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to us, “they didn’t even see you.”
    “Exactly,” Alice said. And smiled again.
    Cat turned to me and raised an eyebrow. I knew what it meant. Cat would have thrown a fit if she’d walked into a room unnoticed. But Alice? Alice seemed pleased.
    “What news do you have today, Alice?” Joan asked, sucking the end of a piece of silk to a point in order to thread her needle.
    Alice leaned forward and we all leaned with her.
    “The Lady of Cleves is on her way.”
    The Lady of Cleves was the king’s wife-to-be. A German princess from an unknown duchy, she’d been chosen by Thomas Cromwell, the king’s chief councilor. Not by the king himself, this time.
    As one, we all sat back.
    “Is she bringing her own household?” Cat asked, poking at the fabric with her needle, but not making any stitches.
    “She travels with German ladies, but I believe the king wants to fill her apartments with English nobility.”
    We took a moment of silence to digest this.
    “Imagine,” Joan crooned. “All those gorgeous dresses. Velvets and brocades and delicious silks.” She ran her hand down her thigh as though stroking a well-clad lover.
    “Think of the parties,” I said. “Masques and banquets and dancing.” So much more than the midnight feasts in the maidens’ chamber.
    “Think of all the gossip,” Alice said.
    “Think of all the
men
.” Cat’s eyes shone. “There must be ten of them to every woman in the court. All with money. And power.”
    “Is that what you’re looking for in a man?” I asked. “What about poor Francis?”
    “He does possess many qualities I admire,” Cat said. “High cheekbones. A chin dimple. An air of rakish danger.”
    “But no wealth or power.”
    “And to tell you the truth,” Cat whispered, “his codpiece gives no indication of his actual anatomy. The sword is no match for the scabbard, if you catch my meaning.”
    “So you want to go to court to find a rich duke or earl with a big pizzle!” Joan laughed.
    “And for the dresses and the gossip and the parties,” Cat said. “I want it
all
.”
    “Do you think there’s really a possibility we’ll ever to get to court?” I asked. Our dream of going to court seemed just that—a dream. The only way to get a position was by petition from a patron or family member. A man. My father was unlikely to come through for me. But all our games couldn’t have been practice for nothing.
    “I have to. Or my life will be wasted.” Cat echoed my own thoughts.
    “If anyone gets there, you will, Cat,” Joan sighed. “The rest of us have no connections.”
    Cat was a Howard. It was the appellation of the richest, most ambitious and pugnacious family in the kingdom. Unfortunately, it was all Cat got from her father, a negligent wastrel who had died virtually unmourned in March, leaving his third wife and ten children without a penny. Cat might have come from the gauche side of the family, but in our world, a name could be worth more than currency. The rest of us had nothing but our dreams.
    “Speak for yourself, Joan,” Alice said. “My husband has a position with Lord Maltravers.”
    I caught Joan’s eye and then rolled my gaze to the ceiling. If Alice’s husband didn’t care that she existed, I doubted Lord Maltravers would. I also suspected that his opinion held little sway. Joan giggled.
    “But there’s more,” Alice said, ignoring us. “The Duke of Norfolk is coming to visit.”
    The dowager duchess’s stepson.
    The most powerful and influential nobleman in the country.
    “He’s looking for girls to place in the new queen’s household as maids of honor.” Alice paused to let her words sink in. “He’s looking for girls from here.”

“ S O IS HE GOING TO CHECK OUR TEETH AND TEST OUR SURE-FOOTEDNESS like hunting horses?” I asked as we hurried down the stairs for dinner with the duke. A masterful cleaning campaign by the duchess had brightened even the darkest corners of the stairwell.
    “No, but he might give us