“I would wed Angel as quickly as possible, madame. I see no point in waiting. Neither of us have parents here to satisfy, and there is no dowry to be worked out.”
Elizabeth Tudor nodded. “Tonight!” she said. “You will be married tonight by my own chaplain, and my lord Dudley shall give the bride away! Yes!Tonight!It shall be a good omen for England! A beginning, not an end!”
“Madame!” Robin was astounded. “You are most gracious!”
“Dudley!” the queen snapped. “Get off your skinny backside and fetch my personal chaplain! Then find some posies for this child to carry!”
Angel stood, stunned with surprise. It was all happening so quickly. Less than an hour ago she had found herself facing a proposal from a wealthy and powerful man. Now she was to find herself married in less than another hour. What was happening to her? She began to tremble with fright until Velvet pinched her fiercely.
“Courage, you little ninny!” her friend hissed. “The queen honors you. Where is the feisty sparrow I knew when I first came to court? If you swoon, I shall never forgive you, Angel!”
“Look who advises me about marriage!” Angel snapped back, the blood beginning to flow hot in her veins once more. “The runaway bride herself!”
Velvet grinned mischievously at her friend. “Good!” she said. “You have returned to yourself again. I hope you’re not going to be one of those wives who hangs on to every word her husband says. God’s nightshirt, Angel, be yourself! Alison was one of those simpering idiots!”
“Perhaps that is why he is in love with me,” replied Angel in a slightly stricken voice.
“Nay! You’re nothing like Alison de Grenville. Dying was the wisest thing she ever did,” Velvet said harshly. “Robin was already beginning to be bored with her though he knew it not at the time.”
“Come here to me, child,” said the queen, beckoning to Angel. When the two girls had moved to the queen’s side, she asked, “How long have you been a royal ward, Angel Christman?”
“I came to court when I was just a little past five, madame. I shall be eighteen my next birthday.”
“So young,” murmured the queen. “You were so young to lose your parents, but then I was younger when I lost my mother. I hope you have not been lonely, my child.”
“Oh, no, madame! Your court was a wonderful place in which to grow up. Had I not been at court, I should not have had any of the wonderful advantages that I received by being part of it. I have been taught to read, and to write, and to figure. I can both speak and read Latin, French, and Greek. I am proficient with the lute although I have never owned one. The strings are so expensive.”
“You like music?” The queen was suddenly interested in this lovely girl who was about to rise from the ranks of the unimportant royal wards to the station of an important noblewoman.
“Oh, yes, madame, very much. I would like to learn to play the virginal, although I dare not aspire to Your Majesty’s talent.”
The queen smiled. The girl was quick despite her fluffy beauty. That was good, for she would be an asset to Lord Southwood. “ ’Tis said I have a talent for the virginal,” Elizabeth remarked dryly.
At that moment Lord Dudley returned, bearing with him a small bouquet of pale pink wild roses, daisies, and some sprigs of lavender. “ ’Tis the best I could do, Bess, stamping about the edges of the camp in the dark looking for flowers!” He thrust them out to her.
The queen removed a gold ribbon from her sleeve and tied it around the bouquet. Then, taking it from the Earl of Leicester, she presented it to Angel. “There, my child, though your own beauty far outshines that of the flowers. Now, dammit, where is the chaplain?”
“Here, madame.” The cleric stepped foward.
“I wish Lord Southwood and his betrothed to be wed here and now,” said the queen. “Waive the bans.”
“Of course, madame,” came his smooth reply. “Might I have the names of the parties involved?”
“Robert Geoffrey James Henry Southwood,” said the queen with a chuckle. “He is one of my many godchildren, and Lord Dudley’s also. It has been more years than I care to remember since he was baptized, but, nonetheless, I do.”
Robin smiled. “You are truly amazing, madame,” he said.
“Humph!” said the queen with a little snort. Then she turned to the bride. “What is your full name, child?”
“Angel Aurora Elizabeth, madame. I am told my grandmother insisted I be called Angel because she thought I looked like one. Aurora was my mother’s suggestion because I was born at dawn. Elizabeth was for Your Majesty.”
“You were named for me?”
“So I remember being told, madame.”
The queen nodded, pleased, and then said, “Well, Father, let us begin.”
What a funny place to have a wedding, thought Velvet as she stood listening to the cleric droning the marriage service. Here they all stood, in the middle of the lieutenant general’s tent on a potential battlefield. The startled servants had cleared away the table where the queen and Dudley had eaten earlier. It now stood against one side of the tent. Above, the lamps cast warm golden shadows. The hurriedly summoned cleric was plainly garbed without vestments of any kind. The bride stood in the only decent gown she possessed, clutching a hastily gathered bouquet. Thank heavens Angel had refused to come before the queen before she changed, thought Velvet.
