“What a time you have waited!” I admired his courage in entering a Court where he was loathed, to win over the Queen and her supporters. His use of fashion I also approved. Where I drew on the power of male attire to embolden ladies, he understood that womanish beauty invited possession. Carr’s surfaces were all silk and velvet, spangled and brightly colored, irresistible to the magpie King whose dull plumage was brightened by the sheen of those he kept close. Carr’s shoulders touched mine, although he was looking at Frankie.

“It was worth the wait,” I think he said.

Arthur seemed dumbstruck that in a single afternoon I was better connected than he was after six years. He took my hand again, proud of my advance.

“You have won her over,” said Frankie, coming up to us, quite drunk. I’m not sure she even noticed that I was standing between Arthur and Robert Carr. “I would not be surprised if she asked the King to knight George,” she said. “‘Lady Turner,’ how does that sound to you?”

The dance ended at that moment and my cheeks blazed for shame the Queen had overheard Frankie’s presumption. The room was full of chatter and laughter and yet she turned toward us. What must she have seen? I flinch to think of it. Frankie and I, flushed with dancing and our paint smudged; on one side stood my lover, holding my hand, on the other the man Queen Anna most hated at Court. Without the slightest change in her expression, she turned back to her musicians and signaled for another dance. I could not quite enjoy it as before.

“Will you dance, my lady?” asked Robert Carr of Frankie. She lowered her eyes and did not reply. It amused me that although very drunk she would not stoop to dance with knights, even charming ones. “Will you?” he asked me. I was honored to be his second choice and danced two in a row. Carr had the knack of making people feel that nobody else interested him. His humor was warm and not too clever, which suited him very well, for otherwise his extreme handsomeness would have kept him apart.

“Can you persuade her to dance with me?” he asked as he led me back to Arthur and Frankie. I wanted for her the pleasure of dancing with him; but she was implacable in matters of honor. He looked so wistful that Frankie laughed. Then he did too, knowing himself ridiculous. He gave her a deep bow and walked away to find another partner.