Montfallcon pointed. “Then why is he here? That spy. Sir Orlando told me of the note.”
“The note said nothing.” The Queen’s tone continued to be light. “There was no evidence against Captain Quire.”
“There is evidence everywhere,” said Montfallcon. “In your own actions.” He looked hard at Lord Shahryar, who pretended embarrassment. He fell silent.
Lord Shahryar was eager to remain but could not, by custom, do so. He bowed and withdrew, leaving the three of them in the vastness of the room filled with warm, autumn light, making the tapestries, panels and wall hangings seem richer than ever.
“We sought your advice, my lord,” said the Queen softly.
“I have given it. I have told you what to do. Abandon Quire. Abandon your secrets. Abandon wanton epicureanism!”
“My charges? My children?”
“Abandon all of that.”
“And will you abandon your own secrets, my lord?” she asked.
“What?” A glare at Quire. Quire was able to shake his head to let Montfallcon know that he had said nothing.
“We have heard you have been into the walls again. We forbade you, or any other, the walls. We ordered the entrances closed up.”
“There are many entrances, as I am discovering. Possibly hundreds.”
“Is that so, Captain Quire?” she asked.
“I do not know, madam,” he answered innocently.
She laughed. “Oh, come now, Captain. You are a villain from the walls. Admit it. All the evidence shows it now. I do not accuse you. Perhaps with Lord Montfallcon’s help you could rid us of the creatures who so distress us and who are almost certainly causing this plague of deaths. It is the most obvious explanation. And therefore I would suggest to you that the Realm be apprised of our decision. We must tell everyone that we have discovered murderers and criminals hiding at the very roots of the State-that all our recent troubles were caused by them; that they murdered Lady Mary and others, seduced some of our Councillors (now dead or fled), tried to poison the Queen herself. And we shall assure everyone that, with this discovery, we shall send expeditions into the walls to destroy every creature found there.”
Quire smiled. She had found perhaps the only means of uniting the nobles swiftly in a common aim. It was a clever notion and he admired her for it, even though it threatened his own plans.
“The walls?” Montfallcon rubbed at his eyelids, mumbling to himself. “No-there is something to be done-there can be no one sent to the walls. Not yet.”
“What do you say, my lord? I do not hear you.”
Quire had heard and was on his feet. “It is a splendid plan. Shall we join forces then, Lord Montfallcon?”
Montfallcon was contemptuous. “The wall rabble is not the cause of our dissolution. Base appetites are the cause. Bad blood. There is a canker here and it must be burned away. All evil must be swept from the palace. All!”
Quire pursed his lips. “We could begin with the walls, however, my lord.” He pretended to humour Montfallcon. “First the corruption within, then the corruption without, eh?”
Montfallcon would not listen to him. “They must die,” he told the Queen. He trembled as he moved further into the Throne Room. “There can be no ambiguity. Not now. Show Albion that you are pure, by destroying all that is impure within the palace!”
“But, good Lord Montfallcon,” she said, “that is what we suggest.”
“Then let me send men to do it.”
“It is our will.” She frowned, looking to Quire for aid, but he could not help. He shrugged.
“Good.” Montfallcon turned to leave.
“My lord,” she said, “there are other matters. The Perrotts. Know you when they plan to sail for Arabia?”
“Three days.” He was gone.
“Ah.” She turned to Quire. “Word must be sent to Tom Ffynne at Portsmouth with the fleet. But what shall he do? Attack the Perrotts or join them? If he joins them we’ll be at war with half the world-or more than half. If he attacks, we’ll have civil war. And Arabia’s movements are strange. There’s news of a great fleet, but no news of what it intends. Does Lord Shahryar threaten us-war or marriage?”
“Possibly,” agreed Quire. “If we were to avoid war…”
“Oho!” She looked down at him from her throne. “Give myself to Hassan? Would you agree to that, Quire?”
He dropped his gaze.
“You may go,” she said.
“Eh?”
“It is bad diplomacy to have you here.” She was demonstrating her power over him. “It incensed Montfallcon. It might incense others. Tell me, do you think the expedition into the walls will save us?”
“Several might. Led by a variety of your nobles, given important tasks.” He was sullen.
“Then you find my statecraft good.”
“I have never doubted it.” He did not want to leave. On the other hand he needed to see Alys, and Phil, to contact Tinkler, if he could. They must all be warned and set to work. He made a show of dignity. He stood up, bowing. “When does Your Majesty desire me to return?”
“We’ll keep you from the public eye today, I think. We’ll meet tonight. In my bedchamber?”
Quire was dry. “I’m to be the secret lover, then, am I? Because I seem a villain.”
She shook her head. “Because you are a villain, clever little Quire. It is your nature. I understand that now.”
“You punish me?”
“Why so? I love you still.”
Baffled, Quire made his way from the official rooms, back to the private apartments, doing his best to order his thoughts and scarcely able to understand how, since Wallis’s suicide, their roles had reversed in this subtle way. He would, in the past, never have allowed himself to be placed in such a position as this. He must immediately consider ways of reestablishing his authority. He went first to the seraglio and found Phil, taking him away and punishing him for his foolishness. Then he told Phil to find Alys Finch at once and send her to meet him in the maze. Then he gave a messenger a note to take to the Town in the hope that Tinkler would be found. He was frustrated, needing to take action, but not possessing sufficient information, as yet. He went to see Doctor Dee, who received him reluctantly, staunching a wound in his arm. “She grows fiercer. The philtres no longer function. You must make me a new one soon.” Doctor Dee was too weak to visit the Audience Chamber and be Quire’s ear.
Quire considered entering the walls and going through familiar routes, where he would be able to overhear almost everything, but there was too much danger of meeting either the Tatars or Montfallcon. He did not wish to betray himself by admitting a connection with the rabble which would soon be blamed for so many crimes. So he fumed.
He went to the maze and Alys Finch did not come to him. Was she, too, in the walls? With Oubacha Khan and Sir Orlando Hawes? Misleading them, as he had told her to do? Was half the Court in that province he had only lately claimed as his own? Tinkler was not found. There was no one else to work for him. He had lost three useful Councillors in a single night and suddenly had no allies on whom he could call. Dee was useless. The Queen, having cleansed herself of all sentiment, would be of no help at present. He brooded on this problem, which was central to his cause. How could he again tap the huge well of feeling that lay within the woman?
He spent the day waiting. He had never known a more terrifying one. He was impotent. And when, at last, she joined him in the bed, she talked of all her efforts to unite the Realm, to pacify the world, and wondered why he had no praise for her. She told him that Montfallcon had gone, probably into the walls, and that she feared the old lord, suddenly. She told him of her efforts to send messages to the Perrotts, begging them not to sail. She told him of a brief meeting with Oubacha Khan and Sir Orlando Hawes, and he became more interested. But the pair, it seemed, had said nothing of their plans to the Queen. She made love to him and he was passive, barely able to respond at all. She gave him up and readied herself for sleep. He wondered if he should go again to the maze and hope that Alys was there. He watched her, stroked her absently, as she began to breathe more deeply.