said quietly at last. ‘I should not have taken out my ill humour on you – or Sir Francis. I must learn greater tolerance if I am to remain in this place.’
Frances felt the tension begin to abate and reached over to him. His hand felt warm as he clasped hers. ‘You have much to bear,’ she soothed, thinking of Villiers’s smirk as he looked out from the dais, the emblem of his promotion glinting in the candlelight.
‘I will have a good deal more yet,’ he said grimly.
Frances brought his hand to her lips. ‘We have borne much worse. The King’s fancy will soon pass to another. And when it does, the best that Sir George can hope for will be to live out his days in peaceful retirement.’
They fell silent and Frances knew that her husband, too, was thinking of Somerset. She drew her cloak more tightly around her. They were close to their apartment now and she looked forward to the warmth of her husband’s embrace as they lay cocooned in their bed. Those precious hours always acted as a balm to their troubles at court.
‘I do hope you are not thinking of retiring already, Sir Thomas?’
She and her husband jumped at the silken voice as Villiers stepped out of the shadows. In the gloom of the corridor, she sensed, rather than saw, the smile that was playing about his lips.
Thomas moved in front of her and made a stiff bow. He did not return to her side but kept her hand tightly clasped in his. ‘Sir George.’
The young man folded his arms and leaned against the wall. ‘The King always speaks so highly of you. I have often heard him say that you are the most assiduous of all his servants for the care you show towards his beloved hounds.’ A pause. ‘I do hope he has not laboured under a misapprehension all these years.’
Her husband bristled, but when he replied his voice was calm. ‘I have always sought to serve His Grace to the utmost of my ability – as my lord of Worcester would attest.’
Villiers chuckled. ‘That preening old fool? I wonder he could find the stables, let alone ensure their efficient management.’
Thomas did not reply.
‘Well, it is no matter. I mean to order things to my satisfaction. Hunting is the King’s greatest solace – one of them anyway – so it is imperative that everything is made ready that we may depart as soon as His Grace gives the order. He was waiting a full fifteen minutes for his hounds when we set out for Hampton Court last week.’
Frances was glad that the darkness masked her dismay. It had been Villiers who had delayed their departure, insisting on changing his attire just as the King was about to mount his horse. Thomas had told her of it when he had returned that evening. She willed him to defend himself now but he remained silent.
‘You may send word when you are done,’ Villiers said, his tone suddenly brisk.
‘Done?’
‘Why, yes, preparing His Grace’s buckhounds, of course. Surely you have not enjoyed so much of the King’s hospitality this evening that you have forgotten your duties.’
Frances felt her husband’s fingers twitch.
‘A night’s rest is the only preparation they require, Sir George,’ he replied quietly. ‘If I disturb them now, they will be tired and intractable by the time we depart for Ashridge.’
Villiers took a step closer but Thomas did not flinch. ‘I am fully aware of that, Sir Thomas,’ he snapped. ‘But what of their accoutrements? The harnesses were still spattered with mud from the previous hunt when we rode out at Hampton Court. It is fortunate for you that the King did not notice them. Such slovenliness disgraces his honour.’
Frances bit down so hard on her lip that she tasted blood. How would her husband bear to serve this devil? His taunts had been infuriating enough before his promotion, but as Thomas’s superior they would become utterly intolerable. Part of her wished that her husband would lash out at him. But she knew that that would be almost as deadly as striking the King himself.
She heard Thomas draw in a long breath. ‘I will repair to the stables as soon as I have escorted my wife back to our chambers, Sir George.’
He made another stiff bow and strode down the corridor, gripping Frances’s hand even more tightly than before. As they rounded the corner, she glanced back and saw Villiers still standing there, his eyes fixed