“Then we will tell him together.” And she sent for Albert to attend her. “Nancy has told me she is content to wed you, but no banns shall be published until she and I have returned from court, Albert. Is this your wish, Nancy?”
“Aye, mistress. I shall go out into the world one more time, and then return to marry you, Albert,” Nancy said. “If this will satisfy you then we are pledged.”
“I am content then too,” the hall steward said.
Elizabeth took Nancy’s hand and put it into Albert’s. “Go along now,” she told them. “Make your plans for when we return.”
When she told her uncle and Baen they both teased her for being a fool for love, and, laughing, Elizabeth agreed she was. Now they waited for her royal escort to arrive, and even though they expected it, it came as a surprise when the troupe of men-at-arms with their Tudor-rose badges arrived one afternoon. It was already past mid-April.
Captain Yardley presented himself politely, and then told Elizabeth, “We must begin our journey tomorrow, madame. The queen has ordered that we proceed with all possible haste to Greenwich. She is most anxious to see you.” He was a grizzled old soldier who had obviously been in the king’s service for many years.
“I am ready,” Elizabeth told him. “My baggage cart was sent ahead several days ago. We shall stay tomorrow night at Otterly, and after that my uncle, Lord Cambridge, has arranged for my accommodation.”
“Very good, madame,” Captain Yardley said. “A baggage cart would have slowed us down.”
“I am going to court at the queen’s invitation, sir. I cannot bring but one garment. We will meet the cart at Otterly, and after that it is up to your men to guard it. If it takes us several days longer because we are slowed by it, then the queen will forgive me for the honor I will do her by, as her friend, showing to my best advantage,” Elizabeth said sharply. She looked the queen’s captain directly in the eye as she spoke.
“Aye, madame,” he said laconically.Another high-spirited wench like the king’s new wife,he thought.
“Mama go?” young Tom asked in the morning as Elizabeth prepared to depart.
“Aye, but Mama will come home soon, my lad,” she promised him, picking him up and kissing his rosy cheek. “Be a good boy, young Tom.” She set him down, and he toddled off with Sadie, who had graduated from his cradle rocker to his nursemaid along with her mother. Elizabeth felt suddenly overwhelmed. Tears slipped down her cheeks. She didn’t want to leave Friarsgate. She didn’t want to leave her husband and son. Why in the name of heaven had Anne ordered her to court when she knew how much Elizabeth disliked the court? Well, she told herself, she wasn’t going to learn the answer to her questions until she reached court. With a sigh she mounted her horse.
Lord Cambridge and Will were among the party returning to Otterly.
And Baen had decided to escort his wife that far. “’Tis past time I met your sister and her husband again,” he said. “We are, after all, kin.”
Elizabeth had not discouraged his company. “Friarsgate will survive a day or two without us, sir,” she had said.
“If you would prefer I shall remain behind,” he said with utmost seriousness.
“Nay!” And then, seeing that he was teasing her, she swatted out at him. “Scots villain,” she muttered.
“God’s blessed bones!” Banon Meredith Neville gasped to her husband, Robert, as her youngest sister and her husband entered their hall late that afternoon. “I am still amazed by my sister’s giant of a husband. And a handsome giant at that.” She embraced her sibling, whispering to Elizabeth as she did so, “Is he that big all over?”
“Aye,” Elizabeth murmured low. “Jealous?”
Banon giggled. “Mayhap a little,” she admitted. Then she looked up at Baen. “Welcome to Otterly, brother. I am glad that we are met again. Come, Rob, and greet Elizabeth’s husband.”
“You are every bit as lovely, if not more so, than when I last saw you, mistress Banon,” Baen told her, and he kissed both of her cheeks. Then he turned to shake his brother-in-law’s hand.
Banon flushed with pleasure at the compliment. He might be a Scot, and a Highlander at that, but his manners were perfect. His mother had taught him well, she thought. “Can you and Will join us for supper, Uncle?” she asked Lord Cambridge.
“Indeed we can,” he replied. “Your sister and her escort must leave at first light, dear girl, and so I shall make my farewells tonight. How odd. I had thought to be envious of your visit to court, Elizabeth, but I find now that as the moment approaches I am most relieved not to be going.”
“Uncle, I cannot believe that,” Banon teased him, and they all laughed.
When the meal had been finished Lord Cambridge took Elizabeth aside to wish her Godspeed. “Be kind to Philippa,” he said quietly. “Use your own goodwill to help her. You know her devotion to the princess of Aragon, and if Anne Boleyn died tomorrow the king would not have Katherine back. It is a son he wants, and she could not, cannot, supply that. And store up what goodwill you can for yourself and your family, dear girl. Your absence will not be forever.”
“I still do not understand why she wants to see me,” Elizabeth said.
“You are, dear girl, most likely the only true friend Anne Boleyn has ever had. How sad that is, but it is, I suspect, the truth. She is not an easy creature. Treat her with kindness, but come home to us as soon as you can.” Thomas Bolton embraced his youngest niece, kissing both her cheeks, hugging her to his heart. “God and his blessed Mother go with you, dear girl.”
Once again Elizabeth felt tears pricking at the backs of her eyelids. “Thank you, Uncle,” she managed to say, and she kissed him back. Then Will came and wished her a safe journey. Finally he and Lord Cambridge departed the hall.
The two young couples sat for a time before the fire in the hall, talking. Banon and Robert Neville had decided they liked Baen MacColl Hay. He was a country man, and there was no pretension about him. They were country folk too. Philippa and her husband intimidated them. Baen was the perfect mate for the lady of Friarsgate.
Elizabeth could not argue their conclusion. Together in the guest chamber given them she sat quietly on the settle by the fire as her husband stood behind her brushing her long blond hair. It was his habit each night to do so, and she loved the quiet time they shared together. “I shall miss this,” she told him softly.
