The Beauty of the Mist (31 page)

Just before noon, he’d been called to the
Great Michael
. Just a preliminary tour of the warship that would carry the Queen, the messenger had said, but the young man had also told John that Count Diego de Guevara, himself, would be leading the officials from the Palace.

Maria scowled as one of the women draped a gold cloth over her shoulder. John had not been fooling when he’d said he’d clothe her in gold, she realized. So stubborn! But as she ran her fingers lightly over the fine gold threads of the brocade, something touched her deeply, and in her heart, a sense of joy overcame her annoyance. The gifts she’d received in the past had never meant much to her. After all, she had always had everything one could desire, and more. But John’s generosity, his desire to provide for her, somehow meant so much more to her. This dress was not to be a gift for a queen. This gown of gold was to clothe his beloved.

The quiet tap at the door and the entry of a serving girl drew Maria’s attention.

“M’lady. You have a visitor,” the girl whispered.

Maria paused, sliding the material from her shoulder. Perhaps a messenger from Isabel, she thought. “Does he bring a message? A letter, perhaps, that you could deliver to me?”

“It’s not a he, m’lady,” the servant chirped in response. “It’s a lady. A Scottish lady. And she has no message that she’ll leave. Pieter told her that you were quite busy at the moment, but she insisted on waiting in the front hall. She asked to tell you that it is essential that she see you in person, at once.”

Maria handed the gold fabric to the seamstress and reached for her dress. “Did she tell you her name?”

“Aye, m’lady,” the girl answered. “Mistress Janet Maule.”

Maria felt a wave of relief wash through her. The thought of facing Lady Caroline, for any reason, held no appeal for her. But Isabel had told her briefly of the dilemma facing Janet and David Maxwell. Most certainly, this visit had to do with that. She reached behind her neck and began to lace her dress, but one of the seamstresses jumped to the task.

“Thank you,” she said before turning back to the serving girl. “Could you show the lady in here?”

“But m’lady,” the seamstress was quick to put in. “To have your dress ready for tonight, we still have so much to do.”

Maria addressed the serving girl first. “Please show Mistress Janet in.”

With a quick glance at the white-haired seamstress, the girl disappeared into the corridor. When she was gone, Maria turned her attention back to the trio and addressed them all. “As I tried to tell you before, I have no need for a dress tonight.”

“But Sir John gave specific instructions, m’lady. The steward has expressly...”

“And
I
am giving you even more explicit instructions.” Maria smoothed a hand over her skirts. “We are finished here, but I thank you for your trouble.”

“Very well, m’lady.” The woman’s eyes never stopped in their appraisal of her figure as she gestured for her helpers to gather up their cloth and equipment. “I think we have all we need.”

“Please understand that I appreciate the position you are in, but as far as the gown is concerned...”

The woman smiled and laid a kindly hand on Maria’s arm. “It is no problem, m’lady. You will have a beautiful dress by this evening.”

Maria paused, thinking of what she might say to make these three understand, when the door to the bedchamber opened and Janet Maule followed the serving girl into the room.

Maria opened her arms and smiled at her friend. “I am so glad you are here, Janet. Perhaps you can help me communicate my wishes...” The young queen stopped mid-sentence. The full curtsy that Janet gave her made her throat tighten. When the young woman stood up again, Janet remained where she was, silent and her head bowed respectfully.

“Leave us,” she ordered the others without taking her eyes off her visitor. “Leave us now.”

The note of authority in Maria’s voice left no room for debate. It took only a moment for the room to clear. Once the door closed quietly behind the departing women, Maria moved to Janet and took her trembling hands in her own. The young Scots noblewoman still would not lift her eyes.

Maria knew what was wrong before she even questioned her friend. But she still had to ask. “Tell me what’s happened, Janet?”

Janet’s eyes lifted only briefly to her face. “My stepmother Caroline. She has your ring.”

“My ring!” Maria repeated. “I couldn’t find it before we left the
Great Michael
. I assumed it was lost.”

“She knows who you are.”

The two women stood in silence

Maria looked into Janet’s face, searching for some indication of the young woman’s feelings toward her. For anger. But Janet had not come to vent her hostility for Maria’s actions. She had come to warn her. She had come as a friend.

“I should have expected as much!” She whirled and crossed the room to the window. Below, the Groenplaats was bustling with vendors and townspeople. Maria considered the ring itself, with its intricate insignia. The combined coats of arms of her family and her husband’s family had been used on several portraits and decoratively throughout the Palace. What a fool she had been to think she could stay in the same city and avoid being caught. A company of helmeted soldiers, their long spears flashing in the sun, marched across the center of the square. “Do I have any time, Janet?”

“Not much, Your Majesty. I...”

“Oh, please don’t call me that, Janet,” Maria cried, turning a coming back to the young woman. She took her by the hand. “I am Maria to my friends. I will always be Maria to you.” Janet nodded tentatively, and the young queen smiled. “Now, tell me everything so that we can decide what must be done.”

Leading her to a cushioned bench, Maria drew her friend down beside her.

“Tell me what you know, Janet.”

“I...I was hiding in my chamber. In truth, your maj...Maria, I had followed Lady Caroline to spy on her.” Janet smiled shyly and received a nod from Maria. “Well, I could hear everything. She knew from the ring that you are the Emperor’s sister. Indeed, a minister came when she sent for him.”

“Which minister?”

“Count Diego de Guevara. I recognized him from our arrival at the Palace last night. When her came to her chamber, Caroline demanded to meet with the Emperor immediately. They argued, but when she produced the ring, he agreed to her wishes.”

“She’s seen the Emperor?” Maria leaped up in alarm and went to the window. “They could be on their way! I’ll be taken...”

“Nay,” Janet cried out, following her. “It was impossible to see the Emperor. In fact, I don’t see how he could know anything about it, yet. He left the Palace in the middle of the night!”

“Left?” Puzzled, Maria turned around to face Janet. “Why?”

“Count Diego said that Queen Isabella gave birth to a child, late yesterday.” Janet continued. “He told her that the earliest she could possibly see the Emperor would be tonight after the welcoming feast.”

“A child!” Maria couldn’t keep the pang of worry out of her voice. “Isabella was not due for nearly a month. And have you heard of any news of them? Did she fare well with the delivery?” Maria had her differences with Charles, but she had always admired and respected his wife, Isabella of Portugal.

“From what I could gather, it sounded as if the mother and daughter are both fine.”

Maria sent off a quick prayer of thanks for this news.

“Count Diego said they’ve named the child Maria...for you...though I don’t think Caroline was overjoyed about any of it.”

Maria couldn’t help the smile that brightened her features. That devil, Charles. He would try to soften her like this. But that thought quickly passed as she thought of Caroline and Count Diego.

“Then Count Diego knows I’m here.” Her brother’s minister was an efficient man. He would come for her, himself. She involuntarily glanced out the window again.

“Do you think Caroline knows where I am?”

“I’m certain she does,” Janet answered. “Everyone in the delegation knew Sir John was staying at Hart Haus.”

“Then the minister knows where I am, as well!”

“I don’t think so,” Janet said slowly. “Caroline refused to say where you were. And she didn’t say anything about your...relationship with Sir John. She is determined to deal with your brother in person. But she assured the minister that you would be going nowhere, and I think he believed her.”

Thank you, Holy Mother, for that, Maria prayed. Count Diego was a good man, but if he thought for an instant that Maria would slip through his fingers, he would have Caroline tortured on the rack without a moment’s hesitation. Well, whatever happens to Caroline Maule, she has brought on herself.

“That might work to our favor,” she said, thinking aloud. “Perhaps, then, there is time to find Isabel, time to leave on the next ship.”

Looking at Janet, Maria saw the look of alarm in her expression. “What else, Janet? You are not telling me everything, are you?”

The young woman paused, struggling with what she wanted to say. “You know that Caroline is after Sir John.”

Maria stared at her young friend. “She wants him for herself, you mean.”

Janet looked steadily at Maria. “She will destroy him if she can’t have him. I know that.”

“And you think she plans to disgrace him.”

“Aye, Maria. At the very least. You don’t know her the way I’ve come to know her. She is evil. Just from what I heard this morning, I am certain she will accuse him of wrongdoing. Although she chose my father, I know that she will never be happy with him. And I know that he already hurts inside because of her. And I also know that she will not stop, will not rest, until he is found guilty of some crime. You are to be the wife of King James. You are to be Scotland’s queen. I don’t know what the laws are here, but in Scotland...Sir John’s betrayed his vow. By helping you to escape, by spending... time with you, his life is forfeit, to be sure. That’s why I think she insists on meeting with your brother face to face.”

Maria shook her head. “But it can’t be. He is innocent of these things. I never told him who I was, or that I was trying to escape an ill-gotten marriage to your king. He doesn’t know the truth even now. As far as he knows, I am no one.”

“But she has your ring.” Janet pressed. “All that she needs is proof that you were aboard the
Great Michael
. But even if she didn’t have the ring, everyone aboard that ship saw you with him. Perhaps Sir John’s men will keep silent, but the rest–the nobles who were aboard–they’d gladly prefer to have his head displayed on a pike over Edinburgh Castle rather than their own. And when the delegation returns without you, the Earl of Angus will be looking for someone to blame. John Macpherson is not of the Douglas clan. With Caroline’s encouragement, they’ll stab him in the back without a moment of remorse.”

The laws of the Holy Roman Empire were not so different from those of Scotland. Though Charles would never harm one of his own blood, John Macpherson was another matter. If the marriage contract were to be abrogated, the Emperor would treat John Macpherson’s actions as a capital offense. And he would punish him brutally. John would never have to worry about what would happen to him in Scotland. Maria began to pace back and forth in the room, her mind awhirl with what she could do next. This was all her fault. John’s life was about to be cut painfully short, and she alone was to blame.

Maria stopped before the window and leaned heavily on the casing. She would not sit back and let Caroline destroy John. That would not happen; not so long as she lived. And then Maria knew that she could no longer leave Antwerp. The price of freedom was simply too high. The price was John Macpherson’s life.

“How did you get here, Janet? How did
you
know where I was?”

“I sent a message to David. He couldn’t come–the people from the Palace were expected aboard the
Great Michael
, but he sent several of his sailors to accompany me here.”

“Aye, it’s Count Diego who is with Sir John right now.” Maria considered for a moment. “Janet, do you think Caroline might know that you’ve come to me with her plans? Or that you even know anything of her vile little plot?”

Janet wrapped her arms around her middle. “Nay, Maria. I don't think she does. But this morning, after Count Diego left, I remained hidden in my room, wracking my brain for a way that I could contact you.” Janet took an deep breath. “It was then that Caroline must have noticed the partially open door to my chamber.”

“Did she discover you there?”

“Aye. She yanked open the door and stormed into the chamber. She demanded to know how long I’d been there.”

“And?” Maria asked uncomfortably.

“I told her that I’d just arrived and was only there to get my cloak.”

“Did she believe you?”

Janet shook her head. “I don’t know, but why do you ask?”

Maria walked over to the younger woman and gathered her hands into hers. “When I am finished with what I am about to do, Lady Caroline Maule may be vicious and vengeful than ever before. I just want to make sure that you, my friend, will not be the target of her malice.”

Janet’s expression was one of worry as she looked at the young queen before her. “What are you planning to do?”

Pushing aside feelings of the brief moments of happiness she’d felt in John’s arms, Maria gathered her strength. She’d sworn to herself she would never do it. Not for her brother. Not for the Holy Roman Empire. But she would do it for him. She had to.

“I am going back to the Palace. To the Emperor,” she announced. Her face was a placid mask, hiding the emotional chaos within. “I will be Queen of Scotland.”

The Queen’s cabin stood ready.

As Count Diego de Guevara inspected the furnishings of the room, John stood with his back against the wall and thought of Maria.

Never had he wanted anyone as fiercely as he wanted her. Each moment away from her dragged at his spirit, but the ache in his soul was only a reflection of the ache of desire that the Highlander was feeling for her right now. Glancing at the narrow door that led into the small cabin where she’d stayed, he envisioned her perfect body sleeping peacefully in the great, canopied bed at Hart Haus. He shook his head to dispel the image, but she was not simply an image, she was a real woman, and he had no desire to shake Maria from the place she had taken in his heart.