Page 47 of A Most Forgettable Girl

James cleared his throat. “How went it with the Queen?” he asked.

“Oh, excellently!” Gunnilde confided, beaming. “She showed me many signs of great favor and I was very fortunate.”

James hesitated, as though he wanted to press her further but did not like to with so many onlookers present.

“We heard you were fighting yourself today, sister,” Hal said knowingly.

“Aye, fighting for the Queen’s attention,” laughed Kit.

“Who told you that?” Gunnilde asked with surprise.

“Mistress Rheinholdt,” Cuthbert said promptly. “Hal asked her to hold Dustin when he entered the fray.”

“Yes, we have struck up something of a friendship,” Hal said modestly.

“You and Estrilda Rheinholdt?” Gunnilde asked disbelievingly.

“Yes,” agreed Kit, “for none of the others would speak with us. They were too busy acting shocked and standoffish about the overturned table and broken pots.”

“Estrilda seems a good deal more sensible than the rest of them,” Hal observed sagely. “Said she would like a dog of Dustin’s size for her very own. Said she would keep him in her sleeve and feed him off her own plate.”

Gunnilde’s eyebrows shot up, but she managed to bite back the tart reply that sprang to her lips, pointing out that Mistress Estrilda had been sadly standoffish with her! “I see,” she said instead.

“So, are we taking supper in the Grand Hall or do we need to badger Bennett to bring something up to our rooms?” Neville queried.

Gunnilde looked to James. “We will be taking our supper up here tonight,” she said firmly and saw his shoulders visibly lower. “But do not let that intrude on your own plans if you would like a more sociable evening.” In truth, the sitting room was rather small for any more than three to dine in, and it would be a squeeze around the table.

“We’ll go down. Care to join us, Wycliffe?” Hal said, turning to Neville. “You could introduce us to some of your acquaintances. We don’t know many court folk yet.”

Neville looked rather horrified at this prospect but ended up accepting their offer, and when the three boys took their leave shortly after, he accompanied them.

“I had better run and check in on Sir Ned,” they heard Hal say glumly as they trooped out the door. “He may have some tasks for me to perform before supper. You go and find Hadrian and I’ll meet you outside the Great Hall.”

Cuthbert paused in the doorway. “I will let your servant know you want your supper fetched up this evening,” he said, looking first at Gunnilde and then at James and closed the door behind him before Gunnilde could thank him.

“How will he know where to find Bennett?” James asked with surprise.

“It’s hard to explain how he knows things. His granny is a wise woman, you see.” James blinked at this but otherwise made no comment. “Are you sure your eye is not paining you?” she asked, dropping down into the seat opposite him.

“My eye is fine,” he said briefly. “Tell me more about how you passed your day. Were the Queen’s other ladies any friendlier this afternoon?”

“Not really,” Gunnilde admitted. “They whispered and stared at me a good deal, but I affected not to notice.” She shrugged. “They will doubtless come around, eventually.”

“Perhaps relations will improve with Mistress Rheinholdt at least, if she and Hal are to become friendly.”

Gunnilde was skeptical. “I think you will find that is more likely to be the result of her surprising fondness for small dogs than any great charm on Hal’s part.”

“On the contrary, I have it on good authority that Hal is very successful with the ladies,” James said, surprising her greatly.

“Who in the world told you that?”

“Cuthbert.”

“Oh.” She could not really disparage Cuthbert’s assessment of such things for he so often spoke with such uncanny truth. Still, it seemed most unlikely to her. “I cannot picture it somehow.” She gave a gurgle of laughter. “Likely because I still remember him sticky with figs and rolling in the dirt.”

James smiled back at her faintly. “Neville is popular with old ladies,” he volunteered. “They like to cosset him and feed him remedies for his various maladies.”

“Hal might be surprised, then, when Neville introduces him to his closest friends, and they turn out to be grandmotherly types.”