Roses Have Thorns: A Novel of Elizabeth I by Sandra Byrd Page B

needlework and horses, exercising my mind and my mouth was more to my pleasure. I soon learned, though, that the ladies had considerable power to influence, often heard Her Majesty’s speeches well ahead of the men as she practiced them in her chambers, and were able to persuade effectively by softer manner. The queen was never alone; we ladies trailed her, like purebred spaniels might trail a lesser woman, no matter where she went. She loved us well, though, and although it was always clear that she was the mistress, it was often clear that she was our loving friend as well.
    The queen began her day with six or seven galliards, for exercise, and we ladies were expected to dance along with her. If she chose not to dance, she and we oft took a quick walk in the gardens. She said she was no morning woman but she was always back at her rooms very early to attend to her devotions and then to her correspondence. After we dressed her, her counselors came to see her in her Presence or Privy Chamber. She attended to paperwork for a while, then walked in a garden or a gallery with her ladies or Lord Robert. Afterward, she might ride in open carriage, so her people could see her, to a nearby park to hawk or hunt, often with Lord Robert, her Master of Horse.
    When she was with him, the breath of life was breathed into her. Bliss.
    William had provided my lady maid at his own expense. Although the queen had offered to provide one, she was glad to save the cost and William told me, quietly, that it would be better if he provided her for me.
    “If I hire her, she knows that she is to carry out what I tell her to do as her primary responsibility. I’ve told her to answer any questions you may ask that would assist you to understand court, or England, our history, and the courtiers. She was educated somewhat before her family fell upon difficulties and she has served in noble households, so she will be a source of knowledge for you.”
    I kissed his cheek. “Thank you, dearest William, for thinking of things I might not have even considered.”
    My first difficulty arose within the first few days after I moved in. I asked Clemence, my lady maid, if she could arrange for a large urn of hot water and an empty one, too, to be delivered each evening.
    “Of course, my lady, but if I may ask, why?”
    “To bathe!” I said. This had not been a problem at Bedford House, occupied as it were by Swedes, but I had noticed since coming to court that the English did not all hearken to the northern habit of daily baths.
    Clemence, bless her, did as I asked, and each night I bathed in water that I scented with my own herbal preparations, oftentimes rose but also marjoram. The Queen’s Majesty called me to her.
    “Lady Helena,” she said, clearly pleased by the Anglicization of my name, “you always smell sweet and there is a fresh air about you. Why is that?”
    “Swedes bathe daily, Your Majesty, in scented water, and I have continued that custom though I am now an Englishwoman.”
    She nodded approvingly. The queen was known to have a sensitive sense of smell; even the leather her books were bound with was not to be cured with anything pungent. From that day on I became one of the queen’s bed warmers. At night, before Her Majesty retired to her bed, one of her ladies climbed into the royal bed to warm the linens that Blanche had keep over; then the maid of honor left the bed just before Her Majesty climbed in. That lady usually spent the night sleeping on a small bed at the foot of Her Majesty’s great one. I didn’t mind. There were always two or three ladies in Her Majesty’s chamber, day or night, to protect and assist her as well as defend against malicious gossip.
    One night, after the torches were snuffed in the bedchamber and Squires of the Body quietly prowled the hallways to keep watch for her security, Her Majesty was abed, with only me and Mary Radcliffe, another of her maids of honor, in the room, and she spoke quietly. “Lady