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royal apartments, Frances could not wait to be dismissed and was happy to hear the queen say that she wouldplay on her virginals for the earl before her private audiences. Essex looked delighted.
    Frances curtsied and left the chamber, only to have the Earl of Essex call to her.
    â€œLady Frances,” he said, coming up quickly behind her. “I am sorry not to have welcomed you to court sooner.”
    â€œAre you not called to attend the queen, my lord?”
    â€œAh, I am in great need of a serious woman to remind me of my duty, yet the queen often has a sudden change of mind, and has just had another on receipt of a letter from the Scots king, James. And, as I said—”
    Frances curtsied. As she rose he yet towered over her, even though she, like the queen, was above middle height for a woman. “It would have been difficult to welcome me sooner, my lord Essex, since I arrived only late yesterday, and you surely do not meet every incoming lady’s carriage, though you might wish it.” She meant for him to see that she was not a fool, and to know her lack of interest in a handsome courtier from the beginning.
    He laughed. “Her Majesty remarked that her new lady had wit. Now I see the queen’s finding was not idle, though she did not say the wit had a sharp, cutting edge.”
    Frances tried to keep any pleasure at his civil recognition from her face; nonetheless, she was pleased not to be thought another empty head. “That is lavish praise, my lord, for so small a humor, and I do assure you, it was my best.”
    â€œAh, modesty, too, and I suspect a superior intelligence behind those intimidating gray eyes.”
    Although Essex’s blue eyes were wide and his face guileless, Frances could not rid herself of the thought that he was cleverly waiting to pounce, like a ravenous dog at a bear baiting. Yet Lady Stanley could have been a gossip with evil intent, and the young earl not as she described him. Besides, he was dangerously good to look at, and Frances was not unmindful of male beauty.
    Courtiers with curious eyes were brushing past them. Essex held out his arm to her, and she was forced to take it or seem lacking decent manners, or worse, frightened, which would be catnip to such a man. He led her to a windowed alcove overlooking a walled garden and bowed her into a seat.
    â€œHer Majesty tells me that you are interested in your father’s work. Does Mr. Secretary know what a rare daughter he has? Tell me more, my lady. I am beyond fascinated.”
    Frances’s gaze went quickly to his face, but she detected nothing of ridicule, only interest. Yet she was wary. Robert Pauley had seemed astonished and delighted with her curiosity, but it came naturally out of their conversation. Essex might be taking advantage of any gossip he could use to gain her friendship. For what end? “I wouldn’t know where to begin, my lord.”
    He sat and leaned closer, arm bent on his knee, chin cupped in his hand, altogether attractive…and knowing. “Begin anywhere, Lady Frances, anywhere at all.”
    She heard herself telling him of her study of cipher and her ability to lift and reseal a letter so that it remained undetectable.
    Essex laughed aloud with delight and took her hand from her lap before Frances could snatch it away. Once it rested in his, she would have seemed unfriendly to withdraw it abruptly.
    â€œSuch a great skill for so small a hand.”
    He turned her hand over and pressed his fingers into the palm as if he intended to leave his mark. “Ah, how clever you are, Lady Frances! I do adore intelligence, especially when it is attached to such beauty. By the great Harry, a woman who wants to know secrets is not unique, but a woman who breaks a cipher…now, that is beyond unusual. You must show me this talent you have with wax seals, and show me soon. Perhaps I could come to your rooms to watch you work.”
    Frances could not tell