beat twice, once against the water, which then echoed against the stonework of the bridge. I opened my eyes once the echo stopped. Ahead loomed grey sky. I turned to look back at the yellow and blue that had painted the sky above my house. Fare thee well London. I hope for a better sight when I return for Anne’s crowning. I turned back around to see the riversides almost divested of the city’s trappings. We had passed London’s boundaries and entered the country of Kent. Anne was from Kent. I had not visited Hever Castle since I was a babe. I wondered if she would visit now she was Queen. I would return to Norfolk just once—to show Emma and Gabrielle my splendor, since I would never have them at court to see it. Mist diffused the view across the water. Swans drifted in and out of sight among the reeds against the farther bank. I heard nothing beyond the pull of the oars as London fell away in the fog. The air lost its acrid bite of wood fire, sewage, and decay as we flowed downriver. All of my reference points vanished. The mist grew to a fog so thick we could not see a barge length in any direction. The beater slowed his count. My heart slowed with it. Time disappeared. There was no sooner or later, no forward or back. We floated, suspended on the water in a cocoon of nothingness. I shivered within my cloak. If this was what Orpheus had found when he went to the Underworld I could not blame him for turning around and losing Eurydice. I no longer believed a city called London filled with one hundred thousand souls stood behind us. Greenwich was a myth. The mindless drumbeats echoed from every side. The oars cut the water for no good purpose. We’re not moving! I wanted to shout at them. Madge stirred, her eyelids fluttered, but she did not wake. I was alone in my fear. Suddenly the mist broke and a blinding rush of sunlight shut my eyes. I blinked them clear and looked up. Greenwich’s massive red brick façade loomed over me. Dozens of great bay windows watched the river like dark empty eyes. The King’s crimson and gold pennant flew above the donjon. We sailed through its rippling shadow. How had the hours passed in a moment? I had no time to wonder as we glided past the King’s donjon to the public stairs. “Oars, up!” One of the rowers caught a flying rope out of the air. A man’s deep laugh sounded. Someone pulled away the bearskin. “Mistress.” I blinked at Stafford’s extended hand. “As promised. You are safely arrived at Greenwich.”
Chapter Ten Greenwich Palace, Greenwich April 1533
Madge paused on the threshold of the Queen’s Watching Chamber to adjust one of her damask foresleeves and give our names to the Yeomen Warders flanking the doors. The long chamber buzzed like an enormous hive. Sixty sets of eyes pricked me—more people than lived at Shelton Hall—as we entered. Their trenchant eyes scoured me, measuring my posture, my dress, my walk—all the details Mother then Madge had devoted the past nine days to polishing. The attention struck a flint inside my stomach. I pressed my folded hands against it, hoping to smother the burning. I tried to tell myself these eyes did not matter, only the Queen’s. But if I could not impress the hangers on in the Watching Chamber, what were my chances with the Queen? For the first time since she’d married my brother, I thanked God for Madge. She sailed through the crucible, oblivious to its heat. If Madge can ignore them, so can I. I sucked in my stomach—a trick to force my back straight and chin up. I could not take a deep breath, but that only served to cool my stomach. It was always better to faint than vomit. Madge marched down a brief and narrow gallery into a smaller, but grander room than the last—the Queen’s Presence Chamber. The wood paneling had recently been painted ivory—it required five coatings, Madge informed me, to cover the scarlet from Spanish Katherine’s