The Perfect Royal Mistress (28 page)

“I’m glad you agreed to come,” he said with a note of hesitation as she stood in the little entry alcove to his private bedchamber after her performance that afternoon. Near the hearth, a pup roused from a dream, squealed, then dropped off to sleep once again.

Nell pressed her hands onto her hips. “Did you honestly think I’d refuse?”

“All I know for certain is that I have been distracted since last we met.”

“’Ave you, now?”

“Well, I have been keenly aware that through circumstances of my own foolish making, I have not paid attention to you in nearly the way I wished.”

“And you mean to change that, do you?”

“Oh, indeed I do.” He kissed her, his mouth lingering.

He pulled her close, and she shivered at the way he so quickly possessed all of her. Nell drew him closer and wrapped her arms around his broad back as he pulled her down with him onto the bed. There was nothing like this in all the world, she thought now as she always did. Touching him, being touched, that was all.

Afterward, he moved away from her and reached toward his bedside table, where, among the stack of leather-bound books, there was a small silver chest studded with pearls. He handed it to her, still smiling. “Open it.”

She pressed back the lid a little warily, and saw a single key lying on a bed of red velvet. “The key to your ’eart?” she quipped.

“Better than that, I hope, at least for now. The key unlocks the front door to a house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It is your new home.”

She could not quite believe what she had just heard. She knew that it was the largest square in London. Lord Buckhurst had once told her that the lords of Coventry lived there, as well as the Earl of Sandwich. Nell kissed each of his cheeks, his nose, and then his mouth. “’Ow will I ever be able to thank you, Charlie?”

“I do hope you’ll think of a way. In fact”—he grinned—“I am counting on it.”

“My own ’ouse?” she asked, still incredulous.

“With furniture and all the particulars. Most important, with only a single key—yours.”

She could see by his smile how enormously pleased he was with himself.

A small side door, partially hidden, opened, and a tall man entered the bedchamber wearing starched black and a tall, white cravat. “Does Your Majesty wish me to escort the lady away now?”

An awkward silence followed. Nell’s world felt wrapped up in this moment because what the man said had made her suddenly feel tawdry.

“No, thank you, Chiffinch,” said the king. “Mrs. Gwynne will be staying the night, and as many, from now on, as she likes. In the morning, see that my coach is readied. We shall be going together to Lincoln’s Inn Fields once we have broken our fast.”

Chapter 17

N
EXT TO COMING TO A GOOD UNDERSTANDING WITH A NEW MISTRESS
, I
LOVE A QUARREL WITH AN OLD ONE.

—George Etheridge

T
HE
king was still in his dressing gown, Nell in her chemise, and their feet were bare. Charles sat with her in a tall armchair covered in Spanish leather. They were in the elegantly paneled, high-ceilinged drawing room of the house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, not far beyond the Strand. Coaches clattered along the cobblestones beyond the velvet-draped windows as Nell sat on the king’s lap, hands linked behind his neck. Her hair was only partially bound by the ivory clip he had given her; the rest of her unruly curls lay on her silk covered shoulders. Across from them, seated on two matching straight-backed chairs upholstered in needlepoint and a red-velvet-covered divan, sat the Duke of Buckingham, the Earl of Arlington, Thomas Clifford, and the Duke of Lauderdale.

“This is all rather unorthodox, if I may say, Your Majesty,” Clifford said with obvious discomfort as Rose Gwynne trod carefully, laying a tray of marzipan and peeled oranges onto a small pearl-inlaid table between them. The air was made instantly sweet. Rose was healthier now, and it showed in the color that had risen back into her cheeks; her cough had at last disappeared. With a hint of pride, Nell glanced at her sister, smiled, and nodded a thanks. There were other servants, naturally, to perform such functions, but it gave Rose a purpose, now that she had recovered, to move about and do things for Nell and the king.

“Quite a change,” Buckingham agreed with a cautious smile.

Charles kissed Nell’s cheek. “Well, gentlemen, it seems a great many things are changing these days. At present, I do not wish to be parted from Nell here. So you take your king as you find him, and happily, I presume.”

“Indeed, Your Majesty,” Arlington flattered, with an overly solicitous smile.

Buckingham, his great rival, shot him a nasty stare.

Since they had first set foot together inside the impressive three-story house, with its great bow window, ivy-covered brick facade, and neatly trimmed hedge to the street, Charles had brought the court here. It was better, he said, than to be forced to leave the little world he was building with Nell. He did not wish to take her to his palace by the river. Too many interests competed with the old ghosts there, and he wanted to focus only on this new and wonderful world between them. As if life were all fresh and interesting to him again, Charles had personally helped Nell organize the household; he even advised her on hiring a proper maid to teach Rose how to comport herself. A spindly woman named Bridget Long was selected, even though Nell found her dour. He also helped her with a few court dance steps, and advised her on the proper tone with which to speak to her servants so that they would abide by her wishes. He seemed perfectly content to remain in this constant state of semiundress, in and out of bed with Nell. But now the business of being sovereign was at hand.

Louis XIV had gone to war against Spain. If England did not take a definitive stand, it would be seen as weak and indecisive, and they would be vulnerable abroad. Charles was ready to listen to his advisers on which way to proceed.

“We still cannot openly ally ourselves with France, of course, because of the religious question,” Arlington began with his usual note of caution. “But your sister, the Princess Henrietta Anne, is well ensconced by her marriage to the king’s brother at that court. Perhaps it is time to ask her to remind the French king that he is free to buy your neutrality.”

“The good Lord knows England could use the capital,” said Lauderdale.

“Support such as England’s is clearly worth a strong price,” Clifford pointed out.

“We certainly do not want to go up again against the united strength of the Dutch and French,” Arlington chimed in. “Deals simply must be made. A stand taken.”

Charles glanced at Buckingham as Nell toyed absently with the lace sleeve of her dressing gown. The king rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger, considering. “George, what have you to say of this?”

“I say, for our loyalty, we should ask of Louis a share of the Spanish conquests and commercial privileges once France wins. But do it through your sister, so it is not made known to our own people. Have the princess tell him covertly the price for our neutrality.”

“Interesting,” Charles contemplated.

“And if Your Majesty would not mind my saying,” Arlington gently interjected, “if we ally with Holland, pressuring Spain into concessions toward France, that can only increase Louis’s loyalty. Thus, we win on two fronts.”

“Nell?” Charles suddenly turned to ask. His dark eyes were wide, and the expression in them absolutely serious as he stroked her hair. “What do
you
think of all this?”

In response, Nell tipped back her head and laughed. It was a deep, earthy sound that made the others around her smile. “What I think, sire, is that I’m well out of my league!”

“Never. Sharp as a tack, you are,” Charles said with a bemused chuckle. Obligingly, his Privy Council laughed with him.

Nell was filled with pride that he thought enough of her to ask. She could have enormous power, Buckhurst once had told her, if she was ambitious and wise enough.

Before they adjourned, it was agreed by all but Buckingham that Lord Arlington, the most cautious and experienced diplomat among them, would be dispatched to Holland to solidify an alliance. Meanwhile, Princess Henrietta Anne, the favorite sister Charles called Minette, who was married to the French king’s brother, would be called upon to privately make certain Louis understood it was an alliance entered into only to help France succeed with Spain.

When the others had begun to thank Nell for her hospitality, and to make their way back out onto the square, coaches and sedan chairs bustling past, Buckingham hung back from the rest. “Since you are having Minette privately reassure Louis as to your intentions, sire, might I advise something similar with the Dutch, just to keep England on firm footing all around?”

“What have you in mind?” Charles asked, his arm around Nell’s waist, his mind already in her bed.

“Have Arlington, if he must be the one to go to them, indicate a secret clause in the arrangement, so they do not fear double-dealing against them. It would be my suggestion that we make clear that we know that Louis has a power lust, and if he has any intention of reneging on his promises to either England or Holland, that we will turn on France. I believe it would go a long way to mending old fences with our Dutch enemy.”

“Former enemy,” Charles corrected.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Double-dealing with them both, is it then?”

“You must behave as a force to be respected and feared, one who has the foresight to make powerful alliances. As your father before you did.”

“George, I would not presume to be as my father was.”

Buckingham leaned closer to his childhood friend. “It is a height to which you can aspire. And in that, Charles, he would be proud of you.”

Barbara Palmer waited impatiently in the dressing rooms of His Majesty’s privy apartments at Whitehall, commanded there by the king, then left alone. With a bobbed curtsy, the maid told her that the king was preparing to leave for Windsor but would be with her presently. In the next room, just beyond the closed, heavily carved doors, she could hear Buckingham, Clifford, and the king whispering and then laughing. Her new shoes were too tight, her feet hurt, and she was angry that Charles would dare to keep her waiting like this. Two guards were posted on her side of the door to see that she did not burst through them. There was a time, not so long ago, when he could not bear to be separated from her, nor would he bar her from any place in any of his palaces. He sought her counsel, as well as her body. They were partners in all things.

Now, apparently, she was to consider it great fortune to be summoned like a servant.

After more than half an hour, the heavy carved-oak doors were pulled open, the laughter beyond them faded, and the king strode through, hands linked behind his back. She was reminded in that instant, as the sun gleamed through the wall of windows, the bright light hitting his face, what a gloriously masculine man he still was. He radiated confidence, sensuality oozed from him. It seemed a very long time since they had lain together, and a lifetime ago that he had loved her.