at Pearroc Royal to assist Martin in Tam’s place.
Aidan hugged her daughter. “Now remember, the queen will not like it if you put yourself too forward, my dear. She can be impatient, but she has a kind heart.”
“She’s a bitch and has a long memory for a fault, an insult, or a slight,” said Skye bluntly. “She admires women of intellect, so do not be afraid to let her know that you are intelligent.”
“Mind your manners,” Aidan admonished Valentina. “Remember to eat with delicacy.”
“Beware the gentlemen,” continued Skye. “Most will be utterly charming but entirely insincere. They will all attempt to seduce you, be they married or bachelors. The married ones are the worst. A very few bachelors will be worth your time. You will know which ones they are.”
“Be sure that your gowns and undergarments are clean and free of stains,” Aidan fretted. “A slovenly appearance will gain you the queen’s disfavor.”
“Guard your reputation,” said Skye. “Do not gossip about others, although they will surely gossip about you. If you are careful and give them nothing to talk about, there is little they can say—although they will say something.” She laughed. “As for what you hear of others, Valentina, keep your own counsel.”
“May we please go?” asked Padraic Burke, who was escorting his cousin. “I will be spending the next few months at court, and I promise to watch over this innocent.”
The coach and its escort of six armed men rumbled away from the ivy-covered gray-stone house with its peaked roof of Cotswold slates. The day was cold but fair. The estate lake reflected bright sunlight from its frozen surface, but there was little snow on the ground. As she leaned out of the coach window to look back at her beloved home, Valentina could not help but feel nervous.
“Get back inside,” Padraic cautioned from atop his horse. “You are going to fall out of the carriage.”
Valentina stuck out her tongue at him but obeyed, pulling up the window to fasten it securely by its leather hinges. “Well,” she said aloud to the passing landscape as she settled herself back into her seat within the lurching vehicle, “it cannot be any worse.”
“What can’t be any worse?” demanded Nan, her anxious tiring woman.
“Whatever’s in store for me now. The last time I left home I was back within the month, a widow. This journey,” she said with relish, “could be the start of a real adventure for us!”
“God forbid it, m’lady!” Nan answered, rolling her eyes in horror. “I’m not an adventurous woman, and I had all the excitement I could take, enough to last me a lifetime, when you was just a wee nursling. I married my Harry Beal, gave him three healthy bairns, two of ’em boys, and then had to bury a good husband when I’d expected to live out our old age together. ’Tis enough excitement for me, m’lady. You just go to London, serve the queen nicely, and find yerself another husband. ’Tis what a woman’s meant for, ain’t it? A husband and babes.”
“Why, Nan,” Valentina teased her faithful servant. “Where is your sense of derring-do?”
“I left it behind in Ireland twenty years back, m’lady” came the dour reply.
“Well, you had best find it again, Nan,” warned her mistress mischievously. “I have been a little country girl my whole life. I have spent all my time daydreaming about a love that doesn’t exist for me, and I never made time for frivolous things. That is why I am going to court, Nan. For fun ! For the sheer fun of it!” Having announced her intentions to her scandalized tiring woman, Valentina settled back in her seat. There was a smile on her beautiful face such as Nan had never seen.
“God help us both!” the servant said. “If you don’t sound just like yer aunt Skye!”
Part II
T HE Q UEEN’S
C OURT
1601
Chapter 2
C ourt. It was not at all what she had expected. All her life she had heard the many stories told by her
Aidan hugged her daughter. “Now remember, the queen will not like it if you put yourself too forward, my dear. She can be impatient, but she has a kind heart.”
“She’s a bitch and has a long memory for a fault, an insult, or a slight,” said Skye bluntly. “She admires women of intellect, so do not be afraid to let her know that you are intelligent.”
“Mind your manners,” Aidan admonished Valentina. “Remember to eat with delicacy.”
“Beware the gentlemen,” continued Skye. “Most will be utterly charming but entirely insincere. They will all attempt to seduce you, be they married or bachelors. The married ones are the worst. A very few bachelors will be worth your time. You will know which ones they are.”
“Be sure that your gowns and undergarments are clean and free of stains,” Aidan fretted. “A slovenly appearance will gain you the queen’s disfavor.”
“Guard your reputation,” said Skye. “Do not gossip about others, although they will surely gossip about you. If you are careful and give them nothing to talk about, there is little they can say—although they will say something.” She laughed. “As for what you hear of others, Valentina, keep your own counsel.”
“May we please go?” asked Padraic Burke, who was escorting his cousin. “I will be spending the next few months at court, and I promise to watch over this innocent.”
The coach and its escort of six armed men rumbled away from the ivy-covered gray-stone house with its peaked roof of Cotswold slates. The day was cold but fair. The estate lake reflected bright sunlight from its frozen surface, but there was little snow on the ground. As she leaned out of the coach window to look back at her beloved home, Valentina could not help but feel nervous.
“Get back inside,” Padraic cautioned from atop his horse. “You are going to fall out of the carriage.”
Valentina stuck out her tongue at him but obeyed, pulling up the window to fasten it securely by its leather hinges. “Well,” she said aloud to the passing landscape as she settled herself back into her seat within the lurching vehicle, “it cannot be any worse.”
“What can’t be any worse?” demanded Nan, her anxious tiring woman.
“Whatever’s in store for me now. The last time I left home I was back within the month, a widow. This journey,” she said with relish, “could be the start of a real adventure for us!”
“God forbid it, m’lady!” Nan answered, rolling her eyes in horror. “I’m not an adventurous woman, and I had all the excitement I could take, enough to last me a lifetime, when you was just a wee nursling. I married my Harry Beal, gave him three healthy bairns, two of ’em boys, and then had to bury a good husband when I’d expected to live out our old age together. ’Tis enough excitement for me, m’lady. You just go to London, serve the queen nicely, and find yerself another husband. ’Tis what a woman’s meant for, ain’t it? A husband and babes.”
“Why, Nan,” Valentina teased her faithful servant. “Where is your sense of derring-do?”
“I left it behind in Ireland twenty years back, m’lady” came the dour reply.
“Well, you had best find it again, Nan,” warned her mistress mischievously. “I have been a little country girl my whole life. I have spent all my time daydreaming about a love that doesn’t exist for me, and I never made time for frivolous things. That is why I am going to court, Nan. For fun ! For the sheer fun of it!” Having announced her intentions to her scandalized tiring woman, Valentina settled back in her seat. There was a smile on her beautiful face such as Nan had never seen.
“God help us both!” the servant said. “If you don’t sound just like yer aunt Skye!”
Part II
T HE Q UEEN’S
C OURT
1601
Chapter 2
C ourt. It was not at all what she had expected. All her life she had heard the many stories told by her
Similar Books
