This Heart of Mine (19 page)

The queen was gowned in a magnificent black and gold dress, the bodice of which was covered with pearls. She smiled graciously and extended her hand to Robin and Alex. Once the men had paid their homage, it was the girls’ turn to curtsy, which they did prettily and in unison.

“Well, now, my lord of Lynmouth,” said Elizabeth, “what is so very important that it cannot wait until this business with the
Spanish is over and done with?” She peered at him, genuinely curious.

Robin smiled warmly at his queen. “Do you remember, madame, when I first came to court to serve you and I cried for my mother? You told me then, in order to stop my weeping, that I might have anything of you that I desired. I was so enchanted at the time by the prospect of my queen giving me anything I wanted that I could not decide.”

The queen laughed at the memory. “As I recall, my lord Southwood, I then said that the offer was an open one; a promise from me to thee that might be claimed at any time. Tis that not correct?”

“Aye, madame. Your memory does not fail you.”

“I should hope not!” The queen chuckled. “I am not yet so old that I grow forgetful.” She peered at him again. “So you have finally decided after almost twenty years have passed what it is you would have of me, Robert Southwood. Is that not it?”

“Aye, madame, I have finally decided, and I come before Your Gracious Majesty to ask for the hand in marriage of your royal ward, Angel Christman.”

The queen’s surprised glance swung to Angel as she attempted to exercise her memory once again. There were several royal wards. Who was this one? Ah, yes! Her eyes lit up. “You are aware that the maid is penniless, my lord. She will bring you nothing but her maidenhead if you have not stolen it already.”

Angel flushed crimson, and Robin quickly said, “Nay, madame! I have far too much respect for Angel’s reputation to compromise her.”

The queen smiled, a trifle bitterly, Velvet thought, and said, “You may look like Southwood, but you are your mother’s son in many ways, my lord. I believe you when you tell me that you have had a care for the girl’s honor. It is an incredible offer you make to Mistress Christman. What, however, will your mother say to such a match when she returns from her voyage? Will she approve? I wonder.”

“Yes!” he said firmly.

The queen laughed again. “Aye, you are right. She will be glad, I have not a doubt, to see you happily settled, for Skye O’Malley has always been a woman for a happy ending. Very well, Robert Southwood, Earl of Lynmouth, you may marry my royal ward, Angel Christman. When may we expect to be invited to your wedding?”

“I would wed Angel as quickly as possible, madame. I see no point in waiting. Neither of us have parents here to satisfy, and there is no dowry to be worked out.”

Elizabeth Tudor nodded. “Tonight!” she said. “You will be married tonight by my own chaplain, and my lord Dudley shall give the bride away! Yes!
Tonight!
It shall be a good omen for England! A beginning, not an end!”

“Madame!” Robin was astounded. “You are most gracious!”

“Dudley!” the queen snapped. “Get off your skinny backside and fetch my personal chaplain! Then find some posies for this child to carry!”

Angel stood, stunned with surprise. It was all happening so quickly. Less than an hour ago she had found herself facing a proposal from a wealthy and powerful man. Now she was to find herself married in less than another hour. What was happening to her? She began to tremble with fright until Velvet pinched her fiercely.

“Courage, you little ninny!” her friend hissed. “The queen honors you. Where is the feisty sparrow I knew when I first came to court? If you swoon, I shall never forgive you, Angel!”

“Look who advises me about marriage!” Angel snapped back, the blood beginning to flow hot in her veins once more. “The runaway bride herself!”

Velvet grinned mischievously at her friend. “Good!” she said. “You have returned to yourself again. I hope you’re not going to be one of those wives who hangs on to every word her husband says. God’s nightshirt, Angel, be yourself! Alison was one of those simpering idiots!”

“Perhaps that is why he is in love with me,” replied Angel in a slightly stricken voice.

“Nay! You’re nothing like Alison de Grenville. Dying was the wisest thing she ever did,” Velvet said harshly. “Robin was already beginning to be bored with her though he knew it not at the time.”

“Come here to me, child,” said the queen, beckoning to Angel. When the two girls had moved to the queen’s side, she asked, “How long have you been a royal ward, Angel Christman?”

“I came to court when I was just a little past five, madame. I shall be eighteen my next birthday.”

“So young,” murmured the queen. “You were so young to lose your parents, but then I was younger when I lost my mother. I hope you have not been lonely, my child.”

“Oh, no, madame! Your court was a wonderful place in which to grow up. Had I not been at court, I should not have had any of the wonderful advantages that I received by being part of it. I have been taught to read, and to write, and to figure. I can both speak and read Latin, French, and Greek. I am proficient with
the lute although I have never owned one. The strings are so expensive.”

“You like music?” The queen was suddenly interested in this lovely girl who was about to rise from the ranks of the unimportant royal wards to the station of an important noblewoman.

“Oh, yes, madame, very much. I would like to learn to play the virginal, although I dare not aspire to Your Majesty’s talent.”

The queen smiled. The girl was quick despite her fluffy beauty. That was good, for she would be an asset to Lord Southwood. “ ’Tis said I have a talent for the virginal,” Elizabeth remarked dryly.

At that moment Lord Dudley returned, bearing with him a small bouquet of pale pink wild roses, daisies, and some sprigs of lavender. “ ’Tis the best I could do, Bess, stamping about the edges of the camp in the dark looking for flowers!” He thrust them out to her.

The queen removed a gold ribbon from her sleeve and tied it around the bouquet. Then, taking it from the Earl of Leicester, she presented it to Angel. “There, my child, though your own beauty far outshines that of the flowers. Now, dammit, where is the chaplain?”

“Here, madame.” The cleric stepped foward.

“I wish Lord Southwood and his betrothed to be wed here and now,” said the queen. “Waive the bans.”

“Of course, madame,” came his smooth reply. “Might I have the names of the parties involved?”

“Robert Geoffrey James Henry Southwood,” said the queen with a chuckle. “He is one of my many godchildren, and Lord Dudley’s also. It has been more years than I care to remember since he was baptized, but, nonetheless, I do.”

Robin smiled. “You are truly amazing, madame,” he said.

“Humph!” said the queen with a little snort. Then she turned to the bride. “What is your full name, child?”

“Angel Aurora Elizabeth, madame. I am told my grandmother insisted I be called Angel because she thought I looked like one. Aurora was my mother’s suggestion because I was born at dawn. Elizabeth was for Your Majesty.”

“You were named for me?”

“So I remember being told, madame.”

The queen nodded, pleased, and then said, “Well, Father, let us begin.”

What a funny place to have a wedding, thought Velvet as she stood listening to the cleric droning the marriage service. Here they all stood, in the middle of the lieutenant general’s tent on a potential battlefield. The startled servants had cleared away the
table where the queen and Dudley had eaten earlier. It now stood against one side of the tent. Above, the lamps cast warm golden shadows. The hurriedly summoned cleric was plainly garbed without vestments of any kind. The bride stood in the only decent gown she possessed, clutching a hastily gathered bouquet. Thank heavens Angel had refused to come before the queen before she changed, thought Velvet.

It really was a lovely gown, and Velvet was especially glad of the impulse that had caused her to share her own bounty with Angel and Bess. Bonnie had made the dress as if she had been doing it for Velvet herself. The underskirt was striped in narrow bands of gold and turquoise, the bodice embroidered with freshwater pearls and tiny crystal beads, the sleeves beribboned with silk bows. What no one but Velvet knew was that beneath the gown the bride’s stockings were darned neatly in several places and her shoes were almost worn through. Just before the simple service began, she had thought to loose Angel’s long golden hair so that it hung unbound almost to her waist. It was like a shimmering veil. Angel really was an exquisite bride.

“I pronounce thee husband and wife,” said the queen’s chaplain.

For a long and silent moment, Robert Southwood looked down into Angel’s radiant face, and then, smiling, he kissed her lips sweetly and briefly. Angel then found herself kissed by Lord Dudley, the queen, and Lord Gordon. She blushed rosily. Velvet gave her friend an enormous hug, whispering as she did so, “I am so glad we are now sisters, dear Angel!”

The queen’s servants hurried forth with goblets of sweet Malmsey wine and thin sugar wafers, which they passed to all assembled. “It is a poor wedding that does not offer its guests a loving cup,” declared Elizabeth.

“I am a poor bride,” Angel said, but she smiled as she looked down at her husband’s ring with the Southwood family crest now on her finger. When the cleric had asked for the ring, they had suddenly realized they hadn’t one, and Robin had drawn his own ring from his finger to use as the wedding band. Later, he had promised, she would have a proper one.

“Nay, child. You must be dowered properly, and since you have been my royal ward all these years, it is my duty to see it done,” the queen told her. “For each of the thirteen years you have been in my care and charge there will be a hundred gold pieces, plus an additional two hundred as my bridal gift to you. Finally, my lady Southwood—” and here the queen smiled at the sudden look of delight that passed over Angel’s face—“I present to you this necklace.” The queen reached up and unfastened from
about her own neck a small, exquisite necklace of pale pink diamonds set in gold. “For you, child,” she said, and, turning Angel, she fastened it about the startled girl’s throat.

Angel’s hands flew to her face, and then one hand stole to her neck to feel the necklace now lying there. “Madame … madame …” she stammered, feeling totally foolish at her inability to say thank you. No one in her entire life had ever been so kind to her.
Never!
The queen reached out to pat her cheek, and then, raising her goblet, said, “Once long ago I raised my glass to Geoffrey Southwood on the occasion of his marriage to Skye O’Malley. As I recall, I arranged that wedding, too! It seems to be a royal custom of mine seeing that Southwoods are married off safely. Good health, long life, and many children to you both. God bless you, my dears!” Then she drank, and the others drank with her.

Shortly afterward, the queen departed back to
Ardern Hall
, and the four young people returned to the Mermaid. This time Robin insisted that Angel ride before him on his horse, so Velvet was left to herself in the coach. The moon was waning, but the night sky was bright with myriad stars. Alex rode discreetly ahead of his friend, giving the newlyweds some measure of privacy.

Robin Southwood couldn’t ever remember being so happy in his entire life. All of his days he had been privileged and pampered, but marriage to this lovely creature who was now nestled in his arms meant more to him than anything else he had ever had. He could feel her trembling ever so slightly against him and it distressed him that she was afraid. He would not openly address her fear, for he knew it would embarrass her, and so he sought to distract her.

“When we go back up to London, we shall go to my mother’s warehouses along the river and find all kinds of wonderful materials to be made into gowns for you, my darling. You are surely the most beautiful girl ever born, and a beautiful gem should have an equally beautiful setting. You will let me help you choose, won’t you? I picture you in jewel colors, for they will be perfect with your exquisite pink-and-white complexion.”

“You are most kind, my lord,” came her soft reply, but her head remained turned away.

“Look at me, Angel. Do you know that you have never looked me directly in the eye? Look at me now, my lady Southwood.”

She turned and blinded him with the flash of her marvelous turquoise eyes. There was a small smile on her lips. “Lady Southwood,” she said softly. “I am, aren’t I? I really am!”

He grinned back at her. “You are, Angel. You are most assuredly my lady, Angel Southwood, Countess of Lynmouth, married
in the sight of God, Her Majesty the queen,
and
by the queen’s chaplain.”

“Oh, my lord, what have we done?”

“Nothing yet,” he replied mischievously, then chuckled as she colored a most becoming rose. “Now, madame, I shall issue you my first husbandly order. Will you please call me Robin, my darling wife?”

“Are you sure we haven’t made a dreadful mistake … Robin?”

“No, my lovely Angel, we have not made any mistake. Even the queen knew this rather hasty marriage was right. I love you, and I hope in the days to come that I can teach you to love me. You must never be fearful of me, Angel. You must never be afraid to speak your mind or to ask of me what you will. I will always listen to you. Now before we arrive back at the inn I would discuss tonight with you.”

“Tonight?”

“Our wedding night, but, dear Angel, if you prefer, it is a time that may be postponed until you learn to know me better. The choice is yours to make, sweetheart.”

She was silent for what seemed to him a very long time, and then she spoke in a soft voice that he had to bend over her to hear. “I know you a great deal better than you would believe, Robin, for Velvet loves you dearly and has always spoken of you. I know that you will not hurt me, for you have always been wondrously kind. I cannot, however, think of a more fitting way,” she finished mischievously, “for us to get to know one another better than to celebrate our wedding night as it should be celebrated. One thing I would warn you of, however. Despite my years at court, I am truly a virgin, and not particularly knowledgeable. I only ask that you be patient with me.”