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"Why do you assume that they will tease you?" her grandmother asked.

"Because they are little savages," Nyssa declared heatedly. "They have spent their lives torturing me."

"If you were not such fun to torture, sister dear," young Philip Wyndham said, grinning at her, "we should have stopped long ago."

Lady Morgan laughed indulgently. "You are such a naughty boy, Philip," she murmured. "You really must show some respect for your elder sister. Hers is the most important position a woman in our family has ever held. To be a queen's maid is a great honor."

"I would have thought to be a king's mistress was a greater one," the heir to Langford said blandly.

Lady Morgan paled. "Wheredid you ever learn such a thing?" she demanded, scandalized. "Who has been telling tales?"

"Oh, Grandmother," Nyssa said, "we have known forever about Mother's little adventure at court. She always said if she did not tell us, that someday someone else would; and depending upon what they wanted from us, they would put an unhealthy slant upon it. Papa agreed. Because we know the truth, we can never be hurt by the fact that mother was King Henry's mistress for a few months. There were no bastards, after all, and no harm has ever come of it. Indeed, had the king not felt he owed our mother a debt, we should not be going to court. After all, the Wyndhams ofRiversEdgeare hardly an important family."

"Well!" Lady Morgan said. "Well!"

"Oh, Mother, do not fuss so," the Countess of Marwood said. "Nyssa is absolutely correct, and very practical in her thinking, it seems to me. As soon as it is known who her mother is, the gossip will begin, and Blaze's tenure in the king's bed be relived in minute, and probably incorrect, detail. It will be a great deal easier for Nyssa, Philip, and Giles to know the truth than to fall prey to cruel gossip. There is very little to do at court for those not involved with the powerful. They gossip more to pass the time than to be deliberately unkind. It is a way of life for them."

"And you would return to such a life, and leave your children behind to servants?" Lady Morgan said dramatically. She had never been far from her home, and had not even seen London.

Bliss laughed. "I've given Owen three sons and a daughter, Mother. He promised me that we would go back to court when the children were able to manage without me, and they certainly can."

"And I will always be there for them," the countess's identical twin sister said. Blythe was ever the peacemaker.

"Am I to have new clothing?" Nyssa asked. She was somewhat irritated by her grandmother and her aunts. She was to go to court! Yet here they sat by the fire arguing back and forth over nothing, as far as she could see. Aunt Bliss's children would be fine without her.

Blythe immediately understood her niece's anxiety, and turned the conversation to Nyssa's advantage. "I should think an entire new wardrobe would be in order for Nyssa. Her gowns are those of a country girl, and not a young woman of the court. What think you, Bliss?"

Bliss, the sisters' fashion expert, nodded emphatically. "She'll need everything from the skin out," the countess declared, "and we do not have much time either. The new queen will be here within the next two months, and the king did say he wanted Nyssa at court beforehand. We must start tomorrow if we are to have Nyssa properly rigged out for court."

"I'm not very good with my needle," Nyssa admitted, shamefaced.

"Neither was your mother." Her aunt Blythe giggled. "When she married your father, most of what was in her hope chest had been made by us. Do not worry, Nyssa. You will have a fine wardrobe in time. We will help, and your mother has always kept a seamstress in her household. There will be plenty of fabric in the storeroom for our use."

The following day, while her mother recovered from the birth of her new sisters, Nyssa, with the help of her aunt Bliss, chose the fabrics from which her court clothing would be made. In her sixteen years she had never traveled beyond the bounds of her extended family's estates.

"Surely not these, Aunt," she protested as Bliss put aside several bolts of rich, heavy fabrics. "They are far too elegant for me."

"They are exactly right," the Countess of Marwood told her niece. "Everyone at court is dressed to the teeth, my dear." She peered closely at the girl. "You have excellent skin, Nyssa. It is fair and clear. You've inherited your mother's violet-blue eyes and her heart-shaped face, which is to the good. It is surprisingly attractive with your dark brown hair. That you have from your father."

"Mama says my hair is a bit lighter than my father's was," Nyssa noted. She could not remember Edmund Wyndham at all, for he had died when she was not even two years of age. His nephew, Anthony, who had later married her mother, was the only father she had ever known.

"You do have rather attractive golden lights in your hair," her aunt told her. "Your father did not."

"I do look like him, Heartha says," Nyssa noted. "Sometimes I stand before his picture in the gallery and just stare, but he seems a stranger, Aunt. Still, I can sometimes see the resemblance I bear to him."

"He was a wonderful man," the Countess of Marwood said. "You can be proud that you were born of his loins, Nyssa, and thank God you have his nose, not that little retroussé one of your mother's."

Nyssa laughed. "Mother's nose is sweet," she said, "but I agree with you, Aunt. I like my nice straight nose quite well."

The Countess of Marwood chose fabrics of velvet, taffeta, brocade, silk, satin, and damask weaves for her niece's gowns. Some were plain, and others woven with metallic threads. Lengths of black, gold, and white lace were selected to trim the gowns. There was silk, wool, cotton, and linen for undergarments. Nyssa's hose would be of silk, or wool, cut and sewn for a perfect fit. She would have cloaks of silk, wool, or linen, some lined in fur. There would be delicately embroidered nightrails of linen and cotton; nightcaps, caps, and hoods of velvet. Her newly made shoes and boots were of the best leather, and to her great excitement, some of her shoes were decorated with real jewels. She would have jewelry not only sewn to her apparel, but jeweled ribbons, necklaces, and rings of her very own as well.

"I have never had such magnificent clothing!" she exclaimed when at last her wardrobe was completed. "Do people at court really dress like this all the time?"

Blaze, who had recovered from the twins' birth, laughed. "You will be a little sparrow amongst peacocks, my darling," she told her eldest child. "It is not required, however, that you outshine the mighty. You are a beautiful young girl, Nyssa, and your clothing is exactly what it should be, thanks to your aunts' kindness."

"Ohh, Mama!" Nyssa told her mother, "I am so confused! One moment I am excited to be leavingRiversEdgefor court, and the next moment I am absolutely terrified over the prospect. I've never been anywhere in my whole life. What if I make a mistake before the king? What if I disgrace the family by my actions? Perhaps I should not go." Nyssa was suddenly pale.

"Did you know that your aunt Bliss took me to court when I went for the first time?" Blaze told her daughter. "Your father had died in late autumn. I loved him so much. His death and that of your infant brother were a terrible shock to me. Your aunt, however, decided I must not mope about. Shortly after New Year's I went with Bliss and your uncle Owen to Greenwich. The farthest from Ashby that I had ever been wasRiversEdge. I cried. I was very frightened. I felt awkward and quite gauche, despite the fact I was a widow, not a maiden. I just wanted to hide, but your aunt would not let me.