Exile (17 page)

masque
—a masquerade, a masked ball

olifant
—an elephant

palliasse
—a thin mattress

partlet
—a very fine embroidered false top, which covered just the shoulders and the upper chest

pavane
—a slow and stately dance

penner
—a small leather case that would be attached to a belt. It was used for holding quills, ink, knife, and any other equipment needed for writing.

plague
—a virulent disease that killed thousands

posset
—a hot drink made from sweetened and spiced milk curdled with ale or wine

Presence Chamber
—the room where Queen Elizabeth would receive people

pursuivant
—one who pursues someone else

Queen's Guard
—more commonly known as the Gentlemen Pensioners, young noblemen who protected the Queen from physical attacks

retinue
—the group of aides and retainers attending an important person

scullion boy
—a servant employed to do rough kitchen work

Secretary Cecil
—William Cecil, an administrator for the Queen (later made Lord Burghley)

Shaitan
—the Islamic word for Satan, though it means a trickster and a liar rather than the ultimate evil

stays
—the boned laced bodice worn around the body under the clothes. Victorians called it a corset.

stomacher
—a heavily embroidered or jeweled piece for the center front of a bodice

St. Vitus' Dance
—a nervous disorder, associated with rheumatic fever, which caused fast, jerky, uncontrollable body movements

usurper
—someone who seizes something without authority

Tilting Yard
—an area where knights in armor would joust or “tilt” (i.e., ride at each other on horseback with lances)

tiring woman
—a woman who helped a lady to dress trencher—a wooden platter

tumbler
—an acrobat

vellum
—fine parchment made from animal skin
volta
—a sixteenth-century dance very popular with Queen Elizabeth I

White Tower
—the oldest part of the Tower of London

Withdrawing Chamber
—the Queen's private room wood-wild—crazy, mad

A NOTE ABOUT JEWELS

During Elizabethan times, jewels were just as prized as they are today. In fact, sometimes a nobleperson would use jewels instead of money to purchase very expensive items or to cover a debt.

If you look at any portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, you will see that she was painted wearing many beautiful jewels. Such extravagant jewelry indicated to anybody viewing the portrait that she was a rich and powerful ruler. Rumor had it that as the Queen grew older, she liked to be painted with more and more impressive and elaborate jewelry. Apparently, she thought the splendid gems would attract people's attention and keep them from noticing how her face was aging!

But jewels weren't just impressive decorations. They had symbolic meanings, too. In several state portraits, the Queen is shown wearing a jeweled pelican. This symbolized the Queen's selfless love for her people, because the pelican was known to pierce its own breast with its beak in order to draw blood with which to feed its babies.

Often the Queen wore pearls—these symbolized her virginity and purity and were extremely fashionable at the time. She famously bought a string of pearls that had belonged to her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, for what was said to be a bargain price of £3000. In Elizabeth's time, £3000 was more like several million dollars today—some bargain! However, pearls were the Queen's favorite jewels, so perhaps she felt they were worth it.

In the “Armada portrait,” created to celebrate the famous English victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588, you can see a beautiful pearl necklace around the Queen's neck. This was reportedly the last gift that Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the Queen's favorite courtier (see Conspiracy), gave to Queen Elizabeth I before his death later that same year.

Who knows whether something as extraordinary and magical as the Heart of Kings ever existed? But jewels remain an important symbol of the monarchy today. The Crown Jewels, kept in the Tower of London, include several gems as fabled as the Heart of Kings. For example, legend has it that the Koh-i-noor diamond (“Koh-i-noor” means “mountain of light”)—now part of the Queen Mother's Crown—will bring its male owners nothing but misfortune, while a woman who wears it will rule the world. No doubt Queen Elizabeth I would have liked to own that!

THE FACT BEHIND THE FICTION

In 1485, Queen Elizabeth I's grandfather, Henry Tudor, won the battle of Bosworth Field against Richard III and took the throne of England. He was known as Henry VII. He had two sons, Arthur and Henry. Arthur died while still a boy, so when Henry VII died in 1509, Elizabeth's father came to the throne and England got an eighth king called Henry—the notorious one who had six wives.

Wife number one—Catherine of Aragon—gave Henry one daughter called Mary (who was brought up as a Catholic) but no living sons. To Henry VIII this was a disaster, because nobody believed a queen could ever govern England. He needed a male heir.

Henry wanted to divorce Catherine so he could marry his pregnant mistress, Anne Boleyn. The Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, wouldn't allow him to annul his marriage, so Henry broke with the Catholic Church and set up the Protestant Church of England—or the Episcopal Church, as it's known in the United States.

Wife number two—Anne Boleyn—gave Henry another daughter, Elizabeth (who was brought up as a Protestant). When Anne then miscarried a baby boy, Henry decided he'd better get somebody new, so he accused Anne of infidelity and had her executed.

Wife number three—Jane Seymour—gave Henry a son called Edward and died of childbed fever a couple of weeks later.

Wife number four—Anne of Cleves—had no children. It was a diplomatic marriage and Henry didn't fancy her, so she agreed to a divorce (wouldn't you?).

Wife number five—Catherine Howard—had no children, either. Like Anne Boleyn, she was accused of infidelity and executed.

Wife number six—Catherine Parr—also had no children. She did manage to outlive Henry, though, but only by the skin of her teeth. Nice guy, eh?

Henry VIII died in 1547, and in accordance with the rules of primogeniture (whereby the firstborn son inherits from his father), the person who succeeded him was the boy Edward. He became Edward VI. He was strongly Protestant but died young, in 1553.

Next came Catherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary, who became Mary I, known as Bloody Mary. She was strongly Catholic, married Philip II of Spain in a diplomatic match, but died childless five years later. She also burned a lot of Protestants for the good of their souls.

Finally, in 1558, Elizabeth came to the throne. She reigned until her death in 1603. She played the marriage game—that is, she kept a lot of important and influential men hanging on in hopes of marrying her—for a long time. At one time it looked as if she would marry her favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. She didn't, though, and I think she probably never intended to get married—would you, if you'd had a dad like hers? So she never had any children.

She was an extraordinary and brilliant woman, and during her reign, England first started to become important as a world power. Sir Francis Drake sailed round the world—raiding the Spanish colonies of South America for loot as he went. And one of Elizabeth's favorite courtiers, Sir Walter Raleigh, tried to plant the first English colony in North America—at the site of Roanoke in 1585. It failed, but the idea stuck.

The Spanish King Philip II tried to conquer England in 1588. He sent a huge fleet of 150 ships, known as the Invincible Armada, to do it. It failed miserably—defeated by Drake at the head of the English fleet—and most of the ships were wrecked trying to sail home. There were many other great Elizabethans, too—including William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.

After her death, Elizabeth was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England and Scotland. He was almost the last eligible person available! He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was Elizabeth's cousin, via Henry VIII's sister.

James's son was Charles I—the king who was beheaded after losing the English Civil War.

This story about Lady Grace Cavendish is set in the year 1570, when Elizabeth was not yet thirty- seven and still playing the marriage game for all she was worth. The Ladies-in-Waiting and Maids of Honor at her Court weren't servants—they were companions and friends, supplied from upper-class families. Not all of them were officially “Ladies”— only those with titled husbands or fathers; in fact, many of them were unmarried younger daughters sent to Court to find themselves a nice rich lord to marry.

All the Lady Grace Mysteries are invented, but some of the characters in the stories are real people— Queen Elizabeth herself, of course, and Mrs. Champernowne and Mary Shelton as well. There never was a Lady Grace Cavendish (as far as we know!)—but there were plenty of girls like her at Elizabeth's Court. The real Mary Shelton foolishly made fun of the Queen herself on one occasion—and got slapped in the face by Elizabeth for her trouble! But most of the time, the Queen seems to have been protective of and kind to her Maids of Honor. She was very strict about boyfriends, though. There was one simple rule for boyfriends in those days: you couldn't have one. No boyfriends at all. You would get married to a person your parents chose for you and that was that. Of course, the girls often had other ideas!

Later on in her reign, the Queen had a full-scale secret service run by her great spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham. His men, who hunted down priests and assassins, were called Pursuivants. There are also tantalizing hints that Elizabeth may have had her own personal sources of information—she certainly was very well informed, even when her counselors tried to keep her in the dark. And who knows whom she might have recruited to find things out for her? There may even have been a Lady Grace Cavendish, after all!

Be on the lookout
for the next
Lady Grace Mystery,

FEUD

on sale
October 2006.
Turn the page for a special preview.

I think that was a wonderful morning, no matter what Lady Sarah might think. Mrs. Champernowne left as soon as Sarah was ready in the Queen's robes, which are most magnificent in black and white velvet and brocade, and heavy with pearls and jewels of all kinds.

The five painter-stainers were preparing their palettes with odd-smelling pigments. They all wore brown smudged smocks to protect their clothes. Three were quite old—at least forty!—Another was very old and grey, and the last was Nick Hilliard, who is tall and slim but has the remains of a black eye.

I happen to know he got it in a tavern brawl ten days ago because Ellie told me all about it. She heard of it from one of the other laundrymaids who knows a lad who works in the stable, who has a friend in the smithy whose brother was in the tavern when Nick got the black eye. She said that Nick was boasting of all the money he would make—because he has next to none at present—when he got himself a patron with his latest great Classical painting. One of the other card- players said he couldn't wait that long for his money, and Nick said he didn't pay cheats! So the other man hit him and there was a big brawl, which broke up the game. And that was just as well, Ellie said, because the cards were marked and Nick was too drunk to know it. “An' it served him right to get his eye blacked,” she added darkly, “for not knowing what a terrible coney- catcher that man is and 'ow you shouldn't play him at anything—'specially not cards and dice.”