Instead of running, Will drops to his hands and knees and bounds down the gallery, giving tongue as if he were a naughty dog. Elizabeth hurls the cup after him and catches him on his rump. Will howls and leaps up a stair and we all laugh.

“At least you caught him,” I say to her. Nan hands me a napkin and I pat Elizabeth’s laughing face and the lace at the neck of her gown. “You gave as good as you got.”

“He’s a wretch,” she says. “And I will tip a chamber pot on his head when he next walks beneath my window.”

The gentlemen of the court are waiting for us outside the hall. The king, tired by the archery, is dining in his rooms this evening.

“What’s this?” Thomas Seymour asks Elizabeth, seeing her damp hair. “Have you gone swimming?”

“Will Somers and his stupid games,” she says. “But I flung a cup at him.”

“Shall I fight him for your good name?” he smiles down at her. “Shall you have me as your knight errant? Just say the word and I am yours.”

I see her color rise. She looks up at him and she is speechless, like a flustered child.

“We will call on you,” I say, to spare her.

He bows. “I am dining with the king. I will come to the hall after dinner.”

Without any word the ladies align themselves in order of precedence. I go before everyone and behind me comes Princess Mary, and then Elizabeth, then my ladies, in order, Anne Seymour in her place. We walk through the crowded hall and the men stand and salute me and the women curtsey. I go to the dais and my steward helps me into my great chair.

“Tell Thomas Seymour to come to me when he leaves the king’s rooms,” I say quietly.

The dinner is served far more quickly than when the king is calling for extra portions and sending the dishes all around the room. When everyone has eaten, they clear the tables.

Thomas Seymour comes in through a side door, speaks to one man and then another, and then appears at my side. “Will you dance, Your Majesty?” he asks me.

“No, I shall go to the king shortly,” I say. “Was he in good spirits?”

“I thought he was well.”

“He is certain to ask me if you are still here, if you are staying for many days?”

“You can tell him that I am leaving for Portsmouth tomorrow.”

Nan moves out of earshot and Catherine Brandon and some of the others take their places in a dance.

“What do you think?” Thomas says abruptly. “About my marriage?”

“I have to say this without anyone knowing what I am feeling,” I say. “I have to be stony-faced.”

“You must,” he says. “We have no choice.”