He laughed. “We shall have such a fine time, you and I, now that you have come to court. And when you wish to return home, I shall gladly escort you. I am dying to meet your brazen Scot, my dear girl. You have not told me. Is he dark, or fair?”
“His hair is black and most unruly,” she said. It did not discomfit her to speak on Logan Hepburn now that he was so far away. “And his eyes are a blue-blue. I have never seen any like them.”
“I am already intrigued,” Lord Cambridge said.
They rode through the iron gates that enclosed the park belonging to Bolton House, and down the gravel pathway to the dwelling. There they stopped, and stablemen hurried forth to take their horses from them, saying, “Welcome home, my lord. Welcome, my lady.” The front door to the house was opened, and they entered. Lord Cambridge nodded at his majordomo as they passed beneath the threshold, and then Sir Thomas led his guest into his hall.
It was a wonderful room with a coffered ceiling and great leaded paned windows that looked out over the river. The room ran the entire length of the house. It was paneled, and at one end there was a large fireplace with a fire now burning in it. The firedogs were actually large iron mastiffs. The floor of the chamber was covered in carpets. Rosamund knew what they were for she had seen them before in the royal houses. They came from an eastern land. There were several tapestries decorating the wall. The furniture was of oak, beautifully wrought and obviously well kept. There were bowls of potpourri scenting the air, and on a sideboard there was a silver tray with several decanters and goblets.
“What a beautiful room!” Rosamund told her cousin. She went to the window and looked out. “I shall find it difficult to go to court now, Tom. I could live here in this house forever.”
“You would miss your beloved Friarsgate,” he teased her.
“Probably I would,” she said, nodding, “but I think I shall love this house as much. It is comfortable.”
He chuckled. “I fear that is my humble background showing, dear girl. I know all the right things to do and to say, but I must, I simply must, but comfortable in my own home. Let the others go for an overabundance of elegance in their living quarters. I shall keep such graces for my wardrobe, which can be seen by all, and not just a favored few. What good is it to be wealthy if you cannot flaunt your riches before your friends?” he said with a grin.
“Are you liked?” she asked him mischievously.
He laughed. “Of course,” he told her. “My wit and my generosity are legend, dear girl. Come now, and sit by the fire. I will pour you a dram of my excellent sherry.”
“I shall not think you generous if you give me but a dram, Tom,” she said dryly. “And dare I mention that I am ravenous? We have not eaten since morning, so determined you were to sleep in your own bed tonight. We did not even stop at midday.”
“I could not abide another night of flea-infested mattresses and monastery fish, as it is Advent and a penitential season. I am sure I do not remember ever having denied myself in Advent. We shall eat shortly, I promise, and the meal will be a revelation, for my cook is a miracle in himself.”
Now it was Rosamund who laughed. “You say such funny things, dearest Tom. I am not certain that I understand you half of the time you are chattering at me. You must remember that I am a simple country lass, cousin.”
“Country perhaps,” he said, “but simple? Nay, my dear Rosamund, no one who took the time to know you would say you were simple. If you are to get on at court, however, I would suggest that you practice your simpering a bit. Simpering, and a low neckline, always gets a lady far.”
“I am who I am,” Rosamund told him proudly. “The Venerable Margaret liked me. Once when he was a prince, young Henry sought to seduce me, but you will not repeat that, cousin. If the man who is now king liked me, then I have naught to fear. Besides, I have come because the queen wants to comfort me and give me pleasure in return for my aid to her when she was brought so low. I find it odd that those who scorned her, who never lifted a finger to help her in those desperate hours, should now be so high in her favor. And they are the same people who looked down on me when I was last at court and will no doubt look down on me once again.”
He nodded. “You are wise to understand the lay of this land, cousin. And those very men and women who now stand in royal favor would as quickly fall away should the queen be out of the king’s favor. True friends are not easy to find, Rosamund. Queen Katherine knows it.”
“When shall I present myself to the queen?” Rosamund asked.
“I want you to take a day to rest from your travels. Perhaps even two days. Tomorrow I will go to court and tell the queen that we have arrived. We will follow her directive,” Lord Cambridge said. “But it must be soon.”
The servants began bringing in the meal now, and so they adjourned to the high board, which was placed facing the river. The meal was exquisite. Rosamund ate with her usual hearty appetite. There were prawns that had been steamed in white wine and were served with a mustard-dill sauce. There were wafer-thin slices of salmon braised in red wine and served with wedges of lemon. There was a fat duck stuffed with apple, pears, and raisins. It had been roasted golden brown and was served with a sweet sauce of intensely flavored dried plums. There was roasted beef, three ribs standing upon a platter, minced game birds in individual small pastries, and a ragout of rabbit. Artichokes in white wine and butter were served, and Lord Cambridge showed his cousin how to eat them with delicacy. There was a salad of braised lettuces. The bread was freshly baked and still warm as she tore off a piece. The butter was newly churned and sweet. There were two varieties of cheese. One was a hard yellow cheddar, and the other a soft runny Brie that came from France, Tom told her. Lastly came a pastry with a latticed crust filled with apples and pears that had been baked and was now served with a clotted cream.
Rosamund finally sat back, replete, a smile upon her face. “Cousin,” she said, “if a man may indeed be called a miracle then your cook is certainly one. I have never eaten such a delicious meal away from Friarsgate. The meats were all fresh, and your cook did not overspice, for he had nothing to hide. I shall eat here as often as I dare while I am in London.”
“I should not have it any other way,” he told her, pleased at her compliments.
They sat for a time talking before the fire, and then Annie came, wide-eyed, to escort her mistress to her room.
“You have eaten, Annie?” Lord Cambridge asked the girl.
“Aye, sir, and ’twas delicious!”
“Then I will bid you both good night, but perhaps I will stop to see you settled later,” he told them. “I will tell you before I go to court tomorrow, Rosamund.” He waved a languorous hand at them, and directed his attention to his goblet and the fire.
“You should see the apartment, m’lady! ’Tis not just a room, but two for you, and another small one for me! And a separate place for your clothing and two fireplaces! And I’ve called for a bath for you. They have set this great tub before the dayroom fire, and are filling it with hot water now. This is a palace, m’lady!” Annie, who had never been off Friarsgate land in her entire seventeen years was in awe of just about everything she had seen since leaving her home. She hurried up the wide staircase that led from the entry hall to the upstairs of the house where the bedchambers were located.
Rosamund’s apartment was spacious, with windows that looked out over Lord Cambridge’s gardens and lawns that swept down to the river. The walls were paneled. The wood floors covered in more Turkey carpets. The drapes at the windows and about her bed were rose-colored velvet with gold rope pullbacks. The candlesticks were silver. Bowls of flowers were upon the sideboard in the dayroom and on a table in the bedchamber. Where had they found flowers in December? Fires burned in both fireplaces. As they entered, the last of the footmen departed carrying their empty buckets. Steam arose from the large oak tub that had been set up for Rosamund.
Annie hurried to add her mistress’ scent to the water while Rosamund began to remove her boots and stockings. After the scent had been added to the water the young maidservant helped her mistress to undress and then assisted her into the tub. Rosamund sank down into the hot water with a sigh of deep pleasure.
“I am going to wash my hair,” she said to Annie. “I have the dirt and dust of the roads between here and Friarsgate clogging my scalp. I would it be gone.”
