"I fear she will find Chartley most uncomfortable ... after this."
"She does not expect to find a Kenilworth wherever she goes. She has said that she believes there is no place like it. Do your best. Make sure that the place is clean. That is of the greatest importance. Fresh rushes everywhere and the servants in fresh clean livery, of course. Then all will be well. Let your musicians practice the tunes she likes best and if you give her plenty of dancing and music, she will enjoy her stay. I trow she loves that better than anything."
There was a knock on the door and a young man entered. I knew him. He was Philip Sidney, Mary's son and therefore Robert's nephew. I had taken an interest in him because I had heard that Robert loved this young man dearly and looked upon him as a son. He was a very noble-looking boy; he must have been about twenty years of age at this time. He had a very special quality—as Robert had—yet how different was that of this young man. There was something truly gentle about him, although this did not denote a lack of strength. It was a rare quality; I had never known anyone like him then, nor have I since. He was very courteous to his mother, and it was clear to me that she doted on him.
"I have been telling Lady Essex about the Queen's proposed stay at Chartley," said Mary. "I think she is a little disturbed."
He turned his radiant smile on me and I said: "I think she will find Chartley such a poor place compared with Kenilworth."
"Her Majesty realizes that most homes must seem so after this, and I think mayhap she prefers it so because it pleases her to know that my uncle has the finest estate in the country. So cast aside your qualms, Lady Essex. I have no doubt the Queen will enjoy a short stay at Chartley."
"My husband, as you know, is in Ireland on the Queen's business."
"You will prove a most charming hostess," he assured me.
"I have been away from Court so long," I explained. "I only rejoined Her Majesty shortly before we began this progress."
"If I can be of any use to you I shall be at your service," said Philip, and Lady Sidney smiled.
"It was for that reason that I asked you to come to me," she said. "When Robert told us that the Queen proposed visiting Chartley, I reminded him that the Earl of Essex was not in the country. He said that he was sure Lady Essex would do the honors with charm and grace, and suggested that if you needed help, Philip should accompany you back to Chartley and do anything you wished him to."
Philip Sidney smiled at me and I knew at once that I could rely on him.
We would leave together for Chartley, and there would set about making the castle fit and ready to receive the Queen.
Robert would be with her. I should have a chance of talking to him at last, on my own ground, and this I was determined to do.
Disclosure
As the thing is publicly talked of in the streets, there can be no harm in writing openly about the great enmity between the Earl of Leicester and the Earl of Essex, in consequence, it is said, of the fact that while Essex was in Ireland, his wife had two children by Leicester.
The next day I left for Chartley with a few of my servants, accompanied by Philip and his retinue. I found him a most agreeable companion. The journey was less irksome than I had believed it would be, for I was naturally not pleased to leave Robert behind with those two who were clearly besottedly in love with him—the Queen and Douglass Sheffield. I could laugh to compare them—our imperious, demanding, all-powerful Lady Elizabeth, and poor shrinking Douglass, who was afraid, as they say, of her own shadow. Perhaps in the latter case it was the warning ghost of Amy Robsart. Poor girl! I could understand it, though. I could well picture her nightmares about Amy, for she could be in a similar position to that unfortunate lady—if her story was true.
In due course we arrived at Chartley. This time I was not depressed to see it as I had been on the last occasion when I had returned to it from Court, for very soon Robert would actually be within these walls.
I had managed to send a messenger ahead of us to proclaim our arrival, and the children were waiting at the gates to greet us.
I felt proud, for my little darlings were a handsome quartet. Penelope had grown; she was going to be a beauty, and now she was like a lovely bud on the point of bursting in flower. Her skin was smooth and childlike, and she had beautiful thick fair hair and the dark attractive Boleyn eyes—her coloring inherited from me. She would develop early and the signs of womanhood were already showing themselves. Then Dorothy—less noticeable perhaps, but only when seen side by side with her more flamboyant sister. And my darling of them all—my Robert, eight years old now—quite a man, adored by his younger brother Walter and tolerated by his sisters. I embraced them all with fervor, demanding to know whether they had missed me and, being assured they had, was gratified.
"Is it true, my lady," asked Penelope, "that the Queen is coming here?"
"It's true indeed, and we have to make ready. There is much to be done and you will all have to be on your best behavior."
Little Robert bowed low to show us how grandly he would greet the Queen and commented that if he liked her he would show her his best falcon.
I laughed at that and told him that it would not be a matter of whether he liked her but whether she liked him. If she did, I told him, "she might graciously inspect your falcon."
"I doubt she has ever seen such a falcon," cried Robert hotly.
"I doubt she has not," I told him. "I don't think you realize that it is the Queen who is coming. Now, children, this is Mr. Philip Sidney, who will stay with us and show us how we must prepare to entertain the Queen."
Philip had a word with each of the children and when I saw him talk to Penelope it occurred to me that he would make a very suitable husband for her. She was too young as yet, for the disparity in their ages was too wide at this stage—he being a young man ready for marriage and she but a child—but when they were a few years older it would not seem so. I would tell Walter that while Leicester remained in such high favor it would be an excellent idea to marry our daughter to his nephew and link ourselves with that family. I was sure my husband would agree with this.
My servants had already started to work on the castle. The privies had been emptied and I noticed with relief were not evident by their odor. The rushes were swept out each day and a large quantity of hay and straw had been laid in so that on the day of the Queen's arrival everything could be renewed. Wormwood seed was mingled with the rushes, for it was well known that fleas could not live with it; and sweet-smelling herbs were used to scent the air.
Beef, mutton, veal and pork were being prepared in the kitchen. Pies, decorated with royal symbols, full of meats seasoned with the best of our herbs, were being baked in the ovens. Our table would be loaded with dishes, otherwise it would be considered a repast unworthy of royalty—although the Queen herself would, I knew from past experience, eat sparingly. I had already ordered that the best of our wines be brought out; Walter was proud of his cellars, where he kept the products from Italy and the Levant. I was not going to let anyone say I did not know how to entertain the Queen.
Through the days of preparation the musicians practiced those songs and tunes which I knew to be Elizabeth's favorites. It was rarely that there had been such excitement in Chartley Castle.
Philip Sidney was an ideal guest. His easy manners and charm had quickly made him a favorite with the children; and the servants were eager to do some service for him.
He read the children some of his poems, which I feared might bore the boys, but even young Walter was content to sit and listen, and I noticed how they all watched him intently while he read.