B009RYSCAU EBOK by Gillian Bagwell Read Free Book Online Page B

Finally—London! She was eager to see as much of it as she could. She thought, too, about her stepfather, imprisoned in the Fleet, and wondered where it was.
    “The house we have taken is somewhat small, but near the palace,” Lady Zouche told her, reaching to take her fretting baby from the nurse’s arms.
    But when the convoy at last clattered to a halt in a street near the river, Bess thought that the house that rose before her was very grand. Everyone was too exhausted to do much but eat supper and fall into bed on that first night, but the next day Lady Zouche and the girls set to work on the important task of preparing themselves for the king’s presence. All of their gowns were pulled from the great chests in which they had traveled and hung to let out wrinkles, and shoes, stockings, hoods, caps, fans, gloves, and the myriad other accessories were tallied and arrayed.
    “I had thought to wear my green,” Lady Zouche fretted, shaking out the skirts of a gown of a color that made Bess think of new spring grass. “But perhaps the blue is better. What do you think, Bess?”
    Bess was pleased to be asked for her opinion and considered the gowns. “They are both wonderful, my lady, but the blue”—she gently touched the velvet of the gown with one finger—“reminds me of the feathers of the peacocks at Codnor. So very beautiful.”
    “Yes,” Lady Zouche said, smiling. “I think you’re right. The blue it shall be. You can wear your tawny velvet, Audrey her scarlet, Lizzie her green, and Doll her violet, and we shall look like a collection of jewels. Very fit for catching the eye of the king.”
    “What is he like, your ladyship?” Bess asked. “King Henry?”
    Lizzie and the other girls gathered close to hear, as none of them had been to London or seen the king.
    “Well!” Lady Zouche dropped into a low chair and smiled conspiratorially at the eager faces around her. “I’ve not seen him since the christening of little Prince Edward, and I’ve heard that he’s become stout and tetchy since he injured his leg in a fall from a horse near four years ago. But in the early days when I was at court, he was as fine a man as I’ve ever seen.”
    Bess pulled a hassock close to her mistress’s side, and the other girls drew up stools and hassocks, all thoughts of work gone.
    “He is very tall,” Lady Zouche said, “and his frame most excellent. Powerful and yet graceful—he dances wonderfully. He delighted in jousting and tilting, and beat all comers. He never tired of hunting and hawking—it seemed he could live in the saddle.”
    “Is he handsome, my lady?” Doll asked, her blue eyes alight and pink cheeks glowing.
    “Oh, faith, he had the face of an angel! Oh, but no.” Lady Zouche laughed and shook her head. “That makes it sound as though he were soft, like a lass. But he was none of that. There was deviltry in those eyes of his. I remember—” She broke off, and blushed.
    “What, my lady?” Lizzie clamored.
    “Oh, I suppose there’s no harm to say it,” Lady Zouche said. “I was just recalling a time when I watched him play at tennis. It was when I served Queen Anne, in the days before she was yet queen.” A shadow of sadness crossed her face. “It was a warm day, and His Majesty had stripped off his doublet and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. His shirt was of the finest linen, and damp with his sweat, it clung to his form.”
    Her eyes were distant, reliving the scene long past, and Bess thought she could almost see the glorious young king, too.
    “He won his game, and came to the side of the court to have a drink of water and bandy some pleasantries with Mistress Anne. The neckband of his shirt was untied, so that it fell open, baring his throat and chest, and as he drank, I could scarce take my eyes from him, imagining—well, imagining what it was not proper for me to imagine.”
    The girls giggled in delight, and Bess felt a shiver of excitement run through her. She