B009RYSCAU EBOK by Gillian Bagwell Read Free Book Online

giggled.
    Her belly was comfortably full now, and her head slightly abuzz with ale, so she barely kept from exclaiming when no sooner had the dishes been cleared from the tables but the unseen horns sang out another fanfare, and two men marched to the door, staves in hand, to meet a delegation of servants bearing more dishes of food.
    Doll’s blue eyes danced at the surprise on Bess’s face.
    “The second course,” she whispered.
    The ritual that had greeted the first course was repeated, and more dishes were set on the table between Bess and her messmates.
    “I’ll burst,” she murmured, and Lizzie stifled a laugh.
    “You needn’t eat any more. Just take a spoonful and toy with it.”
    But the new offerings looked so tempting—a pie with gravy bubbling up from slits in its crust, smelling of onions and rabbit, and beef with mushrooms—that Bess found herself eating them, her belly rebelling against her tightly laced pair of bodies. By the time the second course was taken away, she was having difficulty keeping her eyes open, exhausted from the long ride and so many new experiences. She feared that when dinner was over her new mistress would dismiss her for her impertinent remark. But at the conclusion of the meal Lady Zouche did not return to her chamber with the girls.
    “She and Sir George will be entertaining the duke,” Lizzie said. “Which gives us a bit of time to ourselves.”
    “Yet there is still work for idle hands,” Audrey reminded the girls.
    She set Bess to mending a tear in a fine linen chemise, and drew up a stool between Lizzie and Doll. A cheerful-faced woman who introduced herself as Rachel, Lady Zouche’s wet nurse, joined them, sitting near the fire and humming quietly as she gave her breast to a fair-haired baby. Bess glanced around the circle of ladies, their heads bent over their own needlework. The atmosphere was cozy and relaxed. No one said anything about her indiscretion, and she began to think that perhaps she would not lose her place after all. The food and drink still weighed heavily on her, though, and she struggled to remain awake.
    “What news do you think the duke brings?” Doll asked no one in particular.
    “Something good, I think,” Audrey said. “If the tidings were bad we’d have heard them by now.”
    “Perhaps the king is to marry again,” Lizzie ventured.
    “Again?” Bess said, roused by this speculation. “But he’s been married three times already! How many wives does one man need?”
    Lizzie burst out laughing, but Audrey hushed her with a reproving glance.
    “He’s not just any man, he’s the king, and he must ensure that he has an heir.”
    “But he has a son,” Bess said. “It’s just two years ago since Prince Edward was born.” She recalled the joyful pealing of the bells of the church at Ault Hucknall, and the service of thanksgiving for the safe deliverance of the prince. And then the tolling of the bells and the mourning for Queen Jane, who had died less than a fortnight later.
    “He must have another,” Doll said, picking up a skein of scarlet thread and comparing it to the embroidery she had been working. “Lest something should happen to Prince Edward.”
    “And his daughters?” Bess persisted. “Could they not be queens?”
    “No,” Audrey said. “Of course a woman cannot rule. The king must have more sons. Besides, the king’s daughters are princesses no more, but are called only the Lady Mary and the Lady Elizabeth.”
    “But why—” Bess began, and then stopped. It seemed as if a cold shadow had fallen over the room. The smiles had faded from the faces of the other girls.
    “The king’s daughters were removed from the succession,” Audrey said briskly.
    Bess longed to ask for more information but Audrey had picked up her needlework and her eyes were fixed firmly on it.
    “Lady Zouche served Anne Boleyn both before and after she was queen,” Lizzie whispered, her dark eyes somber. “She was forced to testify