Chapter 1-6
1022 Words
‘Frances, when we are alone. And Duchess is sufficient when we are not, my dear.’ She answered in perfect Italian, reaching across to touch my arm. ‘So, don’t keep me in suspense. Who is she?’
‘Susannah Gresham.’
‘Ah, yes. What a pairing you would make. You so dark and handsome, she so fair … though perhaps she has a little height on you. She is a tall girl.’
Her mockery stung. I turned away. ‘Your Grace.’
She drew a sharp breath and touched my arm again. ‘Raphael, no. I speak honestly. You would look very well together. Truly.’
Again, I found myself terribly discomfited. It seemed I had misinterpreted her, so was in danger of appearing to seek compliments for my appearance, which left me full of confusion. And once more, I floundered for a way to divert her. I tried to laugh but there was no mirth in it. ‘I don’t think she favours me, anyway.’ I closed my eyes, feeling my tongue escaping me. ‘When I encountered her in a palace courtyard, she ignored my greeting.’ Why, in the name of God, did I tell her that? ‘Her young sister smiled at me, though.’ Cristo. I was losing my mind. Her sister smiled at me? Really? Yet something hard and knowing flitted across her face and then was gone, leaving me doubting I had ever seen it.
CristoReally‘She does not speak, so you should make no assumptions about her meaning.’
‘She cannot speak? Was she born so?’
‘Not at all. I believe she became mute after her mother died. She is the King’s goddaughter, so I know something of her.’ She pursed her lips in thought. ‘He has some fondness for her. Richard Gresham was with him at Worcester and on the continent when other courts took his people in for a time. They are staunch friends, still.’
‘Perhaps some malady took her voice?’
‘She had not been ill – or only from grief at the time – so far as I am aware. The King believes she is now but wilful. Her grief began it and when Richard married Catherine Villiers so soon, she continued it … to pain her father.’
I turned at the sound of horses approaching, followed by the trill of feminine laughter. Giuseppe and the Lady Anne.
Frances sighed. ‘Come, Raphael, I shall show you my jewellery. The stones are good, I believe, but the settings are heavy and antiquated. I’m sure you can work your magic.
The duchess had set off back to Whitehall Palace the next morning, telling me she would send word when it was safe for me to return. Yet with a courier expected at Cheapside, I could not remain away for long, and I was eager to start the work for her. The gems were spectacular, and she had given me carte blanch to re-cut them as well as create fashionable settings. Nonetheless, two days later, I still remained before the fire in my chamber – a draughty place with air smelling of mildew and smoke – its walls hung with faded arrases from a past era depicting saints and martyrs. Once again, the day was drear and chill and such visions of grisly death did little to lift my mood. Giuseppe snoring in the chair opposite, content after our morning ride followed by a luncheon of mutton and a jug of Rhenish, did little to lift my mood either.
With the duchess departed and finding myself again without occupation, and the novelty of it now quite gone, my thoughts returned again to Susannah Gresham. It was difficult to believe she would remain silent by choice. Who would? I did not have to imagine the frustrations of being unable to communicate as I had struggled with English on first arrival. How could I forget trying to make my way from St Katherine Dock by hackney through the teeming streets? When the coachman asked, ‘Where are bats?’ I had clutched my head in despair. I sighed. Could her father’s anguish over it have made the King take such a harsh view of her misfortune? For he is known to have a kind-hearted nature, shown with many demonstrations of love for his children and even his pretty little spaniel dogs.
Giuseppe’s snort woke him, and he sat up looking befuddled. ‘Why you wake me, Raph? I dreamt of many women. Many, many all for me only. One, she about to suck my–’
‘I didn’t wake you, oaf. Your own snoring did. Get up and do your job. Serve me in some way.’
He grinned. ‘You wanna me to suck you off, eh? Or there’s a bella Signorina in kitchens, she is so nice an juicy–’
bella SignorinaI laughed, holding up my hands. ‘Tu stolto. I can’t decide which orifice is the more repellent.’ I stood and walked to the window, looking down at dense woodland motionless as painted theatre scenery under a lid of pewter sky. ‘We shall leave for London in the morning. I’ll take my chances in Cheapside.’
Tu stoltoGiuseppe began to pack for me. Perhaps he too was tired of inactivity? When a tap sounded upon the door, he was there to open it with surprising speed. He took the letter from the footman and brought it to me.
‘The duchess’s seal.’ I broke it and unfolded the thick sheet of paper, quickly scanning it. ‘The Canfords have gone to their house in Salisbury after having their lodgings withdrawn.’ I shook my head, smiling. ‘She had a word with the Clerk of the Green Cloth. What a wonder that woman is.’
‘She la lussuria for you, no mistake, eh?’
la lussuria‘I know for a fact she does not, for she told me so herself.’
He laughed uproariously, bending to slap his thighs. ‘You think a woman tell a man the truth of this?’
Sadly, in this case, I did.
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