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Garnesche. We know your tentacles reach into every corner of that English court.”
    “My sources provided nothing. I could find no information.” The man’s voice lowered to a dangerous drawl. “You will just have to accept my word for it.”
    “Your word?” Elizabeth knew that sneering voice. He was a Frenchman. She wracked her brain. From court. Elizabeth remembered. The Lord Constable! The French king’s counselor.
    “You doubt me?” Garnesche scowled. “Do I have to remind you that it is in your best interest to continue relying on me? After all, who else could you find with such a wealth of useful information as I provide?”
    Elizabeth watched as the Lord Constable studied the giant before him.
    “I must admit what you say is true. We have been able to count on you in the past. And yes, we have watched you cut your own countrymen’s throats. Naturally, that has occurred only when it suited you. When it improved your own stature with your king.” The accusation was clear in the man’s tone.
    “I know what you’re referring to.” Garnesche glared menacingly at him. “The Duke of Buckingham was a pompous fool who spoke against me before the king in the Star Chamber. He was going to pay for that anyway. It just happened to be his misfortune that his claim to the throne was as good as Henry’s.”
    “A circumstance that you were delighted to use to put his head on the chopping block.” The Lord Constable’s voice dripped with cynicism.
    “And that bothers you, suddenly? You gained more out of that than I did.” Garnesche paused, but hearing no response from the Frenchman, continued on. “It was Buckingham who was pushing the hardest for an alliance between England and the Emperor Charles. It didn’t take much prodding to make Henry think the two were in league together to take the crown away from him.”
    Elizabeth’s mind flashed back to the year before, when the shocking news of the English nobleman’s execution had swept across Europe. It had been the talk of every court in Christendom when the English king had imprisoned the mighty Duke of Buckingham on the charge of plotting to take his crown by force. Henry, lacking a legitimate heir, was acutely sensitive to any hint of revolt against his right to wear the crown. She recalled hearing the details from the endless stream of diplomats passing through her father’s house: the accusations, the questionable witnesses, the trial by his peers, the finding of guilt despite his proclamations of loyalty. She recalled most clearly the talk of Buckingham’s grisly execution. And now she knew what was behind it all. Now she knew who had caused it to come about.
    “How you must have smiled to see Buckingham’s neck go under the executioner’s ax.”
    “His conviction for treason set back the alliance between England and the Holy Roman Empire two years, Constable. It was what you and your king wanted, and it was what you got. Why, even now the Emperor Charles must tread lightly with Henry. And it is due to me.”
    “Yes. It was due to you.” The Lord Constable’s stony gaze was unwavering. “But we have watched how your friendship has recently blossomed once again with the English king, and it makes us lose confidence in your willingness to deal with us. In so many words, there are some among us who don’t trust you.”
    “Don’t generalize, you coward. What you mean is that you don’t trust me!” Garnesche snapped. Elizabeth watched as he drew himself up to his full height. “You and I both know, you are the only one who knows of my dealings on your behalf.”
    “I don’t have to trust you. I employ you and I pay you to do our bidding.” The Lord Constable’s voice was cold, his tone bordering on disdain.
    Garnesche paused, silently considering the other’s words.
    Elizabeth stood as still as a statue, all her own problems now totally forgotten. From what she could gather, Sir Peter Garnesche’s employment by the French government