'No, Skye, this time you will not do battle against the Queen alone. This time your lord will stand by your side. The Queen has never had to face that. Whenever you have been vulnerable you have been alone. This time you are not alone, little girl.'
They left Belle Fleur that night, and it was with great sadness Skye left their home behind. The chateau would not, however, be closed, and the comte would watch over it for his stepson. While Deirdre and young Lord Burke dozed in the traveling coach their parents rode knee to knee through the early autumn night. A bright moon lit the coast road, silvering the villages and the vineyards and the small stands of oak forests. It took them two days of traveling at top speed to reach Nantes, where an O'Malley ship awaited them, for Skye had several of her vessels based in this French port to import wine to England and northern Europe from the Loire Valley's famous vineyards.
Even with a good wind it was several days' sail from Nantes to England. The weather was good as they edged around the Bay of Biscay, staying within sight of the French coast. Just past Brest they swung around into the English Channel to meet with a spanking sharp breeze from the south that pushed them across the water with greater rapidity than they had anticipated. Again they kept within sight of land, and Skye pointed out to her children the various landmarks as they went. They passed the Isle of Wight, and the great chalk cliffs of Dover, and at Margate Head moved into the Thames, sweeping up the river with the tide to the Pool of London. Skye stood silently with Adam at the rail of her ship as they anchored. On the shore beyond they saw a small party of the Queen's guards.
'My God,' Adam said, 'is she expecting us, then?'
'She's expecting us,' Skye said with a smile of satisfaction.
'You have on your battle smile,' he chuckled. 'I haven't seen that look on your face since…' He thought. 'I can't remember when, for it's been that long.'
'The last time I smiled like this was probably the last time the Queen and I did battle. Once before I beat Elizabeth Tudor, Adam, and I will defeat her again. Pray God that this time will be the last time.'
PART 5
Chapter 17
“You play a dangerous game, madam,' William Cecil warned.
'Nay, Cecil,' Elizabeth Tudor replied, ''tis no game I play at all.'
'You might simply have forgiven Lord and Lady de Marisco their marriage, and then asked for their help. Stealing their child is only bound to bring out the tigress in Lady de Marisco, and you do remember the last time you incurred that lady's ire, madam, don't you?'
'It was never proven to our satisfaction that Skye O'Malley was behind those piracies, Cecil!'
'Hah!' the Queen's advisor snorted, and then clamping his lips shut he said nothing more. There was no arguing with Elizabeth Tudor once she had her mind made up, and in this instance he wasn't sure she was not right. It was really very unlikely that Skye O'Malley would willingly help the English Crown against her own marauding family. They would need a strong hold over her, and what was stronger than the bond of mother love?
“The child is all right, Cecil. She is at Hampton Court with her nursemaid, and a proper little tartar she is, I am told.' The Queen chuckled. 'I saw her the night that she was brought from France. She is de Marisco's image, and I doubt not he loves her dearly. 'Tis another good card I have to play, Cecil! The child is doted upon by both her parents.'
Cecil shook his head. “The
'You are too diligent, my old friend,' the Queen chided him. 'There is no need to bring them to me, for they will come of their own free will. We will say my gentlemen are a guard of honor.' She laughed drily. 'Skye O'Malley will appreciate that, Cecil! She has wit, that damned woman! She has great wit!'
While the Queen enjoyed her little joke Sir Christopher Hatton, captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners, found himself on shipboard facing a woman he knew by reputation alone. It was a confusing reputation, for Elizabeth Tudor admired this woman and spoke of her with great respect while at the same time Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, claimed that the lady in question was a passionate drab who could not get enough of his loving. Hatton was inclined to dismiss Leicester's boasting, for the Queen would hardly like any female or accept her at court if she was openly out to snare the earl.
'My lord?' Skye looked questioningly at Hatton.
'I am Sir Christopher Hatton, madam, the Queen's captain. I am here to escort you to Greenwich.'
'And by what means, Sir Christopher, are you to escort me? I see no coach, nor do I see horses. Am I to walk, perhaps, behind your horse like a Roman captive?'
Hatton shifted uncomfortably, realizing he had forgotten to provide transport.
Skye laughed easily. 'Do not fret, Sir Christopher. I have full intention of hieing myself to Greenwich as quickly as possible, but I have only just arrived after a hectic voyage. I am going to my house on the Strand to bathe and change my clothes before I see Her Majesty. I will not present myself before the Queen until then, unless, of course, you have orders to drag me before Her Majesty immediately.'
He had no such orders, and Hatton was totally nonplussed by this beautiful woman who seemed so in command of the situation. 'Of course, Lady Burke…'
'Lady de Marisco, my lord.'
'I was given to understand that you were the widow of Lord Niall Burke, madam.' Sir Christopher was further confused.
'Indeed, sir, and I am, but Lord Burke died some time back, and I remarried. Lord de Marisco is my husband, and has been for two and a half years now.' Skye smiled sweetly. 'Would you care to come with us to Greenwood, my lord? If the Queen has ordered you to bring us to her you had best not appear back before her without us. I will be happy to send a message to your men on shore.'
The door to the main cabin opened, and Adam came in. The barge is here, sweetheart.'
'Well, Sir Christopher? Are you coming with us?'
'I can as easily ride, madame, if you will but tell me where Greenwood is located.'
'It is on the river, next to the Earl of Lynmouth's house.'
'I will meet you there,' Sir Christopher said, and then he beat a hasty retreat.
Adam waited until he was sure the captain had gotten off the ship, and then he chuckled. 'You've frightened him to death, Skye. Not an easy task under normal circumstances, I would imagine.'
'I see that though the Queen still enjoys the virgin state her taste in handsome young men has not changed,' Skye muttered.
The rumor is that he dances divinely,' Adam guffawed.
'Perhaps,' Skye said, 'but there is a good mind, I’ll wager, behind those beautiful eyes of his. Bess Tudor does not suffer fools within her inner circle.' With an impatient gesture she picked up her cloak. 'Let us go, Adam. Even though I know that our Velvet is safe, I want to know what this is all about. Where are the children?'
'Gone on ahead in the first barge,' he answered her, slipping the cape over her shoulders. Bending, he held her a moment against him, and kissed her gently on the cheek. 'Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll soon have our little one back.'
The Greenwood barge took them swiftly up the river to Skye's London town house. Mignon had been left behind in France with Guillaume, for they were too old to travel to England, and belonged at Archambault, where both had
