Then suddenly a shadow slid out from behind the statuary of a rearing lion with a crown atop its head. The shadow melded with that of the lion—Kynges beasts, they were called, and this one was modeled after Henry VIII’s favorite lion in the royal menagerie. Nicholas caught his breath. A dwarf he’d seen many times before was standing in the shadow that devoured her own. He recognized her. It was Bettina, dressed in the same pink silk gown as her mistress had worn, with an overlay of broad stripes in several colors suggesting the ribbons of the maypole.

He caught his breath, shocked by the vision of the little woman, then addressed her sharply. “Why are you following me, dwarf?”

“My name is Bettina. She would have never called me ‘dwarf.’ She knows I am more than my size.”

“What? Who knows what?”

“Your daughter. Rose Ashley.”

Nicholas closed his eyes tight. He took a long, deep breath and then began to speak slowly. “How do you know she’s my daughter?”

“She looks so much like you.”

“Do you feel anyone else knows?” They had begun walking side by side. The tiny woman hardly reached his waist, and he had slowed his pace.

“No, no one pays attention to servants. They have a blind spot when it comes to us. We are like air. They just move through us, never giving pause.”

“But you did.”

“I gave pause because she gave pause for me.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

“The court regards people like myself as a curious little aberration that was created by God for the sole entertainment of royalty and court. Your daughter, Rose, sees things differently. I’m not sure why. I’m not sure where she comes from that she should have been . . .” Bettina hesitated. “Blessed with this kind of vision of seeing things differently.”

“And how do you know this? Are you a close friend?”

“Not really.” Bettina was thinking back to that day when Rose had dared chide the princess for her remarks on how useless dwarfs were. “The Princess Elizabeth does not actually care for the entertainment dwarfs provide. The princess had declared that tumbling dwarfs were so useless. I apologized for not being more entertaining. The princess said she had meant no offense.”

Bettina went on. “I could see that Rose was carefully listening, for she was absolutely seething with anger. And do you know what that saucy girl did?”