The man . . . But she always paused at this point. She knew what she wanted to say, but she was actually almost frightened to write the words: “The man whose picture is in the locket.” It seemed dangerous to even mention the locket. She wasn’t sure why, but the locket was part of a deep secret. She recalled those moments after she first met Rose. She had begun to wonder if Rose was like some of what she and her family called the Others. The Others were just like her own family, except for the fact that they all had eventually disappeared. It was a dangerous thought to even have. Her mum and father would be angry. It was their secret. It must never be found out. And if she told Rose that she had seen her father . . . She could not complete the thought. It was just too frightening.

It was Franny, of course, who had urged Rose not to worry about the locket but to find her father. Her own words clanged in her head like the sound of the loudest church bells. Why not try to find him— your father? The real man, not just the picture in the locket. . . . Anything’s possible, Rose.

Well, she’d found the real man for Rose. Or rather, he’d found her. And now she was frightened. She’d asked Andrew about him and he’d told her the man’s name was Nicholas Oliver and that he was the king’s goldsmith. He was not certain where the man lived. So many times Franny had tried to write this letter. But she could never get the words exactly right. And she worried that if Rose did find her father, she might leave, leave like those others before her. Her mum had warned her to be careful about making friends with the wrong people, people like themselves. “Such attachments can’t last, Franny. Simply too dangerous.” But then just four days before Rose left for Greenwich, she had said something. She had whispered it to Franny. “Every time I see the princess and that locket, it still makes me mad. I don’t think she’s discovered the pin that unlocks it yet. I hate to think of her looking at those pictures of . . . of . . . of my father . . .”

Now Franny would be brought to Greenwich. She had been sent for by the Gentleman Usher, Master Cornwallis, the head of the Hatfield staff. A scullery girl was needed. So Franny would now be able to tell Rose in person. It would be better than sending a letter, as there were always spies about. A letter could be stolen. There were already rumors about the spies of Princess Mary. Jane the Bald was said to be one. Really odd. Wasn’t that what Rose had said about her in the letter? She smiled when she thought of Rose’s letter, knowing she would see her again soon.

Chapter 26

The Marks of September