‘And a virgin,’ someone else replied. ‘Not even a warm and willing widow who knows what she’s been missing. This queen will freeze our lord, he’ll wilt at her bedside.’

‘And she’s so dull,’ the first one persisted.

The prince heard that, he halted and looked back at his retinue. ‘Enough,’ he said clearly, speaking in Spanish, thinking that only they would understand. ‘It is done. I have wedded her, and I shall bed her, and if you hear that I cannot do it you can speculate then as to the cause. In the meantime let us have peace. It is not fair dealing to the English to come into the country and insult their queen.’

‘They don’t deal fair to us . . .’ someone started.

‘A country of idiots . . .’

‘Poor and bad-tempered . . .’

‘And grasping!’

‘Enough,’ he said.

I followed them down the gallery to the steps leading to the great chamber. I followed them as if drawn on a chain, I could not have parted from them if my life had depended on it. I was back with my own people, hearing them speak, even though every word they said was a slander against the only woman who had been kind to me, or against England, my second home.

* * *

It was Will Somers who caught me out of my trance. He took me by the arm as I was about to follow the Spaniards into the great hall and gave me a little shake. ‘How now, maid? In a dream?’

‘Will,’ I said and grabbed on to his sleeve as if to steady myself. ‘Oh, Will!’

‘There,’ he said, gently patting me on the back as if I were an overwrought pageboy. ‘Silly little maid.’

‘Will, the Spanish . . .’

He drew me away from the main doors and put a warm arm around my shoulder.

‘Take care, little fool,’ he warned me. ‘The very walls of Winchester have ears and you never know who you are offending.’

‘They’re so . . .’ I could not find the words. ‘They’re so . . . handsome!’ I burst out.

He laughed aloud, released me and clapped his hands. ‘Handsome, is it? You, besotted with the señors just like Her Grace, God bless her?’

‘It’s their . . .’ I paused again. ‘It’s their perfume,’ I said simply. ‘They smell so wonderful.’

‘Oh little maid, it is time you were wed,’ he said in mock seriousness. ‘If you are running after men and sniffing at their spoor like a little bitch on the hunt then one day you will make your kill and you’ll be a holy fool no longer.’

He paused for a moment, measuring me. ‘Ah, I had forgot. You were from Spain, weren’t you?’

I nodded. There was no point in fooling a fool.

‘They make you think of your home,’ he predicted. ‘Is that it?’

I nodded.

‘Ah well,’ he said. ‘This is a better day for you than for those Englishmen who have spent their lives hating the Spanish. You will have a Spanish master once more. For the rest of us, it’s like the end of the world.’