Northumberland faltered. “Robert is nothing to do with this. Any of it.”
“What will you give me for Robert?”
Dominic moved in protest, but William raised a hand to keep him silent. He knew what he was doing.
“You want the two women, Your Majesty. I will exchange—your sister for my son.”
“And Mistress Wyatt?” Dominic intervened sharply.
William nearly cursed him for breaking the intensity of the exchange. “It’s a deal,” he said. “We’ll wait here while you fetch the princess to me.”
Dominic waited just long enough for Northumberland to disappear before breaking into a furious whisper. “What are you thinking, leaving Minuette in there alone? The duke cares nothing for her, he’s only keeping her as a threat and he’s much more likely to harm her than he ever would be to touch Elizabeth—”
“Breathe, Dominic.” It was Robert’s half-mocking voice that interrupted the tirade. “Our gracious majesty is about to propose a deal, if only you will shut up long enough for him to speak.”
For his impudence, William struck Robert once with the back of his hand. Then he said, “Your father is going to die a traitor’s death, Robert Dudley. Nothing can stop that now. If you would like to live long enough to speak for your own life at a fair and open trial, you will do one of two things. You will either persuade your father to surrender unconditionally or you will smuggle Minuette out safely. Lord Rochford is less than a week behind me with a muster of five thousand men. You have until then. Once my troops arrive, I attack the castle and, when it falls, your entire family—women and children included—will be locked in the Tower at my pleasure.”
He gripped Robert’s close-fitting jerkin and pulled him close. “Do we have a deal?”
Robert held very still in his grasp, and William felt a moment’s satisfaction at having wiped the smug smile off his face.
“I thought royalty didn’t strike deals,” Robert said softly.
“Would you like me to rescind the offer and kill you now?”
With a bitter huff of laughter, Robert said, “I’ll take the deal.”
The look Dominic gave him assured William that he would hear plenty from his friend later, but he held his tongue for the endless minutes they waited until Northumberland returned with Elizabeth at his side. William swept his eyes across his sister. She wore a wool gown dyed deep amber gold that brought out her brown eyes and made her red hair gleam deeply. The simplicity of her hairstyle, a single plait pinned in a coil at the back of her head, made her look younger than William could remember seeing her for a long time. Her composure was the same—elegant and reserved—until she saw Robert. Her steps faltered for one moment.
William nodded to Dominic to let Robert step forward. He and Elizabeth walked toward each other. When she drew near enough, Elizabeth slapped him, on the same cheek William had struck minutes earlier.
Robert rocked back and stared at her. “I had nothing to do with this,” he told her. “If I had known what my father intended—”
“That was for Alyce de Clare,” Elizabeth hissed.
She stepped around Robert and walked on to William. “Shall we go?” she asked. “I am eager to hear your plans for smashing the Dudley family to pieces.”
Minuette had never been confined to one suite of rooms for so long in her life, and she found herself pacing in sympathy with Elizabeth and William’s tendencies. Did they pace because they always felt so confined? Of course, in their cases, confinement came because of who they were, not the size of the room they were in.
She cursed herself for not having forced Elizabeth to let her bring Carrie along. She would have been good company and even better counsel. If she had to depend on anyone she knew for counsel, it would be Dominic first, followed closely by Carrie. Of course, Carrie had given her counsel before she had left Hatfield. She’d said, “Don’t go.”
But she had gone—and Minuette still failed to see how she could have in good conscience not come with Elizabeth—so there was no point dwelling on the past. The urgency now lay in figuring out where Northumberland had taken Elizabeth and what her own next move should be. Pretend to be ill? Faint? Throw a tantrum? She had lots of memories of Queen Anne, and figured she could throw a royal-class tantrum if she had to.
But she hadn’t gotten further than examining the breakables in the room to determine what to start throwing first when the door swung open. She turned, hoping for Elizabeth’s return, or possibly Northumberland with an explanation.
She did not expect Robert.
“Going to chuck that at my head?” As always, he had words at the ready. He indicated the candelabra she held in her right hand. “You won’t be the first today.”
“I can see that.” His left cheek bore faint marks that looked as though they might turn into a bruise. “So you’ve seen Elizabeth. I’m surprised she didn’t scratch your eyes out.”
“The princess is too well-bred for something so vulgar.”
“I’m not,” Minuette warned. But she lowered the candelabra and studied him. “Why is it that every time I’m somewhere I don’t want to be, caught in the midst of forces I don’t entirely understand, you unexpectedly appear?”
“Just lucky, I guess.”
Minuette returned the candelabra to its place and sat. Robert perched on the edge of a facing seat. “Where’s Elizabeth?” she asked after a moment.
