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was just as well, for it could cost all of us our lives if it ever emerged that the Queen’s horoscope had been on the table between us.
    ‘Perhaps once the heir to the throne is born, my sister will allow me to leave court and live quietly in the country.’ Elizabeth leaned her chin on her hand, looking broodingly across at the shepherds in their fields opposite the palace. ‘I wish that I was back at Hatfield. Now that would make a pretty prison. Do you know Hatfield, Meg?’
    ‘No, my lady.’
    ‘It is not so large and handsome a palace as Hampton Court, but it is homely and quite beautiful in the spring. Soon the musk-roses will be budding and there will be young cuckoos calling in the groves. I miss . . . ah, so many things, Meg, I cannot begin to tell you what a wonderful place Hatfield is. Perhaps one day I shall be allowed to return there, and Kat Ashley will once again be my companion. Then we shall—’
    The door to her apartments opened without any knock and the Lady Elizabeth turned, her body stiff at the suddenness of the intrusion.
    ‘How dare you, sirs—!’ she began, then bit her lip and fell silent, seeing at once who it was.
    Three black-robed members of the Spanish Inquisitionstood in the grand doorway to her apartments. As the princess curtseyed, the men grimly inclined their heads, displaying only the slightest deference to her status as the Queen’s sister.
    I recognized one of the priests and scrambled to my feet in sudden fear, setting aside the book I had been leafing through. It was Señor Miguel de Pero, the priest who had warned me to keep away from Alejandro.
    Father Vasco, the irascible old priest who had made our lives so miserable at Woodstock, came hobbling in behind them, his face greyer than ever, leaning on the shoulder of a young novice.
    Alejandro!
    My face flushed at the sight of Alejandro, and I had to look carefully at the ground, willing my cheeks to cool down. But it was hard not to remember his kisses in the disused storeroom, the warmth of his arm about my waist as he drew me closer. What if he had not stopped there?
    Furtively, I tidied my cap and gown, then despised myself for such a show of vanity. Was there no end to my foolishness? I had only seen Alejandro yesterday, yet I was behaving as though we had been apart for months.
    ‘I am always delighted to welcome those who serve Her Majesty, my sister,’ Elizabeth was saying, cleverly reminding her visitors of her own royal lineage.
    In a pointed manner she spoke English rather than Spanish, despite her proficiency in that language.Perhaps she hoped that would give her some advantage.
    ‘But I fear the abruptness of your entrance has left my nerves jangling. Do you always barge into the rooms of royalty without knocking or asking permission to enter, sirs?’
    ‘You must forgive us the ignorance of foreigners, my lady,’ replied Señor de Pero in his heavily accented English. He was taller than the other two men; a great wooden crucifix hung from his belt, and his neatly trimmed beard gleamed with oils where he had recently groomed it. He threw back his hood and smiled, his thin-lipped mouth cruel. ‘We are not used to your quaint English customs. In our own blessed country of Spain, the Inquisition comes and goes as it pleases, even in the great palaces, even amongst princes and nobles.’
    Elizabeth shivered at these words. But her chin was raised. She was not ready to show fear before these foreigners. ‘What is your name, sir?’
    ‘My name is Señor Miguel de Pero and I have come to ask you a few questions on a matter pertaining to Her Majesty’s safety,’ he told her shortly. ‘These other gentlemen are here to keep a written record of whatever is said by yourself or your servants, so there can be no denials later. I trust this will not be an inconvenience to you, my lady.’
    ‘How could it be?’ the princess countered sharply. ‘My royal sister’s safety is always my greatest