Lady Fineden nodded, her grey eyes studying the clean-shaven, handsome features of a man who seemed to have grown in stature in the matter of a few months. Her son had been a careless, seemingly light-hearted fellow given to the pursuit of pleasure when he set off on his travels, but had returned a confident man with the maturity of his nine-and-twenty years upon him. The change was marked and she wondered what had brought it about, though to be fair to him she knew he had not travelled merely for his own pleasure. She alone of her immediate family was privy through her husband’s trust to her son’s mission.
‘No doubt you will be summoned shortly—but we shall say no more of that. I have you here for a while at least, and you will do me the kindness of escorting me to court tomorrow evening, I hope?’
‘It would be a pleasure, dearest Mama,’ Nick assured her. ‘But I pray you will excuse me this evening? It is a while since I was here and I have people I must see.’
‘You must do what pleases you, Nick. I am content with your promise for the morrow. Now I must tell you about your sister Agatha. She joins me in town next month, and I believe she is hoping for another addition to her family, for her daughter is with child.’
‘Sarah was asking after her, but I had no news. She will be glad to hear that Agatha does well.’
‘I shall be writing to Sarah soon. But you may be more interested in something I heard at court the other evening…’
Apparently listening as Lady Fineden recounted some of the latest gossip from court, Nick’s mind was elsewhere. His detour to the estate of Oliver Woodville had been unnecessary because the man he sought was in town, and he must waste no time in speaking with him, for Nick was once again certain he had been followed. This time he had caught sight of the fellow several times, and knew it was not the man of shadows he had seen so briefly in Paris but another, clumsier fellow who had possibly been paid to watch him.
There was always the chance of an attempt at assassination, for these were dangerous times and a man such as he who worked in secret ways was liable to meet a violent end. He had known it when he took on the work, but his life had seemed an empty charade, with nothing for an able mind to discover but pleasure, and that palled after a while. He had been at the point of deciding to leave London and return to his estates when he was offered the chance to broaden his mind and serve Queen and country in one.
His travels in Italy had not been only for the purpose of discovering the beauty of which he had spoken so compellingly to his sister and her guests, but for another, more important.
His Holiness the Pope considered Elizabeth of England a usurper, and there were many of that faith who spoke openly of excommunication and of sweeping the impostor from the throne. He had been asked to discover as much as he could about the mood in Rome and to report to Walsingham in Paris, and this he had done, but he could bring no good news. Though other foreign rulers were inclined to treat with England’s queen, the Pope seemed set in his determination to damn her.
Nick had been kept constantly on the move as a courier for Walsingham these many months, returning in secret to England for an interview with Her Majesty before setting out again. It was at this meeting that he had been knighted for services to Elizabeth, though the reason he had given his family for the honour was very different from the truth.
Nick’s face was grim as he recalled his last conversation with Walsingham, who was presently in Paris as the Queen’s ambassador. It was a position Francis had not desired, for he felt he was needed here in England at such a tense moment, but his own mission had been placed upon him by his masters and was an important one. Walsingham’s thankless task was to arrange a marriage if he could with the Duc d’Anjou, but he had confided to Nick that he doubted either party could be brought to the match. However, his diplomatic skills were such that his very presence in France at this moment might prevent an alliance between Her Majesty’s most dangerous enemies.
The situation was to say the least fraught with tension, for the mood here in England was uneasy, Norfolk having many supporters who might rise to help an invasion if it came. When questioned, Norfolk had naturally denied any desire to marry Mary Queen of Scots, saying that his earlier plans had been a passing fancy that he had never intended to carry to a conclusion. But such an alliance might still be popular with those who would see England returned to Rome and the Catholic faith.
Cecil and Walsingham believed that the throne would be safer if Elizabeth had a husband by her side, but convincing the Queen was not an easy task. She was skilful at avoiding the subject, and at turning the tables on those who opposed her.
The Queen’s marriage was indeed a thorny problem, but for the present Nick had other matters in mind…
‘You have been away overlong, Nick.’ Annette Wiltord gave him a speaking look from eyes that had been described as being like sapphires. Her pretty mouth was pouting as she waved her fan of painted chicken skin with its handle of polished horn embellished with silver. ‘More than eighteen months I have languished for sight of you—and now you come to me and say only that you need to find Oliver Woodville. Now is that the behaviour of a lover, sir?’ Her tone was teasing but her eyes showed that she was annoyed.
‘Forgive me, Annette,’ Nick kissed the hand she offered, smiling at her in the way that had always melted the ladies’ hearts and made them his easy conquests. Annette was a widow of some means and had been his mistress before he left on his travels. He had assumed their affair was at an end and that she would have replaced him. Indeed, he was certain that she had not lain in an empty bed these many months pining for him, but the look in her eyes told him that she was prepared to continue their relationship now, should he wish it. ‘Perhaps another evening we may spend some time together? However, I would be grateful if you could tell me where I might find Oliver. I was told he had come to London but having tried his house and found it closed I am at a loss and unsure where else to look.’
‘I believe he stays in lodgings, having come only for a brief visit—and you may already have missed him, for he did not wish to be long parted from his wife.’ The look in her eyes suggested that she had tried to tempt his friend, but he knew Oliver too well. Having settled for marriage he would not lightly betray his love.
‘Then if you would give me the direction of his lodgings I may hasten there and hope to catch him before he departs.’
Annette pouted again. ‘Only if I have your promise that you will give me your attention soon, Nick.’
‘Tomorrow after the masque,’ Nick promised, moving to take her in his arms and kiss her full ripe lips so competently that she was near to swooning when he let her go. ‘I escort my mother, but later I shall come to you—if you wish?’
‘You know I wish it, devil that you are,’ Annette said and ran her finger down his cheek. ‘No one makes me feel as you do, Nick. The others are merely diversions, to fill the empty hours you refuse to spend with me. No other man can satisfy me as you do.’
‘No one man would ever satisfy you,’ Nick said a smile on his lips, as he pressed her against him so that she could feel the burn of his arousal. ‘But you are a lusty wench and I have been away a long time, and it would be no hardship to lie with you, Annette.’
‘Then stay…come to bed,’ she said, her eyes willing him to give her the satisfaction she craved. ‘Surely your business can wait a little longer?’
‘You tempt me mightily,’ Nick told her. ‘But if I should miss Oliver it will mean a trip into the country. Let me go now, my hot wench, and I shall please you another night.’
With that she had to be satisfied, though she pulled a wry face as he left her with indecent haste once she had supplied the direction he needed. He had never been easy to manage, though often through indolence rather than indifference in the past, but she was aware that something had changed. There was a new purpose, an alertness and eagerness that she had not noticed before…a certain hardness of character that she found fascinating.
In the past Annette had been content with the time