The Magnificent Rogue

by Iris Johansen

  “Robert, what are you saying?” Kate asked dazedly. “It’s not true. You know I’m—”

  “How do I know? Because Sebastian told you all your life you were Mary’s bastard? Who told him?” He nodded toward Elizabeth. “Her Glorious Majesty. You believed it because he believed it. It was unlikely he would question the queen, whose purity and virginity are legendary, but if he did, she gave him the perfect answer. Wicked Cousin Mary weaving spells in her tower. It was really quite convenient having Mary prisoner all those years, wasn’t it? You wouldn’t have wanted your child brought up without some deference shown her station. You robbed her of her birthright, but you still gave her the myth of being a queen’s child.”

  “Supposition,” Elizabeth said stonily.

  “But you once said I was good at supposition,” Robert replied. “You let me put all the pieces together that led me where you wanted me to go. Because I reached those conclusions myself, I never once questioned their truth. Very clever, Your Majesty.”

  “And why should you doubt those conclusions now?”

  “The confession.”

  “Which you did not see.”

  “But whose contents guided Malcolm’s every move.”

  “Clara Merkert could have told him Kathryn was Mary’s child,” Elizabeth said. “It would have instigated the same actions if this Malcolm was as ambitious as you say.”

  “He would have gone after Kate, but not in the same way. He tortured Sebastian Landfield to get him to testify to the fact that she was your daughter, not Mary’s, but Sebastian wouldn’t yield. Yet in the end he came to believe it was true. He said, “Not Lilith … the serpent, writhing, changing.” The serpent in the garden of Eden was said to have changed from devil to serpent. In Sebastian’s eyes Kate had changed from Mary’s daughter to Elizabeth’s.”

  “Flimsy,” Elizabeth snorted.

  Robert nodded. “So flimsy, I didn’t even see it. But then Kate told me Malcolm was taking her to Warwick and Kenilworth to rouse support.”

  Kate saw the slightest change in Elizabeth’s demeanor.

  “I thought it strange, but even then I didn’t make the connection. Until Malcolm suddenly changed his mind and was taking Kate to the Netherlands instead.” He turned to Kate. “What did he tell you?”

  “That my greatest support lay in the Netherlands,” Kate said haltingly.

  “And it did.” Robert met Elizabeth’s gaze. “Because this month you sent the earl of Leicester to the Netherlands to try to negotiate peace and shore up foreign defenses in preparation for this war with Spain. He was no longer in his castle at Kenilworth or at his brother’s estate in Warwick. It was necessary for Malcolm to follow him to the Netherlands to involve him in the conspiracy.”

  “Robert Dudley is my most loyal servant. The earl would never enter into a conspiracy against me,” Elizabeth said.

  “Not even to make his daughter the queen of England, with himself the power behind the throne?” Robert asked softly.

  But her father was the earl of Shrewsbury, Kate thought in bewilderment. This was all madness. All her life she had known this to be true, and now she was to accept not only Elizabeth as her mother, but the earl of Leicester as her father.

  “You’re accusing me of fornication with Robin and then having his child?” Elizabeth asked coldly.

  “Who else? There have been rumors about you two ever since you came to the throne. You refused to send him away even when your attachment to your master of horse aroused ridicule among all the nations of Europe. You heaped honor and riches on him, but you wouldn’t give him what he wanted most. To wed the queen and gain the power that the position implied.” Robert paused. “Because Leicester was always a very ambitious man. At one time he promised the Spanish ambassador he would restore the Catholic religion to England if Spain would further his suit with you.”

  “He did not mean it,” Elizabeth said quickly. “Robin has always been a staunch Protestant.”

  “But the offer would still have made you uneasy. You could not take the risk of marriage, and you could not give him up. So what course was left when you found yourself with child? Leicester must not know. A man so ambitious would have found the knowledge he had fathered the illegitimate heiress to the throne too tempting to resist.”

  “I’m surrounded by my ladies of the court at all times. How could I have had a child and escaped notice?”

  “It would have been difficult but not impossible. Not for the woman the pope called ‘the rarest creature that was in Europe these five hundred years.’ ”

  “You have no proof of this slander,” Elizabeth said.

  “Except for the confession held by James.”

  “I’d wager James burned that document two minutes after he received it.” Her lips curled. “The young pup would let nothing stand in the way of his pursuit of my throne.”

  “Which is why you will extend your protection over Kate,” Robert said. “And why you will acknowledge her publicly.”

  “Are you mad? If what you say is true, after striving to keep her from Robin’s view all these years, do you think I’d let him know of her existence now?”

  “The only way to keep her safe is to acknowledge her.”

  Elizabeth’s gaze narrowed on his face. “So that you may make a move yourself to seize the throne on her behalf. Very clever, but you will not—”

  “Stop it!” Kate cut through the queen’s words like a white-hot sword. “I will have no more of this. How dare you quarrel over me like two mongrel dogs over a bone? This is my life.” She whirled on Elizabeth. “Are you my mother?”

  Elizabeth stared at her without speaking.

  “Answer me!”

  Robert stepped forward. “Kate, it will be—”

  “Be silent.” She turned on him. “I’m not pleased with you either. Why didn’t you tell me this before? Why let me come here and find out this way?”

  “I believe our dear Black Robert was not entirely sure of his ground and was depending on the tactics of surprise to win the battle,” Elizabeth said dryly.

  “Well, it wasn’t kind of him. Neither of you are kind. I will not …” She stopped to steady her voice. “Leave us, Robert, I wish to talk to her alone.”

  “I don’t believe that to be a good idea, Kate,” Robert said.

  “Leave us!”

  Robert still stood frowning at her.

  “Oh, for God’s sake, go,” Elizabeth said impatiently. “I will not eat her.”

  “That was not my concern,” Robert said. “I’m afraid she will devour you. That would be a most inconvenient course here in your domain.” He smiled ironically as he bowed to Kate. “Be gentle with her, lass. After all, she is your mother.”

  Elizabeth scowled as she watched him leave the chamber. “Insolent rogue. I should have listened to Percy.”

  “Are you my mother?” Kate asked again.

  “I am the queen of this realm, and you are not treating me with the deference due me.”

  “I have a right to know,” Kate said fiercely. “I’ve been lied to and used and shuttled to and fro as if I were nothing. If this is true, then you have wronged me, and I will have the truth.” She met Elizabeth’s gaze and asked with measured precision. “Are—you—my—mother?”

  Elizabeth did not speak for a moment and then said, “I gave you birth.”

  Kate felt as if she were going to faint.

  Elizabeth lifted her head. “But I will never acknowledge you. Never. It would be far too dangerous.”

  “To you?”

  “To England,” Elizabeth said. “If Mary’s daughter could be used as a pawn to tear this country apart, how much more hazardous would my daughter be?”

  “So you will abandon me again?”

  “I did not abandon you. You were given everything I could safely give you.”

  “You could have given me a father. You could have—”

  “Do you think I did not want a child? When Mary gave birth to James, it nearly ki
lled me. I wanted an heir.” She shrugged. “It was not possible. I had to make a choice. I do not regret it.”

  “Because my father had ambitions?”

  “Robin was very hungry. There’s nothing wrong with ambition as long as it’s controlled. I have it in full measure myself.” When she saw Kate’s expression, she said harshly, “You don’t understand. I’ve loved him all my life. He has been my playmate, my lover, and is now my friend. Do you know how lonely I have been? I deserved Robin.”

  “Then why did you not wed him?”

  “You fool, that would have been the fastest way to lose him. I know Robin. The power would have been too heady.… He would have tried to grab too much.” She shuddered. “And then I would have had to punish him for it.”

  “By sending him to the block as you did my—” Kate stopped. It was still difficult to realize Mary was not her mother, that it had all been a lie. “Would you have killed him too?”

  “You find that hard to believe?” she asked. “Yes, I would have done it. It would have broken my heart, but I would not have been able to do anything else.” She smiled cynically. “What do you know? When I was younger than you, my friend Tom Seymour lost his head, and I sat in the Tower waiting to know if I was to die myself. Such circumstances tend to give time for thought and teach hard lessons. It taught me what I valued most in the world and gave me the determination to protect it.”

  “And the throne is clearly what you value most,” Kate said bitterly.

  “England is what I value most, and the throne is how I protect it.” Her tone hardened. “And not you or Robin or any force on earth will be allowed to destroy it.”

  “I have no desire to destroy it”

  “You can be used to—”

  “Stop talking. My head is whirling. I have to think.” She walked over to stare blindly out of the mullioned window. She felt Elizabeth’s hawklike gaze on her back as she desperately tried to absorb the revelations and emotions that had bombarded her in the last few minutes. She was experiencing resentment, anger, shock, and something else that filled her with fear … understanding.

  She turned back to face the queen a few minutes later. “You do not have to acknowledge me.”

  “Perhaps I did not make myself clear: I have no intention of doing so.”

  Kate ignored the caustic retort. “But you will send a letter to James. In it you will admit that I’m your daughter, but state that as long as James does nothing to harm Robert, myself, or Craighdhu, you will promise to designate James your heir upon your death.”

  Elizabeth frowned. “I’ll do nothing of the sort. I’ve not yet made that decision.”

  “No, you prefer to keep James dangling.” Kate continued, “You will also tell him that, should he take any overt action against Craighdhu, he will never have the throne of England.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “I must have a weapon to bestir James, when Philip sends his armada.”

  “Then find another,” Kate said. “This is my weapon.”

  Elizabeth’s lips curled. “You have no weapons against me.”

  “But I do,” Kate paused. “I have my father.”

  “Robin?”

  “Deny me and I will go direct to the Netherlands and rob you of him.” Her voice vibrated with intensity. “By God, I’ll show you that I’m no pawn. I’ll study how to use him, and then I’ll tempt him, stir those ambitions you tell me you understand. He’ll join with me to overthrow you, and you’ll lose your lover and old friend you value so much. In the end you’ll have to destroy us both, or we will destroy you.”

  Elizabeth’s lips parted in stunned surprise. “You could not do it.”

  “Look at me,” Kate challenged, passion ringing in every syllable. “I’m your daughter. I can move the world if I choose to do so.”

  Elizabeth whispered, “I believe you could.” She suddenly chuckled. “But not my world.”

  “We shall see.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “It may not be necessary that we have a confrontation. It’s possible I can handle James as you suggest and still wrest what I need from him.”

  Kate was careful not to show either relief or triumph. “I have the utmost confidence you will do so.”

  “And what assurance do I have that you won’t go to Robin, even after I give you these guarantees?”

  “The assurance that I have no desire for the throne,” Kate said. “I, too, know what I value most in the world, and it’s not what you possess.”

  “Craighdhu and that outrageous scamp in the antechamber? You have no vision.”

  “That outrageous scamp could rule this kingdom better than you. As for vision, I see a life at Craighdhu with challenges aplenty and a circumstance where I will not have to give my child away to strangers.” She moved toward the door. “Send the letter at once. I wish to go home to Craighdhu.”

  “Are you quite certain that’s all you want?” Elizabeth asked silkily.

  Kate glanced over her shoulder.

  Elizabeth was smiling, and her expression held a mixture of cynicism, sadness, and a touch of malice. “I think not. I see a hunger in you too,” she said softly. “After all, you are my daughter.”

  Robert came to Kate and took her hand as she closed the door of the chamber behind her. “All is well?”

  Comfort flowed over her at his touch. She nodded curtly. “Fine.”

  His gaze searched her features. “You don’t look fine.”

  Because Elizabeth’s last remark had shaken her. Her mother had seen something in Kate that she would rather remained buried. “What do you expect when you shock me with—” She stopped as she remembered the guard beside the door. “Let’s go back to the ship.”

  Robert didn’t speak again until they were in the barge gliding away from the palace.

  “Well, do we go buccaneering?”

  She shook her head. “We go back to Craighdhu. It will be safe there as long as my father is alive. My father,” she repeated. “Strange. When I believed Shrewsbury was my father, I never really thought about him. And now it’s the same with Leicester. They stand in the shadows.”

  “Understandable. Both Mary and Elizabeth cast a brilliant light.”

  “I was very angry with her. I told her if she didn’t do what I wished, I’d go to my father and together we’d destroy her.” She shrugged. “Naturally, I was bluffing.”

  Robert smiled faintly. “Were you?”

  He knew her too well. “No, I meant it. When I was standing there talking to her, the blood was pounding in my veins. I felt exhilarated, as if I could do anything. And I knew she felt the same way. It was if we were feeding on each other.”

  “It doesn’t surprise me. You’re very much alike.”

  “I don’t want to be like her, Robert,” she whispered.

  “Choose the good and leave the bad.”

  “You said that about Mary.”

  “The advice is still sound. Wouldn’t you rather be Elizabeth’s daughter than Mary’s?”

  Elizabeth could be devious and selfish, but she was also strong and bold, and something about her struck an answering chord in Kate. “I think … I could have loved her.” Kate grimaced. “But it would have been like loving myself.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with loving, Kate,” Robert said. “I make a habit of it.”

  She shook her head, still remembering that disturbing exhilaration. “I shall not see her again.”

  “The lure is too strong?”

  “I did not say that,” she said quickly.

  “Would you like to be queen of England? We could do it, you know,” he said quietly. “Shall we go to the Netherlands, love?”

  She stared at him in shock. “But we’re going home.”

  “Only if that’s what you wish. I knew when I brought you to Elizabeth, you might have a decision to make.”

  “And you brought me anyway?”

  “You’ve been cheated enough in your life. I will not have you cheated again.”

/>   He would cheat himself instead. She swallowed to ease the aching tightness in her throat. “You’re much too arrogant to be a royal consort.”

  He lifted her hand to his lips. “I could adapt to the role as long as you promise to ‘consort.’ And I would definitely keep Your Majesty entertained.”

  “I believe you.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “But you’ll have more time for such activities if we go home to Craighdhu.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Suddenly, she was very certain. Elizabeth’s path might be challenging, the adulation and power intoxicating, but Kate had no wish to end her life as Elizabeth was going to … alone, with only the trappings of glory around her.

  “I do not want it,” she said firmly as she nestled closer. “And she would not either, if she knew what she was missing. I only want you and Craighdhu.”

  She could feel the tension he had not let her see ebb out of him. He drew her closer and said lightly, “I’m very gratified you’d give up a throne for me, lass. It’s a fine and rare compliment.”

  “Well, it’s not only for you. I did have one other consideration.” Her spirits were suddenly lifting as hope soared through her. Why worry that this was only a reprieve? They were going home, and together they would find a way to stay there. She smiled luminously. “Our child should be born by the time the seals return to Craighdhu next year.”

  “There’s Tim MacDougal on the dock.” Robert turned to Jock. “Care for Kate. I’ll go down to see if there’s anything amiss.”

  Kate watched him hurry down the gangplank and over to the agent. The frown on Robert’s face instantly cleared as he spoke to him, she noticed with relief. She had thought Elizabeth would move swiftly to protect Craighdhu, but there was always the possibility that James had instigated trouble.

  “All seems to be well,” Jock said. “However, I wonder he trusts me to care for you. The last time I handed you over to Alec.”

  “I handed myself over,” Kate said. She turned to look at him. Since they had boarded the Irish Princess in Scotland, he had offered her courtesy but had distanced himself. This was the first time she could remember him speaking directly to her. “It was no fault of yours, and Robert knows it.”