The Plot to Kill a Queen by Deborah Hopkinson
Author:Deborah Hopkinson [Hopkinson, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2023-10-17T00:00:00+00:00
I closed my door, slinging my lute strap over my shoulder. Alice picked up the satchel. âI can carry this for you, at least part of the way. Iâll show you where to go, but then Iâve got to hurry back to the kitchen. Iâll come back tonight with more food and some scraps for Mouse and you can tell me all about it.â
âHave you ever been in the queenâs presence chamber?â I whispered as our footsteps echoed in the dark stone corridors.
âNo, the queenâs Scottish housemaids tend the fires there.â Alice turned a corner and beckoned me forward. âThis way is shorter.â
I followed, wondering if Iâd ever learn my way around. âThe queen seems to have a large staff.â
âThey say when she first arrived in England, Mary had money to pay them, but thatâs run out,â Alice whispered. âAt one point she had sixty; now I think itâs about thirty people.
âThe gossip downstairs is that the earl would like to be stricter with Mary and make her cut costs,â she went on. âBut heâs afraid to be too stingy or mean. If something should happen to Elizabeth, thereâs still a chance Mary would become Queen of England.â
âIf something happened?â I asked. âWhat do you mean?â
âAnything.â Alice shrugged. âPerhaps a fever or the plague.â
âWhat about other possibilities? Like assassination plots,â I whispered. âDo you hear talk of them here?â
Alice turned to me, eyes wide. âPlots? Youâre not ⦠a secret Catholic whoâs against Elizabeth?â
âNo! I only meant that, sometimes in London one hears about plots against Elizabeth. And some say those plots start here.â
âI know nothing,â Alice murmured. âItâs best not to talk about this. Someone might get the wrong idea.â
âI wonât mention it again,â I assured her. And I wouldnât. I hadnât really expected Alice to know anything about smuggled letters. After all, she hadnât been at Sheffield long and was one of the youngest servants here. I didnât want her to think I was anything other than a lute player. And I definitely didnât want to cause her trouble for befriending me.
Weâd reached a long corridor and Alice stopped. âWalk down this hallway. About halfway, youâll see a guard, or maybe two, posted outside the presence chamber. Just give your name and say that Mistress Curle sent for you.â
Alice grinned, her blue eyes bright with mischief. âBe prepared to be surprised. Itâs not at all like your turret room.â
She hurried off with light footsteps, while I made my way along the corridor. I gave my name to the guard and he opened the great wooden doors.
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