Cate of the Lost Colony - Lisa Klein [36]
When the musicians had played their final notes, I made my way through the crowd until I was standing beside him. My arm brushed against his sleeve. His fingers grazed the back of my hand, then my palm. The touch was light but the shiver of desire went deep.
“Why do you look so unhappy?” I asked in a low voice.
“You saw how Her Majesty rebuked me at the tournament. She will not support another voyage to Virginia because the last one failed.”
I had heard Ralph Lane’s men were more interested in fighting and destroying villages than in building a colony, and they had killed an Indian leader.
“That was your own fault, Sir Walter,” I scolded him. “For there was no man’s wife or mother or sister among your colonists to restrain their bad natures.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, turning to face me.
“A colony peopled by soldiers and adventurers with no stake in their common welfare is a colony that must fail. A man with a wife and a family will be more inclined to live peaceably with the Indians than to provoke a war with them.”
Now Sir Walter had drawn me aside. “Go on, Cat. Tell me more,” he said.
“Has it occurred to you that you must have women as well as men for your colony to thrive? Why, how else will you multiply the queen’s subjects?” I felt myself blush. But I was excited, too, as the idea unfolded inside me. “Perhaps, Sir Walter, if the queen saw you intended to settle Virginia with families who would make a livelihood there, she might change her mind.” I saw his face brighten. “And if you were to insist on going there yourself, rather than sending a lieutenant to govern, she would see you are serious about its success.” My voice had risen, and heads turned in our direction.
The queen had also noticed us. She lifted her cup.
“Too much wine? Time for a sip of water instead?” she said, looking from me to Ralegh.
For a moment I was confused, my wits clouded by the wine. I saw Frances sneering and Anne with her hand over her mouth. Finally I realized the queen was rebuking me. And claiming Ralegh for herself.
Lightly as a dancer, Sir Walter stepped to her side. “I shall pour it out myself and slake Your Majesty’s thirst,” he said.
Now Emme was beside me, tugging me down onto a stool.
“Didn’t I tell you to be more discreet?” she whispered. “Why, the whole court saw how he looked at you!”
But I did not care. The idea I described to Ralegh was blossoming further, and with it my hopes. He would persuade the queen to let him go to Virginia. I would flee the court and, disguising myself if necessary, board his ship. At sea I would reveal myself, Sir Walter would declare his love, and we would be married. He would govern the Indians wisely, and I would be the first Englishwoman to live in that paradise, the New World, united with my heart’s desire.
It was a lovely dream.
Chapter 14
Fortune’s Wheel Turns
My hopes of escaping to a new life sustained me throughout the difficult months of winter. The queen was always in an ill humor from her many ailments. Chief among them was an abscess on her gums from a rotting tooth, which she refused to have pulled because it would leave a gap in her smile. The tooth prevented her from eating and she was peevish with hunger and pain. Also, her breath smelled foul, so it was unpleasant to be near her. Not a day went by when she did not revile one of us. I even saw Frances leaving her chamber in tears.
Only one person, Dick Tarleton, dared to jest in her presence. I had brought the queen a drink of mint and parsley to sweeten her mouth and there he was, strumming his lute.
“My royal mistress suffers a great abscess on her body