“Your father is a man of few words,” the queen remarked.
“That was a long speech for him,” Jamie said, shrugging his shoulders in a gesture that was so familiar it sliced through Linnet’s heart.
She longed to step into his arms and rest her head on his chest. In the month since he had broken their marriage plans and left Windsor, she had been miserable. She could not even summon an interest in pursuing her enemies. While she still read the reports Master Woodley sent her, she had not returned to London. Instead, she had remained in the quiet of Windsor, where she and the queen could comfort each other for their losses.
She wanted to ask Jamie a thousand questions. Was he still angry? Did he suffer as she did?Was he betrothed to Agnes?
Instead, she asked, “What is happening here?”
The queen, however, did not wish to discuss the turmoil taking place outside the doors of this quiet apartment.
“King Henry loved to come here,” she said before Jamie could answer. A soft smile touched the queen’s lips as her gaze moved around the room.
Linnet sensed her friend’s sadness and bit back her impatience to question Jamie. “You were here with the king?”
The queen nodded. “This castle brought back fond memories of his grandfather, John of Gaunt.”
“They say he was closer to his grandfather than his father,” Linnet said.
The queen took her hand and squeezed it. “ ’Tis true. Of course, his father was often off fighting when Henry was young.”
Henry Bolingbroke, forever known as the Usurper, had favored his second son, Thomas. When he was in England, it was Thomas he took to court with him. He left his heir to spend time either with his grandfather or at Oxford under the tutelage of his half uncle, Henry Beaufort. Linnet was not alone in believing Henry was a better king for it.
“This was one of John of Gaunt’s favorite castles,” the queen said.
John of Gaunt not only ruled on behalf of his nephew, Richard II, during Richard’s minority, but he was also the richest man in England in his time. A look around the opulent room made it easy to believe.
Both women turned at the sound of boots and male voices. A moment later, the door swung open and the Duke of Bedford entered.
“ ’Tis good to see you, dear sister,” Bedford said, leaning over the queen’s hand. He gave Linnet a polite nod, then continued, “I’ve sent a messenger to intercept the king’s carriage. There is no point in his coming to open Parliament until things are quiet here.”
“I will not see my son?”
Bedford’s eyes crinkled at the corners in a kindly smile. “I hope he can be brought here soon.”
Linnet watched as the queen worried the kerchief in her hands. Would she not complain? Would she not shout and demand to be with her son? Surely, the queen could bring some pressure to bear? Make threats, promises, whatever it took.
Linnet found it hard to understand her friend’s passive acceptance of her loss of control over her child. But then, Linnet had not been raised in a royal household, where such things were understood from childhood.
“Where are my trunks?” the queen asked.
Her trunks?She is separated from her only son once again, and she asks after her trunks? And the queen put the question to Bedford, as if he were one of her servants and not the effective ruler of England and France.
The duke, however, showed no offense. “Your clerk of the wardrobe is overseeing their removal from the wagon.”
Linnet now understood why the queen had asked: Owen was likely to be wherever her trunks were. Rather than fight her situation, she sought Owen to comfort her in her distress.
“Sir James,” the duke said, interrupting her thoughts, “your presence will reassure the ladies. Stay and keep them company.”
Damn his father and damn the duke for leaving him to cope with the women. Now that he’d seen Linnet—and the queen, of course—to safety, he wished to be gone.
Linnet turned to him and his breath caught in his throat.
“Tell us now,” she said. “What is happening here?” Once again, the queen diverted the conversation. “I shall rest until Owen comes. The events of the day have been rather trying.”
“I will help you get settled,” Linnet said.
The queen held up her hand and gave Linnet a wan smile. “Stay with Sir James. I know you are anxious to hear the news.”
