The Tudor Secret - C. W. Gortner [39]
I glanced at him. “A beautiful place to be born, my lord. She must be fond of it.”
“She is. She even had her own apartments as a babe, at Queen Anne’s insistence. Anne wanted her daughter close to her, regardless of how Henry felt.” Robert straightened in his saddle. “I wonder if she’s arrived yet. It would be just like her to keep us waiting.”
I hoped she did. The longer she delayed, the more time I’d have to appraise the situation. Cecil had said it was likely Edward had been lodged in the palace itself, perhaps in the so-called Secret Lodgings, a series of guarded chambers connected to a long gallery, designed to afford the monarch privacy and seclusion. The more I found out about Edward’s exact whereabouts, the more Cecil might discern about the duke’s impending plans. I also had to join up with Peregrine and find out who was following me and why.
“Let us be off,” cried Robert. “Last one there has to feed the horses.”
With a spirited laugh, he set spurs to his bay. Cinnabar leapt at my nudge, reveling in the opportunity to display prowess. Habituated to long daily rides outside Dudley Castle, my roan was not used to too many hours in the stable. With the wind against my face and Cinnabar’s flanks propelling me forth, I surrendered to the moment, reminded of the days when I’d rode bareback in the fields as a boy, feeling for a brief time as though I hadn’t a care in the world.
* * *
The palace sprang up before me, faced in red brick riddled with plaster grotesques, octagonal chimneys emitting roast smoke and knot gardens breathing a confection of perfumes from herbs and perennials. Waving his hand imperiously, using his horse as a wedge, Robert steered us through the courtiers amassed outside the main gatehouse. We rode past a ward into a cobblestone courtyard, around which were assembled edifices painted in Tudor green and white.
Grooms led lathered horses into these stables, while noblemen in leather cloaks peeled off gauntlets as they stalked into the palace.
Robert leapt from his saddle. Unhooking his bags, he said, “I won the wager. You see to the horses. I’ve a room off the inner court. Wait for me there. I have to report to my father.” He strode off, leaving me with the horses panting in my ears, oblivious that I’d curbed Cinnabar’s enthusiasm so I might deliberately lag behind.
I led the horses into a stable. Harried grooms were accommodating a multitude of roans, geldings, and palfreys, divesting them of saddles, brushing them down, and stabling them with armloads of fresh oats and hay.
None took notice of another servant among them. I recognized the duke’s own sleek Barbary in a far stall removed from the others, beside an exit gate with a view of a vast hunting park. I brought the horses to it. Like his son, Northumberland had disdained travel by river. I couldn’t say I blamed them: I was not enamored of running water myself, a childhood fear I had never fully conquered.
I clicked my tongue at the Barbary, who pricked its ears as I stabled Robert’s steed and Cinnabar nearby. “Enjoy it,” I told Cinnabar. “There’s no predicting where we might lodge next.” He nuzzled me, grateful for the run.
A liveried groom approached. “Will you be requiring feed?”
I nodded, reaching into my jerkin for a coin. “Yes, please, and—” I stopped. Stared. “Where in God’s name did you get that green coat? Or should I say, steal it?”
Peregrine grinned. “I borrowed it. These Greenwich stable grooms are so easily bribed. They’d strip naked for the mere glint of gold.”
“Is that so?” I returned to the horses, lowering my voice. “Did you find him?”
Taking my cue, Peregrine busied himself spreading hay on the floor. “Yes. He’s here.”
I paused. “In the palace?”
“Yes. After I left you, I followed him to a tavern where he’d tethered his horse. He didn’t even stop for a drink. He took to the road and got caught up in the servant transport from Whitehall, which gave me time to hop a cart. He rode beside us but stayed apart, as if he smelled better, though there were ale and songs aplenty. When he arrived, he went