She would go to the greenhouse. Perhaps she should go to the conservatory, for the rose was still in full bloom. She looked at the clock. It was almost two o’clock in the morning: 1:57 a.m. Long before dawn and hardly the bewitching hour, but maybe. As she entered the conservatory, the rose was dazzlingly beautiful even in the dim light. She must remember what her grandmother had said when she had described the moment she learned how to swim so long ago.

To float and not to sink. It seems like a foreign language for your body. You come so close but you just can’t quite do it. And then one day it happens. . . . So much of life is yielding to the extraordinary.

“Yes, Gran,” she whispered, and then imagined herself back on Ivy, and felt just as she had that afternoon while riding sidesaddle—girl, sky, pony!

And now once more she yielded to the extraordinary.

Chapter 35

A Glimpse

“Huzzah!” Prince Edward cried out as he watched Rose sail over the hedge on the pony. It had been Edward, of course, who had insisted that Rose join Princess Elizabeth and Princess Mary on a ride through the countryside. “How well you took that jump, Rose.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Rose said.

“Completely improper,” Princess Mary sniffed, and cut a disapproving glance at her brother.

“I think not, dear sister,” Princess Elizabeth said. “Rose is like a playmate for Edward. He enjoys her thoroughly.”

“Kings do not have playmates,” Princess Mary said, and urged her horse on.

“What a jerk!” muttered Elizabeth. She had picked up the word after hearing Rose use it once under her breath in reference to Lady Margaret. Lady Margaret had been trying to impress the king and praising him in a most outlandish and ridiculous manner.

Rose herself, although happy to be riding, was eager to get back to Hampton Court, the most lavish of all the palaces. Edward had told her that with the upcoming May Day celebrations in mind, he had commissioned medals in honor of his late father. Medals meant that Nicholas Oliver might be coming to deliver them. She couldn’t wait to get back and share the news with Franny. She and Franny now shared a room at Hampton Court, as Franny had been officially promoted from scullery to the kitchen proper.

When they finally returned to the horse yard and the stables, Andrew was waiting for her.

“You sit well, Miss Rose. I saw you canter out.” He flashed her a grin and his dimples grew deeper. Oh dear, he was cute. She was tempted to bask in that smile of his. It was warm as sunshine, though the day had turned suddenly cloudy.

“Over here, boy!” Princess Mary cawed. “Since when do you serve a servant before a royal princess? That’s punishable, you know.”