“Oh, Jane the Fool. She’s harmless enough. There’s a rumor that the king might give her to Princess Mary.”

Too bad, Rose thought. Jane might have been helpful on her quest. “Quest” seemed a more appropriate word for finding her father. “Mission,” in Rose’s mind, seemed rather militant.

“But if the king gives her to Princess Mary, who will he give to Princess Elizabeth? Doesn’t she get treated equally?”

“He’ll probably give Elizabeth Bettina.”

“Who’s Bettina?”

“A dwarf.”

“What? Why do you people find dwarfs amusing? I don’t understand.”

“They tumble and are generally good-natured.”

“They are human beings. Human beings who happen to be short. I find it frankly horrifying that you take them as objects of amusement and pass them about as one would a toy. It’s not only horrifying but very offensive.”

Andrew seemed to be studying her in a most thoughtful way. “You know, Rose, I never thought of it that way before. Where’d you get such ideas?”

Rose sighed wearily. “Oh, you wouldn’t really want to know,” she muttered. “In any case, I have something for you to take to Franny back at Hatfield, since Elizabeth is still there.” She slid her hand into her pocket and took out the letter and the jar of Spotless! she had wrapped in the kerchief. “Can you do it, Andrew? I’d really appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Rose! What a lovely name.” He drew out her name as he looked at her with dreamy eyes. OMG, was he going to say that Shakespeare quote her mom was always saying from Romeo and Juliet? “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” No, that’s impossible. It’s 1544 here. She had a feeling that Shakespeare hadn’t been born yet. The play hadn’t even been written. She’d google it when she got back and check. But who knew when that would be! She’d mastered getting across, slipping through the time rip, but could she go back when she wanted? She didn’t want to. Not yet. And Andrew was sort of cute.

“Thanks, thanks so much, Andrew. That’s . . . that’s . . . so sweet of you.”

“Honestly?” He seemed to glow.

“Yeah . . . honestly. But I’ve got to go now.” She started to leave, then stopped and turned around. Andrew was standing there looking quite dazed. “Hey, Andrew, which way is the park?”

“Straight ahead. Go past the buttery and the rose garden. It’s just beyond the maze. You’ll see it off to your right. A great sweep of green. The greensward. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks, Andrew, thanks again.”

She felt his eyes on her back as she sped off.

Chapter 18

“Girl, Why Are You Sleeping?”