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crosses their path?”
    “My ships have outrun their galleons, boarded them, and brought home prizes,” he boasted. “Her Majesty turns a blind eye to such lawbreaking, and so it flourishes. When Francis Drake returned from sailing around the world, he had nearly a million pounds of booty. Most of it he kept,” he added.
    I saw the hunger in his eyes at the thought of such wealth.
    “What kind of people did the explorers find?” I asked, my coyness now driven away by curiosity.
    “Frobisher brought back some natives called Eskimo. I saw one with these very eyes. In the harbor at Bristol he showed his skills, handling a boat made out of a single hollow tree and spearing ducks as they flew through the air.”
    “What did this … Eskimo … look like?” I asked, struggling with the unfamiliar word.
    “His face was round with narrow black eyes. He wore a garment of skin and fur down to his feet.”
    My eyes followed the downward sweep of Ralegh’s hands, noticing his well-turned legs in their fitted canions and stockings.
    “What became of him?”
    “He suffered an excess of phlegm in the blood, which gave his skin a sallow hue. He died, like the others.”
    “Perhaps he was overcome with grief at being taken from his land, then watching his fellows die,” I said, hearing my voice catch. It was hard to quell that sadness for my father.
    Ralegh seemed to read my thoughts. “Your father was a true and courageous servant of the queen,” he said in a low voice. “I did enjoy his company, and I find his daughter even more engaging.”
    I blinked and a tear fell onto my sleeve. Ralegh handed me a handkerchief edged in lace. It carried his scent, manly but sweet. I thought of the cloak he had spread at the queen’s feet.
    “How attentive you are … to mop the waters that … hinder ladies.” Even as I spoke, I knew that my attempt at wit had failed.
    “I miss your meaning, Lady Catherine.”
    So I shook out the handkerchief, laid it on the book, and walked my fingers over it. Ralegh threw back his head and laughed. His mirth was like a gust of wind. I tightened my fingers around the handkerchief.
    Then I felt his hand cover mine. His palm was hot. He separated my fingers with his own, then drew out the soft folds of cambric between them. I glanced up and his eyes, light brown in hue, held mine. A flush suffused my throat and rose to my face. I shifted my eyes to the pearl gleaming at his ear.
    “I didn’t mean to keep it,” I said, releasing the handkerchief.
    “But I mean for you to have it,” he said. He began to feed it into my sleeve, beginning at my wrist. His fingers played against the skin of my forearm as the handkerchief disappeared. I was too startled to say a word.
    Footsteps sounded in the hall. I turned and saw Frances standing midway between the bench and the table. Had she seen Ralegh give me the handkerchief? Then the door was flung open and the queen entered just as Walter dropped my arm and I folded my hands in front of me. I was sure my face was the color of vermilion. With my thumb I tucked the lace edges of the handkerchief out of sight.
    “Is not Thomas’s scope an amazing instrument?” asked Ralegh, clapping his hands together.
    “Indeed,” said the queen in a clipped voice. “Now I should like to discuss the greater purpose of this voyage.”
    Ralegh nodded but before he could speak, the queen went on.
    “I am not so foolhardy as to send my subjects to colonize a land about which we are ignorant, lest we fare no better than the Spaniards. Their cruelty incites the Indians to murder any European who steps on their shores.”
    “I would not send men to their slaughter,” said Ralegh in deep earnest. “Not for a mere puff of fame.”
    “Nor will I tolerate adventuring for the sake of gain,” said the queen. “Our purpose must be to bring true religion to the pagan peoples and induce them to follow the laws and customs of England.”
    “I heartily agree, Your Grace,” said