now raised and sharp. Those standing near her and the duke turned.
“Hush, sweet cousin,” he soothed her. “You do not want to attract the attention of the court gossips now, do you? God forbid that anyone should feel pity for you, Barbara.”
“You can be such a brute, George,” she said low, and her gaze went back across the room where the king was now staring after his cousin and the women with the duke of Lundy. “’Odsblood, George! Will you look at that little colonial’s jewelry. I am certain that it all belongs to her grandmother. The old dowager has always had the most fantastic collection of jewels. I remember seeing her once when I was a very little child. She had rubies the size of robin’s eggs. I wonder who will inherit all her wealth.”
“Her family tends to keep their wealth to themselves,” the duke of Buckingham said in answer to his cousin’s questions.
“ ’Twill be several lucky young men who wed those girls,” Lady Castlemaine remarked astutely, watching as the objects of her interest withdrew from the royal presence.
“Did you see the way he looked at you,” Cynara whispered to Fancy. “When you curtsied his eyes plunged so deep into your neckline that I thought he would not be able to raise them up again.”
“I will admit to having felt the heat of his glance,” Fancy said. “He is not a handsome man, yet there is something about him that is most fascinating. His eyes mesmerize you when he looks at you, yet I sense a kindness in him as well,” she noted.
“They say he is very good to his women,” Cynara continued.
“And he is a great lover,” Fancy teased her cousin, “although how a respectable little virgin would know such a fact is a mystery to me, Cyn.” She mischievously tweaked one of Cynara’s sable curls.
“There is always a certain amount of truth in gossip, and I love good gossip,” Cynara said with a grin. “Besides he has several . . . bastards, sons and daughters. He has recognized them all, and provided for them as well. The women he has loved adore him, except perhaps for my lady Castlemaine, who is now discarded in favor of an actress.”
“Gracious!” Fancy laughed. “Where do you learn all of this?”
Cynara chuckled. “I listen,” she said simply. Then she sighed. “ ’Odsfish! Diana is already surrounded by gentlemen. Do you wonder they call her Siren? There is little difference between the three of us, and yet they flock to her like bees to honey. I do not understand it, Fancy. What is it she has that we do not?”
“Well,” Fancy said thoughtfully, “you, I suspect, are noted for your pride and your sharp tongue. I am surrounded by scandal. I am an unknown quantity. Our sweet cousin on the other hand is noted for her engaging ways and dulcet disposition.”
“But I am a Stuart!” Cynara protested.
“And therefore less approachable,” Fancy responded.
“Then what good is having a beautiful wardrobe and Grandmama’s wonderful jewels if no one will pay attention to me,” Cynara wailed.
“They will pay attention to us both soon enough,” Fancy said. “We are all beautiful and all rich. Qualities gentlemen find most desirable in marriageable women I have been told.” Her tone was suddenly bitter. “Be careful in this courting game, Cyn,” she advised her cousin. “Be careful, and do not believe anything a man tells you else you will end up as I have and be miserable.” For the second time this evening, her eyes filled with tears. She brushed them impatiently away.
Cynara saw her cousin’s tears, but she said nothing. “Come on,” she decided. “Siren cannot have all the gentlemen to herself. Besides, she does not really know what to do with them. Let’s share in her bounty.”
Fancy laughed. “All right,” she said, and together the two young women joined their cousin. The royal reception lasted until midnight. There was much gossiping, some dancing, and gambling. The Season was just beginning. The cousins had agreed that when all was ended they would meet their grandmother in the Great Courtyard where their carriage would be awaiting them. Having bid Charlie and his wife good night, Fancy made her way with Cynara and Diana through the palace to their agreed meeting place.
A gentleman approached them suddenly, and bowing said to Fancy, “I am William Chiffinch, Mistress Devers. The king invites you to supper.”
Before Fancy might reply, Cynara spoke up. “Oh, dear!” she said. “You must tell His Majesty that my cousin is regretfully unable to join him tonight as we are meeting our grandmother, the dowager duchess of Glenkirk immediately.”
“However,” Fancy now put in, “I should be honored if His Majesty would ask me again, when I shall be more than pleased to accept his kind invitation.” She curtsied to Mr. Chiffinch.
“Of course, madame,” the king’s confidential servant replied, and he bowed to the three young women before turning away, and walking back down the corridor.
“The king asked you to supper, and you turned him down?” Diana was astounded by her two cousins’ boldness.
“Silly goose,” Cynara laughed. “When the king asks a lady to supper, she is meant to be the last course. He has just seen Fancy for the first time tonight. His ardor is more likely to increase if it is denied. Many a young woman has been ruined by accepting the royal invitation and then boring the king so she is not asked back.”
“I am surprised he would approach me at all,” Fancy said.
“You are beautiful, and you are widowed,” Cynara responded. “The king would not approach Diana or me, for we are innocents.”
“The way you advise our cousin, I sometimes wonder,” Diana said. “How is it that you are so knowledgeable of men and their ways?”
Cynara shook her head. “I don’t know if I am that clever, Siren, but when dealing with gentlemen, it seems to me that common sense should apply. When you can obtain something you desire easily, you lose your appetite for it. And men, I have noted, are mostly boys at heart. Boys crave excitement. Where is the excitement in an easily won prize?” She turned to Fancy. “You surprise me speaking up so quickly and telling Mr. Chiffinch that you would accept the king’s invitation on another occasion. Would you really?”
“Yes,” Fancy said quietly.
“I thought you were through with men,” Cynara said.
“I said I didn’t want a husband,” Fancy replied. “I think I might prefer being a king’s mistress to being any man’s wife. A mistress, it seems to me, maintains her freedom as long as she is true to her lover. And if I would be a mistress, I would prefer to be a king’s mistress than a common man’s. The king seems a kind man.”
“My lady Castlemaine might disagree with you there,” Cynara said with a chuckle. “The king is through with her, and she is most put out about it all.”
“I do not know her whole story,” Fancy said, “but I do know she has enriched herself and her children in the king’s bed. If she had any sense, she would retire gracefully and retain the king’s friendship rather than make an enemy of him with her tempers.”
“But Fancy,” Diana said, her look concerned, “are we not better than my lady Castlemaine? Would you not prefer the comfort of a wife’s
