“It’s the princess!” Franny said, grabbing Rose’s hand. “Princess Mary is arriving. Follow me. I know a place where we can see her best.”

Rose marveled at how nimble Franny could be with her crutch on the twisting staircase that led up to a central brick tower. A window in the tower looked down on the portico where Princess Mary’s carriage was just pulling up.

“They’re taking wagers in the servants’ quarters.” Franny whispered.

“Wagers; you mean bets?”

“Yes.”

“About what?”

“How soon Elizabeth will bow to her sister.”

“Why does she have to bow to Mary and not Mary to Elizabeth?”

“Mary’s older.”

Elizabeth was standing stiffly on the steps. Her face was rigid. A woman descended from the carriage.

“Older? She’s ancient, Franny!” Rose gasped.

“Oh yes, almost seventeen years older. She’s nearly thirty.”

“She looks fifty. So how old is Princess Elizabeth?”

“Ten or eleven, I think?”

Suddenly Princess Mary looked straight up.

“Oh my God, does she see us?”

“No, terrible eyesight. See how she squints. . . . Look, Elizabeth hasn’t even begun to curtsy yet.” At that moment, Franny began to murmur. Was she counting? It didn’t sound like it. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Elizabeth curtsied. “All right, that was one full Paternoster and a half.”

“Paternoster?”

“The Our Father. You don’t know it?”

“You mean the prayer?”

“Yes, I recited the entire prayer once and then had another go-round and got to the words ‘our trespasses’ before Elizabeth curtsied. You know: Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses . . .” Franny was tipping her head from one side to the other rhythmically as she recited the prayer. Rose realized it was her way of counting. How peculiar! But of course, the girl didn’t wear a wristwatch or a stopwatch. She supposed it made a certain kind of sense.

“And you see, Elizabeth is not ducking her head as one is supposed to, but glaring right at Mary. Very exciting. Wonder if my pa won a farthing or two. Though Mum would be angry if he bet.” So, thought Rose, this is what passes for entertainment at Hatfield?

“Let’s go swimming!”

Chapter 6

The Man in the Ruff

They were both floating on their backs now in the calm waters beyond the eddies. There was the scent of summer on the soft breeze. The air was tinged with the smell of freshly mowed grass. But never the sound of a lawn mower. They must use scythes for cutting the grass, Rose thought, or perhaps sheep munched it. But in this moment Rose felt only peace. She looked over at Franny, whose pert face tipped upward to the sun. Franny was a good swimmer, just as she’d said.

“I have a question, Franny.”

“What might that be?”