“No,” Elizabeth answered him. “It must be some other color, for they will all be wearing Tudor green that day in an effort to catch the king’s favor. We must think on this, Uncle, and do something extremely clever.”
“Dear girl!” he exclaimed. “You are thinking like a courtier.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Nay, Uncle. I am being practical, I swear it!”
At that moment Baen entered the hall and greeted his wife’s uncle. He brought with him a small black-and-white border collie pup, and Friar trotted by his side. “Tom! Would you like one of these fellows for you and Will? Friar sired eight of them on his mate. I don’t believe you and Will have a dog, do you?”
“I do not believe that Pussums would tolerate a dog,” Lord Cambridge said, “but then she is very ancient now, and she accepted Domino without question. But he is a young fellow, and can annoy her. Is one of your pups a quiet creature?”
“The runt is a wee female,” Baen said. “She’s gentle.”
“Perhaps I shall take her then when I return home. I do so admire these border pups of yours, dear boy. But now all my energies must be devoted to preparing Elizabeth for her return to court. We need to fashion a gown she may wear to the coronation.”
“You mean all those gowns she had dragged out will not suit?” Baen asked, surprised.
“Nay, dear boy, her gowns are quite fine, yet she needs one special gown for the queen’s special day. But I have traveled for hours and must be fed before I can even begin to consider this difficult conundrum,” Lord Cambridge told them. “She must stand out from all the Tudor green that will be worn that day, yet not overshadow the queen.”
Baen shook his head. “’Tis a world I am just as glad not to be a part of,” he said honestly. “I’m but a simple Highland Scot, Tom.”
“Dear boy,” Lord Cambridge said, raising an eyebrow, “there is nothing at all simple about you. I could teach you all you needed to know to exist at court in a trice, and your own native intelligence would serve you well too.” He chuckled. “A simple Highland Scot indeed!” He turned back to Elizabeth. “When are you leaving?”
“When the queen sends my escort. I sent back to her that she must. That I could not travel without an escort, and that my own people were all needed at Friarsgate,” she said. “Perhaps she will decide I am not worth the trouble, and I shall not have to go at all,” Elizabeth teased them. But was she teasing?
“’Tis a great honor, Elizabeth,” her uncle said quietly. He looked about the hall contentedly. Friarsgate was always so welcoming, and had always seemed so to him.
For the next few days Elizabeth’s gowns were prepared for packing. The alterations were completed, the gowns and bodices inspected for any sign of stain or wear. They were brushed. Any beading needing repair was fixed, as were hems. And Lord Cambridge considered the gown his niece should wear to the new queen’s coronation.
“You are most beautiful in blue,” he finally announced. “The pale washed blue of a clearing sky after a storm. Pale blue with cream and gold,” he decided. “We must send for Will. I have a bolt of the fabric we will need, and he knows where it is. Your man must go immediately in the morning at first light if Will is to be here the day after.”
So William Smythe was sent for and returned promptly, bearing with him the required fabric. When he learned the purpose of the fabric Will agreed most heartily with Lord Cambridge that Elizabeth’s coloring best suited this shade of blue. Together the two men began work with the manor seamstress to fashion the perfect gown for Elizabeth.
“Uncle! You sew?” Elizabeth was astounded, for she had never known him to possess this particular talent.
“Dear girl, you do not think I can keep abreast of the latest fashions for my own wardrobe this far from London without occasionally doing some of my own alterations,” he replied. “The ability to repair a garment is paramount for a gentleman.”
“I am once again in awe of you,” she told him, and he flashed her a grin.
The fabric that Will had brought from Otterly was not plain, but rather it was a beautiful brocade with a design of pendant flowers and leaves woven into it. The gown’s neckline was square, bordered with silver and gold embroidery. From shoulder to wrist the sleeves were narrow, with bell-like cuffs turned back at the lower edge. The cuffs was plain cream colored watered silk. The long brocade skirt of the gown was funnel shaped. About her waist Elizabeth would wear a thin gold chain from which hung a small gold mirror, its golden back embossed with a quarter moon made from mother-of-pearl, and several sapphire stars.
Beneath the gown a chemise of the most delicate creamy lawn had been made. The sleeves of the chemise, which showed from beneath the gown’s deep-turned back cuff, were wide, with a dainty ruffle of golden lace at the wrists. It had a round neckline because Tom had dictated that modest but elegant simplicity would please the king. “In the end it matters not who the queen is,” he told his niece wisely. “It is the king in whom the power of life and death rests. The king, dear girl, though you must never say I said it, was most inordinately fond of your mother when they were young. And he holds a most paternal fondness for her daughters.”
“His wife is just a few years older than I,” Elizabeth murmured.
Lord Cambridge chuckled at her sharp observation. “Something that of course you would never say aloud outside of this hall, dear girl.”
“Yes, Uncle,” Elizabeth said meekly, and then she laughed.
“You will wear pearls with this gown, and only pearls,” he instructed her. “And the pearl-edged French hood with its cream lawn veil, dear girl. You will stand out in such a gown, yet you should not overcome the queen’s coronation garments.”
And at last everything was packed for traveling. Nancy would once more go with her mistress. Realizing this, Albert, the hall steward, came to his mistress and asked if she would permit him to marry the lady of Friarsgate’s tiring woman.
“I must think on it,” Elizabeth told him, and then she took her servant aside privily. “Albert has asked to wed you. Will you have him?” she inquired of Nancy.
Nancy flushed. “He’s a bit older than me, but a man should be older than his wife. And I have never heard evil said of him, mistress. We are equals within the household, though he stands just a bit higher than I do, which is proper. We would, I believe, make a good match. But I would wait until we have returned from court.”
Elizabeth did not ask if her tiring woman loved Albert. Love was usually not a consideration in such a marriage. “Then you are willing?” she said.
“Aye,” Nancy said. “I am willing.”
