Sir Thomas nodded. “It is her dearest wish. She will have no one else. It is only a few days until the coronation, and then perhaps a period of transition before returning to the country.”
Thomasin sighed. The floodwaters threatened to drown her. She could hear Giles’s footsteps on the floorboards overhead as he entered their bedchamber. How could she break this news to him?
“As I said, there would be handsome recompense. The Boleyns would be in your debt.”
“As you have seen, I have Lettice with me. I cannot just abandon her.”
“We would require you only for a few hours, and not every day, so you would still be lodging here with her, and have time to devote to her. She is a most lively young lady, so far as I can see.”
Lively. Thomasin suppressed a smile.
“I know that relations between us have not always been harmonious. I apologise for that. But time has moved on, and I hope you can put past troubles behind us and find it in your heart to do this service for my wife.”
“What does Anne think of this?”
She was not surprised to see Sir Thomas start. That was the question that had caught him out, she thought.
“I do not require my daughter’s permission for this request.”
“But she is queen now. It is her coronation you wish me to attend. Of all of your family, it is her with whom I have had the least harmonious relations.”
“In four days’ time, they will crown her Queen of England. Two months after that, she is due to give birth. I doubt she will notice who is riding in the carriages behind her.”
“Probably not, but I do not feel comfortable going unless she knows.”
“It sounds as if you are considering it.”
That was Thomasin’s cue to get to her feet before she was pulled in deeper. “I need time to consider this, to discuss it with my husband.”
Sir Thomas rose too. “Of course. It is a decision that affects all of you. However, I need an answer soon, as arrangements must be made.”
“I will let you know in the morning.”
“That will suffice. I thank you in advance, Lady Waterson, for giving this your gentle consideration. You have it within your power to transform my wife’s happiness at such a momentous time that we never truly anticipated.”
Thomasin turned to walk him to the door, but a sudden thought rose in her mind unbidden. There was something she needed to know before she made her final decision.
“One question, perhaps a strange one. There was formerly a young man in your service, Rafe Danvers, whom I have not seen since my return. Does he remain in your household? Am I likely to encounter him at Durham House?”
Sir Thomas shot her a look that made her tingle with discomfort. He saw right through her, she was certain, but she still wanted an answer.
“I recall your past fondness for each other. Do not fear, you will not encounter Danvers in the coming weeks. He is in the West Country with his wife’s family.”
The words hit her like a bullet. She wanted to make him repeat them, but dared not, not wishing to look like a fool.
“Very good, my lord. You will hear from me tomorrow.”
Thomasin stood in the door and watched him mount his horse and disappear through the gates. Bats swooped low under the trees, making her think again of Green Hollow. But her happy memories of Suffolk could not stretch to cover the gaping wound in her mind. Rafe’s wife? West Country? In many ways it was a relief. To have him removed from her so definitely, so unreachably, meant there would be no awkward encounters, no difficulties that she had feared. Since that night when she had thought she’d seen his shadow in the privy garden, she’d been bracing herself for the inevitable moment when they would come face to face again. Yet there was also a shade of disappointment in her heart, that the person she had been so close to was not here, and she would not have the chance to see what the past four years had done to him. Mixed in with all that was curiosity. She would have liked to see the woman he had married, to know the circumstances in which that had come about, and decide for herself whether they were happy.
Thomasin shook her head, as if she could dislodge these thoughts. Behind her, Giles came slowly down the stairs.
“As we feared?” he asked, before she turned.
“As we feared. A companion to Lady Boleyn during the coronation.”
“A companion? Recompensed handsomely, I am sure.”
“So he says.”
