The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden Read Free Book Online

a close scrutiny of her bosom might yield the secrets of English policy, then moved outside and crossed the moat to the Privy Lodgings. In the gallery before the Presence Chamber, Lady Howard spoke to Emme again.
    ‘Intervene if there’s any dissention and keep the talk light. Her Majesty must not be pressured now, not when there’s another plot on her life and her cousin, Mary of Scots, is implicated with some of the traitors still at large.’
    There was no time to respond. The yeomen guard swung open the doors to reveal a shovel-jawed gentleman on his knees who rose, bowed and kept his eyes on the Queen as he walked backwards in leaving.
    ‘Ralph Lane,’ Kit said, low voiced at her side. ‘Erstwhile commander of the fort in Virginia.’
    Emme’s eyes were drawn past the ornamentation that had become familiar: the glitter of badges showing portcullises and roses set high around the walls, the gilding on the ceiling chequered azure and white, the plate on polished tables brightly lit by scores of candles, and the light streaming through high bay windows, softened by carpets and hangings of silk. She saw the Queen sitting in state in hues of rose and gold, with a few of her ladies on cushions nearby, and some gentlemen standing beside her, amongst them Secretary Walsingham and Sir Francis Drake. The sea captain’s stance was confident, legs astride, and he looked resplendent in damask doublet and Venetian breeches, with a wide goffered ruff and jewelled pendant around his neck. A black-skinned youth appeared to be holding his hat, and the room was filled with a pungent aroma from the roll of smoking leaves that the Captain held in his hand. To Emme’s surprise, the Queen appeared not to mind as he puffed on these leaves, thickening the haze in the chamber. He boomed out a greeting while Emme and her companions paid obeisance.
    ‘Master Kit Doonan, Your Majesty, as brave a mariner as sailed the seas, and with him are these gentlemen you have met before:Manteo of Croatoan, and Masters Harriot and White, pioneer explorers of North America.’
    The Queen beckoned Manteo towards her, and spoke when he knelt.
    ‘Manteo, loyal Virginian, we are pleased to welcome you here again. It seems your countrymen have proved not quite the peaceable allies we had hoped for. General Lane tells me they have been troublesome.’
    Manteo stood proud. ‘The Croatans rejoice in the amity of Your Majesty, great and honoured chief over the water. Our land is yours. The Secotans await the discipline that will teach them to show the same respect.’
    ‘We have found only gentle hospitality amongst the Croatans and the Indians further north,’ Master Harriot interjected quickly. ‘They have received us like lords, offering gifts and homage. The land is fertile and their disposition beneficent.’ He glanced at Master White who began fumbling with his folio case.
    ‘The flora and fauna are bounteous in the wider region,’ White said hesitantly. ‘If I may show Your Majesty some drawings and limnings: just a sample of the many which I will work up from my sketches, those that were not lost when we left.’ He shot Sir Francis a pained look, at which the Captain exhaled a stream of smoke.
    The Queen motioned for Master White to move over to the table.
    ‘Please show what you have. I am intrigued to know more, particularly about any findings that suggest this new land may harbour riches.’
    White pulled out some papers and spread them out.
    ‘Of the beasts, we found deer beyond number and bears with magnificent pelts; crabs and pearl oysters; turkey hens and stock doves. As you can see, there are fish of many kinds, good andwholesome to eat. This is called a dorado and its scales shimmer like rainbows, while this, exceeding strange, puffs up like a bladder covered in spines.’
    Emme gazed in wonder at an exquisite painting of an iridescent fish, its scales bright with blue-smalt and gold leaf, and at another delicately rendered