“John! It is you, isn’t it?”
“Thomasin? Thomasin Marwood?”
Her old friend John Dudley shook her by the hand with warmth, before passing her over to Jane to hug.
“I am amazed to find you here,” Jane smiled. “It is so long since we last saw you.”
“What brings you back to court?” asked John.
“An inheritance. My uncle’s former residence in Thames Street, and today Giles is speaking about a property matter with the king.”
“What a good bit of fortune that we also visited today,” said Jane. “I am usually at home, kept busy by the children. We had another son, born last summer. Little Robert.”
“Goodness,” said Thomasin, “that is wonderful news.”
“It makes six sons now,” John added, “quite enough sons for any man.”
Jane smiled. “He is quite the prodigy, walking already, although he is not yet a year old.”
Thomasin wondered about the life of little Robert Dudley and where the future would take him. “This is my sister Lettice,” she offered, remembering the girl at her side. “Lettice, these are my dear friends John and Jane Dudley.”
Lettice dropped the prettiest curtsey, which she had clearly been practising in her chamber.
“It is good to meet another Marwood sister,” said John, taking her hand. “They come highly recommended.”
“Are you going to dine here?” asked Jane. “It is almost time, and I should like to spend more time with you.”
“Yes, indeed we are,” Thomasin assured her, grateful not just for good friends, but for the distraction they provided. “Shall we head inside? Giles is joining us in the hall.”
She cast a look back over her shoulder as they stepped into the cool shade of the corridor. Mary Boleyn and William Hatton were still standing at the fountain, apparently deep inconversation, but Mary had turned and was directly facing the group as they departed. Thomasin was unsure whether she had been seen: Mary might have been squinting in the sunlight, or screwing up her face at the sight of her old adversary. Hopefully the former.
THIRTEEN
Giles had already found them a space halfway down the hall. Thomasin hurried over to the table before the place filled up, knowing how busy it could become, guiding Lettice to sit beside her. The Dudleys settled opposite them. Cromwell was already at the top table, with Ralph Sadler and some of his other minions, eyeing the crowd with his porcine stare.
“You remember John Dudley and his wife Jane?” Thomasin asked Giles. “They’re good friends of mine from my days of serving Queen Catherine.”
“Of course,” Giles said, beaming, “it is a pleasure to see you again.”
“Did your business with the king fare well?” asked John.
Thomasin saw the hesitation in her husband’s face before he spoke. “Not quite as I had hoped. It might require a second visit, as the king was pushed for time.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
“But we will have to return?” asked Lettice brightly.
“Giles will have to return,” Thomasin said at once. “Whether or not you do depends upon the success of today’s visit.”
Lettice clammed up at once, although she transferred her energy to her eyes, watching as the servers appeared with jugs of wine.
“I had not thought to be at such a court as this,” said Thomasin softly to the Dudleys, “with such a queen.”
“Things are not as they used to be,” Jane replied. “On the surface all is opulent enough, but scratch below that…”
After a short silence, Thomasin went on, “And we have just come back from Chelsea, visiting Thomas More and his family. Again, I was surprised to find such great change.”
“God bless him,” said John at once. “A pure, true man who would not compromise his principles. Most of us swallowed our pride and swore whatever oaths were required of us, but Thomas’s conscience will not allow it.”
