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head. When you go to Yorkshire, Ursula, I have an errand of my own for you. This, too, is confidential—above all, nothing must reach the ears of Herries. Mary must not be put on her guard. I want you to talk to her, Ursula, as one woman to another, and try to reach the truth. Did she order Darnley’s murder or did she not? And even if she didn’t, if Both-well was the chief agent, as I suspect, did she realize that and if so, did she marry him of her own free will?”
    â€œBut what difference will it make whether you know or not?” I asked. “The inquiry . . .”
    â€œWill be hampered by lies, protocol, and the fact that the chief witness mustn’t be allowed to speak,” said Cecil. “By thequeen’s own wish, though I agree with her reasons and I haven’t tried to dissuade her from sending the message you are taking to Mary. It will undermine the chance of getting anything worthwhile from the inquiry, though. It won’t take place until October, so you have some time in hand for your tasks, but we need you to carry them out. Mary must be warned against unwise behavior, and as for me, well, frankly, I think we shall end up keeping her as a semi-prisoner for life and I’d feel a great deal happier if I knew for sure that she was as guilty as the devil.”
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    We sent Penelope out to walk in the garden with Dale and Brockley, who had strict instructions not to let her speak to any man other than Brockley: neither page boy nor dotard or anything in between. Left in private with Hugh, I gave vent to my feelings. “It’s outrageous! It’s insufferable! They were planning it all along! No wonder we were called to Richmond! No wonder the queen and Cecil didn’t feel equal to making Pen behave! She was the excuse to get us here and now she’s an excuse to send us north. And they’re taking it for granted that we’ll go! When you go, Cecil said, not if you go! You heard him!”
    â€œMy dear girl,” said Hugh calmly, “why such a to-do? It’s hardly a dangerous mission. You pass a perfectly respectable message by word of mouth, to Mary from Elizabeth, and get her to talk to you and see if anything emerges that might interest Cecil. You also have a good chance of getting Pen off your hands. It all seems quite reasonable to me.”
    â€œNot a dangerous mission,” I said exasperatedly. “That’s what I’m told, every time. Just go to a Welsh castle, Ursula, and see if you can get the castellan to talk to you about his mysterious scheme for becoming wealthy: that was one splendid example of a safe errand for me. I hardly get there before I’m stubbing my toes on a corpse in the dark, and then I’m accused of murder and bundled into a dungeon myself!”
    â€œUrsula . . .”
    â€œYou have only to deliver a private letter to the Queen of France: that was another one. The next I know, I’m escapingfrom a burning inn, and this time the poor soul who finds herself in the dungeon is my faithful, innocent Dale! That abominable priest Wilkins would have burned her alive if he had had his way. I’ll never forget having to leave her there, clinging to the bars and gazing after me. In bad dreams, sometimes, I still see the terror in her eyes.”
    â€œUrsula . . .!”
    â€œÂ . . . and you know what happened to me in Scotland, and what I had to do to escape. You know how often I have been used, by the queen and by Cecil, as a pawn. Even my daughter, Meg, has been used as a pawn! I want no more of it! Pen must manage without her dowry. She . . .”
    I had been striding about the room, working myself into a fury. From the chest on which he had seated himself, Hugh said fiercely: “You are behaving like an angry lioness in the royal menagerie, pacing back and forth inside your cage! Sit down!”
    Turning to him, I