Elizabeth stared at her, and Minuette suddenly realized her friend wasn’t shocked. Hurt, yes. Betrayed and disappointed. But not shocked. “You’re saying Robert was behind the Penitent’s Confession.” It was not a question.
“I did not find it until after he showed up at Framlingham. He asked me where I thought it might be, he pressed me to think…and I told him precisely where to hide it by telling him where I was looking next. He knew, Elizabeth. I don’t know why, what possible motivation he could have had, but Robert is the one who used Alyce to spy and spread the rumours about your brother’s birth.”
“Robert is devoted to the Protestant cause. He would never have orchestrated a Catholic rebellion.”
“He wasn’t creating a Catholic rebellion. He was creating theillusionof one, in order to crush the Howards and the rest of the Catholics. But surely he was not in it alone.”
Elizabeth laughed bitterly. “His father. Yes, this has Northumberland’s brutal touch to it. Everyone knows he would do anything for his family…it appears Robert feels the same way.”
Minuette went to her friend and knelt so she could look into her eyes. “Are you all right?”
Elizabeth’s expression was bleak, but her eyes were dry and her voice, when she answered, dispassionate. “Perfectly all right. I only wish we didn’t have to wait the week or so it will take William to show up here in order to get this sorted. I am anxious to discover what Northumberland and his son will have to say from the confines of the Tower.”
Torn between wanting to spend every moment watching Dudley Castle—as though his attention alone would ensure Minuette and Elizabeth were kept safe—and needing to do something, Dominic’s desire for movement won out. His men could watch the castle as well as he could. Besides, he had to get to Robert Dudley before Robert could go to ground. And he didn’t want to face William without having at least one member of the Dudley family under arrest.
He left Harrington behind to be his eyes and ears and voice with the armed men under his command and took a dozen men with him to Kenilworth. It was a long day of riding made harder by slashing autumn rain, and, with the shortening days, they would have to wait until tomorrow to make the return ride to Dudley Castle. Which meant spending a night in the same room with Robert Dudley, for there was no chance he would let Robert out of his sight.
Kenilworth was calm when they arrived and Dominic announced himself to a steward. The household looked a bit slapdash on the surface, and he suspected the servants were underpaid and lived more on promises of Robert’s connections than actual loyalty.
He was escorted into a solar paneled in dark wood and furnished pleasantly, where a woman rose to greet him. “Lord Exeter, it’s an honour. My husband didn’t tell me we’d be having guests.”
So this was Amy Dudley. Dominic’s immediate thought was to wonder what on earth had possessed Robert to marry her. She didn’t seem the sort of woman who would interest the quick-witted, devilishly clever, sarcastic-tongued Robert Dudley—which meant she didn’t appear to be anything like Elizabeth Tudor. Amy Dudley was rather short, dressed well if a bit showily in yellow brocade, with fair hair and penetrating eyes that seemed locked into a permanent suspicious gaze. Though he could hardly blame her for that. Any woman married to Robert Dudley who wasn’t suspicious was an idiot.
He bowed in greeting. “I had hoped to speak to your husband alone.”
He heard Robert clattering down the stairs through the open doorway and speaking even as he entered the solar. “What’s wrong, Courtenay? I know better than to think you’re here for a courtesy visit.”
Amy looked between them, and Dominic repeated, “It would be best if we spoke privately.”
“Why?” Amy asked. “Do you bring news from the princess?”
“Amy,” Robert said warningly.
“I do not,” Dominic answered. “This is a political matter.”
Was that fear in Amy’s eyes? In that instant, Dominic realized that she was more than just a jealous wife, touchy about her honour and position. She was truly, desperately, in love with her husband.
“Go on, Amy,” Robert said. She went without protest, but shot one, troubled glance back at Dominic before closing the door.
“What’s going on, Courtenay?”
“I have a warrant for your arrest, signed by the king himself. My orders are to return you to London at once to answer the charges laid against you.”
“What charges are those?”
“They will be read out to you in London.”
“In the Tower, you mean.”
“Yes.”
“So you don’t mind arresting a man without knowing the details.”
“I know the details. I am not at liberty to speak of them.” He would not let Robert goad him into an argument. For all he knew, Amy Dudley was listening at the door.
Robert rubbed his hands through his hair, obviously thinking. “Well then, I suppose I’d best pack for London.”
“My men will do that for you. You are not to leave my sight. Which means, I’m afraid, you will not be going directly to London.”
