“And how fares he there? Is he merry?”
“As merry as he can be, My Lady, without yourself at his side.”
Catherine gave a wry smile. “Come now, Signore, you can do better than that. You are not at all in ignorance about the state of my private affairs. It is a secret that has been leaked across Europe.”
“My Lady…”
“So tell me, truly, is he merry?”
“It is true that such sad news had, indeed, reached us in Venice.” Vernier looked about, trying to catch Mountjoy’s eye for affirmation, but the baron kept up a very English, stoic detachment. “If I may speak plainly, Your Majesty, and within these walls only, I would say that I do not believe the king to be in his right senses while he entertains thoughts of separation from your good self. It is my opinion, My Lady, that the king cannot be truly merry, even when he thinks himself so, while he fails to value such a jewel as yourself.”
Catherine was not so easily won. “But he does believe himself to be, does he not? Did he dance? Make merry with his friends? He always seems to be merry these days.”
“Yes,” admitted Vernier, unfazed. “I saw him making merry. But it was a false jollity, a forced gaiety, a distraction for his uneasy mind.”
“You believe his mind to be troubled?”
“He strikes me, My Lady, as a huntsman chasing an elusive hart, which he can never reach.”
“He can never reach?” asked Catherine, with greater interest.
“Of course not, My Lady. What he seeks is unattainable. He is temporarily misguided, under unwholesome influences, chasing dreams. The Pope will never grant his wishes and his temporary infatuation will fade.”
There was a pause. Vernier had directly voiced what had been whispered for so long.
Thomasin wondered if Catherine would ask about Anne Boleyn, or liken her to the elusive hart, pursued by the king. But if Catherine considered clarifying the metaphor, she decided not to voice such a thought.
“Sir, you are bold to speak thus,” she said slowly, watching Vernier to judge the effect of her words. The Venetian’s face did not flicker. “But your boldness is welcome in a place where most people are too cowed to speak. Perhaps it is your foreignness that makes you so.”
“Perhaps,” he smiled, revealing a line of even white teeth, “or perhaps it is just that I say what I see.”
“You have no fear of speaking the truth?”
“No man should fear the truth,” Vernier flashed back. “And no woman, either.”
Catherine rose to her feet. “Thank you for your gifts.” She indicated for her women to collect them, and Thomasin hurried forward with the others to sweep up bundles of silk ribbons and laces.
Catherine offered Vernier her arm. “If you will accompany me to my chambers, a banquet awaits us.”
Thomasin watched them lead the way, then followed on with the other ladies, carrying the gifts into the antechamber before rejoining Catherine in her painted rooms. Catherine was deep in conversation with Vernier and two others of the Venetian gentlemen, as the rest partook of the delights of the table. Maria Willoughby was conversing with one in Spanish and Gertrude’s dark beauty had attracted admirers, each offering her different sweetmeats on gold plates.
Thomasin resumed her place with the queen.
“Do not worry,” whispered Mary, Countess of Essex, sidling up, “we’ve been given permission to eat. Serve yourself, before it all goes.”
Thomasin smiled, needing no more encouragement. The table stretched before her with its colourful display of pasties, pies, larks, flans, meats, gingerbreads and marchpane.
“Might I tempt you with these, sweet lady?”
One of the Venetians had approached her, bearing a plate of spiced apples. He was a heavy-set man with a wide face and prominent eyes, which were fixed upon her.
Usually Thomasin liked apples, but something about his manner made her reluctant to accept one. The thought struck her that she would have preferred to take them with her own hand.
“I thank you, sir, but they are not to my taste.”
He would not be deterred, but cast his gaze across the table. “In which case, is there anything else I might offer you? Something sweeter, perhaps?”
“Thank you, but I am quite able to help myself. That is the custom here.”
