told of Henrietta’s insistence that, because she had Tudor blood, and looks, the new Queen would automatically want to know her. ‘I see,’ said Ben. ‘So if her father won’t oblige and her future husband won’t oblige either, who d’ye think she’ll try next to make it happen? Three guesses.’
Sir Elion shook his head. ‘Oh, no,’ he said. ‘We don’t need three, do we? Any moment now, my niece will be in here to request a quiet word in my ear concerning a matter of courtly introductions. Do I have it right, Nic?’
‘That’s about the sum of it,’ Somerville said. ‘She’s not going to take no for an answer from any of us, anyway. We need a strategy.’
‘I think you need to be careful,’ said Ben.
‘I think you need to be very careful,’ said Lady Sophia, Sir Elion’s wife. ‘She doesn’t know the ways of the court as well as I do. She’ll be hurt.’
‘Not by any of us, my lady,’ said Lord Somerville, gently. ‘And anyone else who tries will have me to deal with.’
Sir Elion was familiar with personal disputes between couples whose marriages had been arranged for them, having helped to smooth the stormy path of his sister Ginny’s marriage to Sir Jon Raemon, as he then was. So he was not surprised to learn that their Tudor stepdaughter meant to have her own way in one direction if she could not have it in another and, knowing the Queen’s mind better than any of them, was able to see where the biggest dangers lay. When his friend Lord Somerville asked him how the new Queen fared once the excitement of the coronation had died down, his reply came as something of a shock. ‘Oh, it’s all about Lord Robert Dudley now,’ he said, witheringly. ‘Since she made him Master of Horse, you’d think a crown came with the job.’
‘What?’ said Ben. ‘He thinks he’ll be made king?’
‘There’s a lot of talk,’ said Sir Elion. ‘And not all of it innocent, either. Ah, here come the ladies. Congratulations, Niece,’ Sir Elion said to Henrietta.
‘Thank you, Uncle. Commiserations are in order. May I have a word in your ear, before we leave?’
‘Certainly, love. About how to cope with mercers, is it?’
And so they laughed and teased each other before the roaring fire that took up half the wall, the logs sizzling and spitting and smelling of last year’s apples.
Obligingly, Sir Elion made himself available to his niece, his answer formed well before her enquiry was delivered. ‘Will you be returning to court any time soon?’ she said.
‘Not before the wedding, I think. Will that be here?’
‘Yes, I expect we shall be going straight to Cheapside afterwards, but I want...well, the truth is, I want to find a way of seeing the Queen and I thought you might...?’
‘You mean, just to see her, or to have her see you? I can tell you now, Etta love, that if Somerville won’t take you, then I don’t see how I can.’
‘I simply want to see her, just to take a look. I don’t expect to be presented. Not until she wishes it, that is. That may take some time.’
‘And you want me to take you there? Is Somerville supposed to know about this? Because I shall not be doing anything unless he knows, Etta.’
‘Uncle, if he knows I’m with you, he won’t object, will he? And it will be all right for me to walk in with you, because you’re known there and I’m your niece. That won’t be against the rules, will it?’
‘Not as long as you abide by them, Etta. I can’t afford to get on the wrong side of court protocol when I earn my living there.’ Sir Elion saw this conversation taking a rather different course from the one discussed earlier, but what she was proposing sounded relatively innocuous, compared to what her father and future husband had anticipated as a head-on confrontation with their sovereign.
‘I know that, Uncle Elion. I would not do anything to embarrass you.’
‘Of course you won’t, m’dear. Shall we be invited to the wedding?’
Etta shook her head and looked away. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I doubt it. Lord Somerville prefers us to have a very modest ceremony. Only Mother and Father, that’s all.’
‘Oh, my dear,’ her uncle replied, taking her hand. ‘I’m sure he has his reasons. But give it time. You’ll get to know each other eventually. He’s a very astute man, you know. The Queen made him a baron at the same time as she knighted William Cecil, my master, and Baron Hunsdon, her half-brother. Somerville sent her money when she was still Princess Elizabeth and without a bean. When Queen Mary released her from imprisonment, she was in a sad state, poor creature. She doesn’t forget those who’ve shown loyalty to her in the past.’
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