Mary, who had been squeaking about how I mustn’t open the Queen’s letter, peered over my shoulder and read it, too. “So! It is confirmed!” she gasped. “What’s ’appening?” asked a croaky voice from my bed. “What are you doing, Grace?” “It seems Lady Sarah has eloped with Captain Drake,” I told Ellie. Ellie was silent for a moment. “Cor!” she said reverently. I was thinking as hard as I possibly could, as hard as a Lady Pursuivant, trying to make sense of it all. Lady Sarah had shamelessly flirted with Captain Drake, and he’d promised her presents, but was she really stupid enough to run away with a piratical sea captain? She would be banished from Court for a certainty, and she loves it here. Even I had to admit it was hard to believe she would act so foolishly. And yet, I had the evidence of her letter in my hand. “What do you think the Queen will do to her?” Ellie asked ghoulishly. “Put her in the stocks? Flog her?” “She’ll be in the most terrible disgrace,”
