came.
“Alice and Violet, I’d like you to take Lady Grey home to Northamptonshire,” I said, sinking my knife into a poached pear. “As you say, there will be interest in her whereabouts for the past four years and how she ended up at court with no memory of anything. However, that’s an issue that should be discussed with her husband, Sir Thomas.” Susanna’s fingers curled into a knot as I continued. “Bridget and Lucinda will be here to attend to me in the meantime; just come back when Lady Grey has settled in. We need not trouble the king with this, and who knows when he’ll be back. You can take one of the coaches.”
Alice and Violet looked at each other, eyes gleaming. “Bless you, Emmie,” Alice cried, abandoning her chair to hug me from behind. It was probably an outrageous way to treat an impending queen, but I’d encouraged a relaxed closeness in the privacy of my chambers, and I was thrilled to see it in effect. I was never a fan of being at court without Alice, but as one of the future queen’s maids of honour, she wouldn’t be allowed to stay away for too long. Besides, getting Susanna home safely was more important than me having my best friend at court.
“I shall write to Father,” said Violet, twisting toward the desk.
“Don’t bother with that; just go tonight,” I said quickly. “While the king is away.” I looked at Alice. “While the Earl of Warwick is away.” Her toffee eyes met mine for a moment long enough to reveal regret. She hadn’t yet patched things up with Francis.
Both the Grey girls were apprehensive about leaving court without permission or planning, but I insisted. Within a few hours, Alice, Violet, and Lady Grey were bundled up inside a swaying coach bound for Northamptonshire.
I slept deeply that night, waking late and spending a contented few days tucked away in my jewelry workshop. The craftsman that Nick had summoned to court, Andrea Bon Compagni, schooled me on the equipment with cheery patience. I felt instantly comfortable around his gentle face that was pockmarked with smallpox scars.
In the afternoons, Mister Bon Compagni would leave me with the company of neighing horses through the window or the muted crunches of boots crossing the graveled courtyard below. I’d file and pummel the silver until my wrist seized, crafting a simple thumb ring with a hammered pattern for Nick as a thank you present for the studio. It was going to be a total snore-fest beside his blingy Tudor jewels, but I had to start with something I could handle. There weren’t exactly online video tutorials on this old-school equipment. Plus, I had years ahead to perfect my craft here, and for the first time, the thought of a long life in Tudor England excited me more than it freaked me out. All I needed now was my boyfriend back, but imagining where he might be—or if he was being skewered with a bloodied sword—sent my lunch into my throat. I forced myself to focus on whatever else I could to intercept my catastrophic thoughts.
With the absence of Alice and Violet, I became closer to Bridget—and even Lucinda, who was a shining example of a queen’s lady, making sure my chambers were never short of macarons. When she received word that her daughter Ellie had fully recovered from her bout of illness, the three of us held a small dessert party.
Two weeks after the Grey girls left court, a letter from Alice arrived. She wrote that her mom was doing okay, but her father, Sir Thomas, had been called away on the king’s business. I wanted to kiss the letter. Surely it meant that, somewhere out there, King Nick was alive. I knew that I would’ve heard about it had he not been, but communication in Tudor England made a snail look supersonic. It was hard to relax without knowing anything for sure. I wrote back to Alice and urged her to stay on in Northamptonshire until Sir Thomas returned home.
With so many letters coming and going from court, every tap on the door sent me flying toward the handle, hankering for one from Nick. Every day brought disappointment and a reminder of how unfinished things were between us. I wanted to tell him how I felt—that I was ready to make things work with him here. Why wouldn’t he write?
The calendar had reached mid-November when another knock sounded an hour after supper.
“I’ll get it,” I cried to Lucinda and Bridget, and threw open the doors to find Francis Beaumont clutching a feathered cap. After greeting me, he ran a nervous palm down his espresso curls that reached his shoulders.
My throat locked, and I couldn’t breathe.
“His Majesty is well, but not yet at court, my lady,” Francis said, reading my fear. He glanced past me.
“Oh, you’re here to see Alice?” I blurted through my relief. “She’s gone back to Northamptonshire with Violet.” Francis’s face fell, and I explained. “Their mother is back, can you believe it? Lady Grey was found near here and seems well enough, but she has no idea where she’s been for the past four years. Isn’t that great news?”