Read Online The Boleyn Reckoning by Laura Andersen - Free Book Online
Authors: Laura Andersen
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have no idea.”
Rochford grunted, the lines around his eyes carved deep. “You’re Warden of the Cinque Ports now, I suggest you ensure Williamknows how vulnerable our coasts are to invasion. Paint him a picture of Portsmouth ablaze, our navy sunk, and foreign troops marching across the southeast of England.”
“Why don’t you paint him the picture?” Dominic was past trying to please his former master and guardian. These days he could barely keep himself together.
“Because William doesn’t listen to me!” Rochford stopped himself. He so rarely lost his temper that Dominic realized anew how deadly serious this all was. William marrying Minuette was such a personal disaster that he had not thought sufficiently about the dangers Rochford had just outlined.
Unfortunately, Rochford was also right about William’s refusal to listen. “I’m afraid the king doesn’t listen over closely to me these days, either,” Dominic admitted. “Not after the battles in Scotland.”
Rochford threw him a keen glance. “From which you were so conspicuously absent. Is that where the constraint between you arose? You counseled the king against battle?”
“It doesn’t matter. The French withdrew. And now we are all left guessing what their next move might be. Last autumn I had Renaud LeClerc’s message that their first attack was meant only as a warning not to provoke them further on the matter of the treaty.”
“Throwing that girl in the French ambassador’s face dressed in purple is far more than provocation,” Rochford spat. “Is there any way you could find out from LeClerc what their intentions are this summer?”
“No.” Dominic had been used once, unknowingly, against LeClerc. He would not be used openly.
“Then I suppose I shall have to find another way, as always.” Rochford sighed. “Sometimes I think I am the only man in England who is truly concerned with the general welfare of the nation and not just my individual desires.”
He stalked away, leaving Dominic staring at his retreating back.It was not like Rochford to lose his temper and say things he did not mean. But if he had indeed meant that last statement, then he was verging uncomfortably close to what, in another man, could be called treason.
Dominic headed for the stables, for he had promised Robert Dudley he would return to the Tower today and demand an accounting of his evidence. But before he could leave the palace precincts a messenger wearing the crowned falcon badge that Elizabeth had adopted from her mother intercepted him with a request to join the princess as soon as possible. Altering his steps, Dominic thought ruefully that all of this running around at least kept him from the deep—and disastrous—impulse to find both Minuette and the nearest bed and lay claim to the woman everyone else was now looking at only as William’s beloved.
When Elizabeth and Walsingham returned from the Tower, the first thing she did was send word to Dominic to join her when he could. Then she closeted herself alone with her intelligencer and sighed deeply. “What do you think?”
The best thing about Walsingham was that, despite having known her such a short time, he understood every twist and turn of her mind. He pondered deeply before answering, another quality she appreciated.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” he answered at last. “And that makes me uneasy.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes. “What do you suggest?”
“Do you need a suggestion from me?”
She smiled, eyes still closed. “I thought it polite to ask.”
“The very last thing with which you need to concern yourself is being polite, Your Highness.”
A discreet knock sounded on Elizabeth’s interior door and she opened her eyes. “Yes?” she asked the lady who appeared.
With a curtsey, the lady said, “Lord Exeter, Your Highness.”
Elizabeth made a rapid decision. “Walsingham, speak to Dominic for me. Use my chamber here. Tell him what Robert said and make
Rochford grunted, the lines around his eyes carved deep. “You’re Warden of the Cinque Ports now, I suggest you ensure Williamknows how vulnerable our coasts are to invasion. Paint him a picture of Portsmouth ablaze, our navy sunk, and foreign troops marching across the southeast of England.”
“Why don’t you paint him the picture?” Dominic was past trying to please his former master and guardian. These days he could barely keep himself together.
“Because William doesn’t listen to me!” Rochford stopped himself. He so rarely lost his temper that Dominic realized anew how deadly serious this all was. William marrying Minuette was such a personal disaster that he had not thought sufficiently about the dangers Rochford had just outlined.
Unfortunately, Rochford was also right about William’s refusal to listen. “I’m afraid the king doesn’t listen over closely to me these days, either,” Dominic admitted. “Not after the battles in Scotland.”
Rochford threw him a keen glance. “From which you were so conspicuously absent. Is that where the constraint between you arose? You counseled the king against battle?”
“It doesn’t matter. The French withdrew. And now we are all left guessing what their next move might be. Last autumn I had Renaud LeClerc’s message that their first attack was meant only as a warning not to provoke them further on the matter of the treaty.”
“Throwing that girl in the French ambassador’s face dressed in purple is far more than provocation,” Rochford spat. “Is there any way you could find out from LeClerc what their intentions are this summer?”
“No.” Dominic had been used once, unknowingly, against LeClerc. He would not be used openly.
“Then I suppose I shall have to find another way, as always.” Rochford sighed. “Sometimes I think I am the only man in England who is truly concerned with the general welfare of the nation and not just my individual desires.”
He stalked away, leaving Dominic staring at his retreating back.It was not like Rochford to lose his temper and say things he did not mean. But if he had indeed meant that last statement, then he was verging uncomfortably close to what, in another man, could be called treason.
Dominic headed for the stables, for he had promised Robert Dudley he would return to the Tower today and demand an accounting of his evidence. But before he could leave the palace precincts a messenger wearing the crowned falcon badge that Elizabeth had adopted from her mother intercepted him with a request to join the princess as soon as possible. Altering his steps, Dominic thought ruefully that all of this running around at least kept him from the deep—and disastrous—impulse to find both Minuette and the nearest bed and lay claim to the woman everyone else was now looking at only as William’s beloved.
When Elizabeth and Walsingham returned from the Tower, the first thing she did was send word to Dominic to join her when he could. Then she closeted herself alone with her intelligencer and sighed deeply. “What do you think?”
The best thing about Walsingham was that, despite having known her such a short time, he understood every twist and turn of her mind. He pondered deeply before answering, another quality she appreciated.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” he answered at last. “And that makes me uneasy.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes. “What do you suggest?”
“Do you need a suggestion from me?”
She smiled, eyes still closed. “I thought it polite to ask.”
“The very last thing with which you need to concern yourself is being polite, Your Highness.”
A discreet knock sounded on Elizabeth’s interior door and she opened her eyes. “Yes?” she asked the lady who appeared.
With a curtsey, the lady said, “Lord Exeter, Your Highness.”
Elizabeth made a rapid decision. “Walsingham, speak to Dominic for me. Use my chamber here. Tell him what Robert said and make
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