her hair hanging about her shoulders and her wrap falling open to show those plump shoulders; but he had grown up; he had outgrown the simple country charms of Amy Robsart.
“You are going to leave me, Robert?” she said.
“Now listen to me. We had not meant that you should know. But since you have seen what you have seen, your father and I think there is no help for it but to tell you.”
“What … what have I seen?”
He hid his exasperation. “Your father, myself, and the messenger.”
“The messenger?”
“He comes this night from my father, and he comes with the utmost secrecy.”
“Yes, Robert?”
How he wished at that moment that she was not there or that he had no wife, and that she was the young washerwoman who had caught his fancy in the kitchens not long ago, and who could, without curtailing his freedom, provide as much excitement and amusement as Amy ever gave him. His freedom! He felt hot with anger when he thought of his freedom. Guildford—King! And he, Robert, might have been in that exalted position. He could have put his hands about her throat then and squeezed the life out of her.
“Robert, what is it? What ails you?”
When she spoke and he looked at her childish mouth, he was surprised at himself. As if such a creature could be allowed to stand in his way!
He said: “Poor Amy, I frightened you.”
And he bent over her and brushed her mouth with his lips. Her hands came up to cling to him. Silly Amy! She had no conception of what she had done to him. All she had said when she had learned about Guildford was: “What a great marriage your brother has made!” “Aye!” he wanted to shout at her. “And I might have made it!” She was too stupid to see that through her he had lost the great chance of a lifetime. All for the sake of a country girl who was no longer able to satisfy his carnal appetite!
“Don’t be frightened, Amy,” he said. “You do not think I would hurt you?”
“Nay … nay …” How she clung to him! He kissed her again; she was soft and warm from the feather bed. Poor Amy!
“Count yourself lucky,” he said, “that you are my wife and not only your father’s daughter. He would have made you smart for calling out as you did.”
“But, Robert … I thought you had gone to visit a woman.”
“Why did you think that? Do you doubt your powers to charm me?”
“No, Robert.”
“Of course you do not! You have a high opinion of your charms. Do I not often see you simpering with Pinto as you look in the mirror?”
“But …”
“I am teasing, Amy. You must not be afraid. Can you keep a secret?”
“No, Robert, you know I cannot.”
“You are an honest woman, Amy. But I know how to make you keep a secret, and because I know this I shall now trust you with a most important one.”
“What do you mean, Robert?”
“If you betray this secret, Amy, you betray me.”
“I still do not understand, Robert.”
“You do not understand much, my Amy. But your father and I have decided to trust you with this secret. You have forced us to it. You have seen a stranger in your father’s courtyard. You must say nothing of this man’s presence here, for if you do it may cost me … your father too … it may cost us both our lives.”
“How so?”
He put his hand on her bare flesh and felt her fluttering heart.
“Are you so frightened at the thought of losing me?” he asked. “Would it grieve you so much to see me mount the scaffold at Tower Hill?”
“I beg of you …” she began.
He interrupted: “I shall be leaving this house before dawn.”
“Where will you go, Robert?”
“Great events are afoot. The King is dead but that is not generally known. My father has set a cordon of guards about Greenwich Palace; he has closed the ports. He wants this known only among his friends as yet.”
“But what does it mean, Robert?”
“Amy, you have married into a great family. My brother will be King because his wife will be Queen. But we have to act before our enemies can. This night I leave with a few of my trusted followers. Can you guess on what mission, Amy?”
She shook her head.
“Of course you cannot.” He stroked her hair almost tenderly. “What could you guess, dear Amy, but whether it would rain or the