clasping Elizabeth’s, and kissing her unaffectedly.
“Welcome to court!” she said warmly. “It is an honor to meet you, my Lady Elizabeth.”
She smiled at the Lady Mary, who had been sitting with her when Elizabeth entered the chamber. Elizabeth noticed that the room was filled with the heady scent of summer flowers, which were arranged in pots and bowls all around the apartment. Clearly, Lady Latimer loved flowers. She noticed too Katherine’s beautiful velvet shoes, embroidered with gold, peeping out from beneath her scarlet silk skirt.
Mary, hitherto disapproving of Katherine, was—to Elizabeth’s surprise—smiling at her with overt friendliness.
“Lady Latimer has just been reminding me that her mother once served mine,” she said.
“She was devoted to Queen Katherine,” Lady Latimer said. “But that was long years ago, my Lady Elizabeth, and you and my Lady Mary here have suffered great misfortunes in your lives. It is my sincere hope that you will both come to regard me as a loving stepmother who is willing to do you all the service that she can.”
Elizabeth was amazed to see Mary’s eyes fill with tears and her sister suddenly lean forward and hugged Katherine.
“I am sure we will become loving friends,” Mary declared.
“And you, Elizabeth,” said Katherine, holding out her arm. “You are a child still and need a mother’s love and guidance. I know you have the excellent Katherine Champernowne as your governess, but I hope you will think of me as your mother, and come to me if you need any help or advice. It will be my pleasure rather than my duty to assist you.”
“I will, madam,” Elizabeth said fervently. Her eyes were shining.
A light banquet was being served as the guests mingled, and Elizabeth took care to help herself to as many sweetmeats and comfits as she could eat, for the grown-ups were too preoccupied with their wine and their talk to notice a greedy girl overstuffing herself.
The King and his new Queen were circulating, greeting their guests in turn.
“My congratulations, Sire,” Lord Hertford was saying. “Your Majesty is a very lucky man.” He bowed courteously to Katherine.
Elizabeth looked with interest at the King’s former brother-in-law, a sober-looking man with a thin face, large nose, and thick russet beard, who, after the death of his sister, Queen Jane, had managed to stay close to the throne by virtue of being the young Prince’s uncle and a man of some political astuteness.
“We are indeed, my lord!” Henry clapped him on the back, winking at Katherine. “It’s about time I took myself a wife again, for the sake of my realm, and to be a comfort in my old age.”
“You’re hardly in your dotage yet, sir.” Katherine smiled. As the King beamed broadly, she went on, “How does the Prince, my Lord Hertford?”
“My nephew is in good health, madam, and excelling at his studies. It is a comfort to know he now has a caring stepmother at last.”
“I wish he could come to court,” she said. “Sir, could we not have him with us? After all, his sisters are here.”
The King shook his head.
“There is little I would deny you, Kate,” he told her, “but the Prince’s health must be my priority. The court can be a hotbed of contagion, as you know, and if he were to be exposed to that…The prospect is too terrible to think on, for his life is all that stands between mine and civil war.”
“Of course, sir, I would not press you,” she agreed hastily.
“But if, in due course, we have a son, Kate,” Henry went on, his eyes narrowing lustfully, “then I would not need to be so protective of Edward’s safety.”
“I shall pray for it, my lord,” Katherine assured him calmly without a trace of a blush.
“Pray on,” muttered John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, who was standing nearby, to Henry’s niece, Lady Margaret Douglas; Elizabeth, stealing another candied plum behind them, could hear every word. “She’ll need nothing more than a miracle to achieve that!”
Anna of Cleves, invited to the wedding as the King’s dear sister, joined the little group.
“Lady Margaret, my Lord Lisle,” she greeted them, then cast a glance toward the newlyweds.
“A fine burden madam has taken upon herself,” she murmured.
“From what I heard,” said Lady Margaret in a low voice, “our new queen would have preferred to wed elsewhere.”
“Hertford’s little brother, Sir Thomas Seymour,” Dudley supplied.
“Really? Well, he is very handsome,” observed Anna. Elizabeth could agree with that; she had seen him often about the court.
“He’s a rogue,” smiled the Lady Margaret, “and