Linnet touched her friend’s arm. “I know it is unfair. Eventually, they are bound to allow you a discreet relationship—perhaps even a second marriage. But not now. Not now, when the fight for control is so intense.”
“How long before it is safe for me, can you tell me that?” the queen demanded, showing more defiance than Linnet had ever seen from her before. “How much longer must I wait? Three more years? Five? Ten?”
The queen drew away from her.
“You are not a mother—you cannot know what it is like to have your son taken from you,” the queen said, her eyes filling with tears. “Am I to be permitted no one? No husband, no children, not even a lover? Am I to be an old woman before I can have the simple things that every other woman in the kingdom may have?”
“You must be patient,” Linnet said, though the queen’s words had taken the wind out of her.
“What would you do?” the queen demanded. “Would you let them deny you everything you wanted?”
Linnet did not answer, because they both knew she would fight tooth and nail for what she wanted. Still, it was not the course she wished for her friend.
Jamie was alone in his bedchamber when he heard the knock at his door. Since there was no one he wished to see, he ignored it and continued writing his letter to his parents. His mother had been wise to insist all her children learn to write:One day you may need to send a message that not even your clerk should see.
When the knocking persisted, he cursed under his breath and set the letter aside. Whoever had come was damned impatient. He stopped to stretch on his way to the door.
When he opened it, his mouth went dry at the unexpected sight of Linnet at his bedchamber door. Her hair hung in a loose braid over her shoulder like a thick chain of white gold.
And she was dressed in a night-robe.
Oh, aye. If she had come for what he thought, he was more than ready. All his plans for resistance vanished like mist under a summer sun. She had that determined look on her face that he loved without reason. If she was determined to have him, he was equally determined to give her what she wanted.
“Close the door,” she said as she swept past him. She stopped in the center of the room and turned to face him.
Without taking his eyes off her, he reached behind him to shut the door. He swept his gaze over her, taking in every inch of her from head to feet, and everything in between.
Why had he been trying to fight this? With her here and dressed for bed, he could not recall a single reason.
She folded her arms under her breasts and lifted her chin. “I hope we can put aside our differences to save the queen from him.”
“Save her?” His mind had not yet caught up with the conversation. “From whom?”
“From that sly friend of yours, Owen Tudor, of course.” He looked longingly at the white skin of her throat showing in the V of her robe, then followed the enticing curve of her breasts beneath the cloth.
“You came to discuss the queen?” he finally asked, hoping it was not true.
She leaned forward, clenching her fists in the folds of her robe. “Did you not take an oath to protect her?”
The queen. Linnet was speaking about the queen. “Owen is a good man,” he said, struggling to concentrate. “He will give his loyalty to the queen.”
“If that is all he gives her, I shall be happy.” She pressed her lips together and tilted her head back to glare at the ceiling. After taking a deep breath, she brought her fierce gaze back to him. “Jamie. Did you not see how the queen looks at him?”
He shook his head.
“Men! You see nothing.” She took another deep breath. “As you are blind, I shall tell you. Her Highness looks at Owen as if she would like to lick honey off his skin.”
Jamie opened his mouth, closed it, and then swallowed. After a long moment, he said, “She likes him that well, does she?”
“No one is considering licking honey off you, Jamie Rayburn, so cease looking at me that way at once.”
That was a damned disappointment.
“This is a serious matter,” Linnet said. “I tell you, the queen is very close to doing something foolish.”
“Owen is no fool,” Jamie managed to say, though he was imagining Linnet naked on all fours over him, running her tongue down his chest, licking honey. “He is a flirt, but he would take it no further.”
“I hope you are right,” she said, and her shoulders relaxed a bit. “But if he is even seen to flirt with her, more might be read into it. There are too many people at Windsor, to hope rumors will not travel to Gloucester or the bishop.”
