“Is that what you call it? A situation?” The princess’s face seemed to soften.

“I’m sorry, I meant no offense.”

“No need to apologize. You are the only person in this whole palace who has actually expressed sorrow for my plight. My father has a temper. He banishes me and my half sister, Princess Mary, on occasion. Mary doesn’t mind it as much as I do. As you probably know, I do not have a mother. . . .”

Oh no, is she going to tell me about the beheading? Please no! Please!

“And what is your name?”

“Rose Ashley, milady.”

“Oh. Kat, my governess, might have mentioned you. She’s away now. Quite ill actually. She broke her leg and then contracted pneumonia. She is engaged to be married to John Ashley. Must be another branch of your family. Yours of course a lower branch, not the John Ashley branch.”

“Yes, milady, another branch.” The twenty-first-century branch?

“You seem agitated. You’re wringing your hands.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you, Rose. Who else would be wringing your hands?”

“True, milady. I just feel so bad for your troubles.”

“Well, it could always be worse,” she said ruefully, and plucked at a stray thread on her dress. Does she mean she could be beheaded by her own father? Rose wondered.

The princess sniffled again. “There’s always hope.”

“Yes, milady, there’s always hope.”

“You’re just saying that to agree with me.”

“No, milady, I would never do that. I . . . I take words seriously.” The princess cocked her head slightly and regarded Rose.

“Do you now? How interesting.”

Rose thought carefully before she spoke. “I know little of your plight, but I see before me an intelligent young princess and . . .” Before she could finish her sentence, Elizabeth’s face broke into a smile. She rushed toward Rose and clasped her hands.

“You are right, so right, and guess what! I think the queen—Catherine Parr, my new stepmother—sees the same. I wrote her a month ago, and she wrote me back directly. So quickly, within one month, perhaps it was two.” Rose blinked—two months. She thought that was fast? Well, she thought, it had been almost six weeks so far to deliver her boxes from Philadelphia.

Elizabeth chattered on. “She said I was too bright a princess to languish in the dim shadows of banishment. She urged me to be patient. That she will speak to the king and plead my cause, but my patience is wearing thin. Do you understand, Rose?”

“Yes. I believe I do.”

“You really think Catherine likes me?”

“I’m sure she does.”

“My father just has his moods. Does your father have moods?”

“I . . . I have never known my father.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s very sad. And your mother—does she have moods?”

“My mother is dead.”