Sir Roger Mildmay chuckled softly.
“This is ridiculous,” Philippa said. “What has Ceci said to you?”
. “That if I do not give you your first kiss, Walter Lumley will. Surely you do not fancy him, Mistress Philippa?” Sir Roger was a young man of medium height and stature, with warm brown eyes and sandy hair.
“No,” Philippa said. “I have only been flirting with him in order to make that wretched Millicent Langholme jealous. They will shortly be betrothed.”
“Why have you never been kissed? You have been here at court for three years now, I know, for you came with Cecily FitzHugh. Do you not want to be kissed?”
“I was saving myself for Giles FitzHugh, who was to be my husband,” Philippa said. “Now was I not the fool, sir?”
“How charming of you, and how old-fashioned. You will make the right man a good and faithful wife one day, Mistress Philippa, but you are no longer attached, and therefore you are free to pursue love as all young girls do.” He smiled at her.
“You do not think such behavior loose, sir?” Philippa asked him.
“Aye, if taken to extremes, but a lass’s curiosity should be satisfied to a certain point before she is leg-shackled to a husband,” he told her. “I propose that we keep company, Mistress Philippa, and if the occasion arises I shall kiss you, and you will learn what the mystery is all about. ’Tis said I am an excellent kisser,” he chuckled.
Philippa laughed. “Ceci is right. You are nice,” she said.
“Then we are agreed? I shall have your first kiss. And several others I hope,” he replied. “But first I would tell you that I know your family will be in the market for another husband for you. I cannot, alas, be he. I will return home at the end of summer to wed the daughter of a neighbor. We have been pledged since childhood, and I am content to marry Anne Brownley. I would not lead you astray.” He looked directly at her, and smiled a small smile. “I know your young heart must be broken by what has happened, and I would not add to your miseries.”
“Ceci said you were a true gentleman, and she did tell me that you were pledged to another. Besides, it is unlikely anyone will offer for me now. I am fifteen, and my estates are practically in Scotland they are so far north. My stepfather is a Scot, and he and my mother spend part of the year in England and part of the year in Scotland.”
“But you are very beautiful,” Sir Roger told her. “Certainly the right man will come along for you.”
Philippa shook her head in the negative. “My mother will want a man who will live at Friarsgate, and husband it as well as me. She never enjoyed the court as much as I do, and she loves her lands. I, on the other hand, do not want to live at Friarsgate. I want to live at court, or at least be near enough to visit it regularly,” she told him. “If only my estates were nearer London.” She sighed. “I have not a great name, nor important family connections.”
“How came you to court?” he asked, for he was curious.
“My mother was the heiress of Friarsgate. She was orphaned at three of both of her parents, and her older brother. Her father’s uncle came to be her guardian. He married her to his five-year-old son, but when mama was five her little husband died. Several families would have had her for their sons, but her uncle wanted Friarsgate for himself and his heirs. He married my mother off to an elderly knight in order to keep her from anyone else. He meant to marry her to his younger son eventually. The old knight, however, thought of mama as a daughter, and taught her how to manage her own estates. Then before he died he wrote a will, and he put his widow into the care and keeping of King Henry VII. Mama’s uncle was foiled, and most angry about it, but it was then that my mother came to court. She was first in the care of Queen Elizabeth, and after she had died she went into the household of the Venerable Margaret, our King Henry’s grandmother. Her two best friends were Margaret Tudor and the princess of Aragon.”
“How fortunate for her,” Sir Roger murmured, impressed.
“Mama went home again when Margaret Tudor became queen of Scotland, but first a marriage was arranged between her and my father, Sir Owein Meredith. My father was Welsh, and had been raised in the Tudor household, serving them since he was six. He was well thought of by all. They traveled much of the way home to Friarsgate in the queen of Scotland’s wedding train. My father loved Friarsgate every bit as my mama. They were a good match, and it was a tragedy when he died so suddenly in a fall.”
“And your mother remarried?” Sir Roger inquired.
“Several years later,” Philippa said. “Mama and the two queens always kept up their friendship, which is why I was given a place at court. Mama brought me to court when I was past ten. I loved it right from the beginning, and Queen Katherine said I should join the maids of honor when I turned twelve. And so I did.”
“No wonder some of the girls are jealous of you, Mistress Philippa. For a girl of little importance you have traveled high up the social ladder. The loss of an earl’s son is a serious privation for your family. I can understand your difficulty, but I will wager that if your estates were nearer London it might be easier to find you a suitable match,” Sir Roger said.
“I know,” Philippa agreed sadly.
Seeing her attitude flagging he said, “Come, lass, and let us dance. The lanterns are now lit, the air is soft, and the evening fair. I know you like to dance, for I have seen you with the other maids at other revels.”
They joined the circle of dancers forming, and Philippa was soon caught up in the music and the rhythm. She danced well, and when Sir Roger lifted her high and swung her about Philippa laughed happily, her sadness gone now. She was totally unprepared when, the dance finally ended in much merriment, Sir Roger quickly kissed her pretty lips.
“Oh!” Philippa gasped in surprise, and then she laughed again.
With a wicked grin he took her hand, and they slipped into the darkness near the river. “Your lips are sweet,” he told her. Then stopping, he gathered her into his arms, and kissed her well and truly.
When he finally released her Philippa smiled up at him satisfied. “That,” she told him, “was most pleasing, my lord. Will you do it again?” And when he had obliged her Philippa said, “I am a fool for having waited so long to be kissed. In retrospect I wonder how a maid can know if her husband kisses well if she has not some small experience. Ceci says you kiss well, and while I lack any comparison, I am inclined to agree with her. I hope you will continue to offer me your kisses while you are yet unmarried.”
Sir Roger Mildmay laughed aloud. “Mistress Philippa,” he said, “I think I am envious of the gentleman who will one day husband you. Now let us return to the others lest we be gossiped about for our absence. Kissing is an innocent pastime, but I would not have your reputation disputed or misunderstood by remaining here with you in the dark for much longer.”
“I think I should like to go on kissing you for some time, sir,” Philippa told him.
He smiled. “I shall be most happy to oblige you, sweetheart, but when we are in a less public venue,” he told her as they returned to join the rest of the court.
