towards the bench he had been sitting on. ‘I’ll wager you never thought to converse with me here – and I a free man.’ She heard the smile in his voice. ‘I had almost given up hope myself, but our friend Bacon was most persuasive with His Majesty.’
‘He is as skilled an orator as he is a philosopher,’ she agreed. ‘Is everything made ready for your voyage?’
Raleigh blew smoke. ‘A few ships are assembled at Plymouth, but I will need many more yet. Even the King acknowledges that the fleet is too small for our purpose – though, of course, he does not know what purpose that is.’
‘Will he grant funds himself?’
‘Perhaps – if Bacon can persuade him. My word is as nothing to him, of course. He still eyes me with the same disdain he harboured before he made me his prisoner. He could hardly abide me in his presence.’
James had made painfully clear his distaste for the old adventurer at the reception held in his honour. Even Villiers had been unable to lift his royal master’s spirits, and he had spent the entire feast glowering at his untouched plate and gulping even more wine than usual.
‘I am deeply grateful to you and Sir Thomas, my lady,’ Sir Walter continued. ‘If every member of our faith proved as generous, I would sail to Spain with an even mightier fleet than the Armada.’
‘My husband would gladly have laid out three times as much if he could,’ she said quietly. Then: ‘You are sure this enterprise will succeed? A great deal rests upon it, Sir Walter.’
‘Not least my head.’ He chuckled, then fell silent for a few moments. ‘You have hazarded more for our faith than most, Lady Frances,’ he continued, his voice now serious. ‘I know that you have much to lose if I fail. But even if your fortune is destroyed, the reason you invested it will never be known. The King expects his subjects to be as greedy for gold as he is, so does not think to question why each of them risks such vast sums on the enterprise.’
‘That is a blessing,’ she said, and looked at her hands. Raleigh took them in his. Their warmth comforted her. ‘Do you truly believe you are carrying out God’s will, Sir Walter? That He wants our kingdom to be rid of the heretic who sits upon the throne, even though it will lead to war and bloodshed?’
There was a long silence.
‘You doubt our faith, my lady?’
‘No!’ Frances cried, then held her breath as her voice echoed around the dark courtyard. Beside her, Raleigh waited. ‘It is not our faith I doubt, but the means by which we express it. Is it not better for us to live peaceably than to murder the King and thousands of his subjects in the name of religion? That might satisfy the Catholics, but it would make enemies of many others. If your plan succeeds, then we will surely be plunged into civil war.’
She feared she had said too much. But the words had been swirling in her head for so many weeks now, depriving her of sleep until the small hours, that she could no longer bear to leave them unspoken.
‘What you say is true, Lady Frances.’ Raleigh’s words were measured. ‘Our old queen was of the same mind as you. She never wished to make windows into men’s souls, but desired only that her subjects might live in peace with one another.’
Frances smiled. She had heard her mother say that many times. Would that the last of the Tudors still wore the crown.
‘But such peace is only possible while someone of equal wisdom – of equal tolerance – rules us,’ Sir Walter continued. ‘King James will not rest until he has rooted out every last vestige of popery, as he calls it. It is no longer enough even outwardly to conform. He means to have our souls too.’
He drew on his pipe. Frances closed her eyes as she breathed in the earthy aroma. It brought back a memory of her father’s library at Longford, so strong that she could almost believe herself there.
‘I understand your fears, my lady,’ he continued. ‘You have a growing brood of sons and would not forfeit their lives for all the gold El Dorado could offer. My own son will accompany me on this voyage. Wat has grown into a fine boy,’ he added fondly. ‘Do you think I would risk his safety if I doubted the