Page 304 of A Column of Fire

‘But the queen will,’ said Lenny. ‘She’s one of us, now, so we can arrange it.’

‘Is she so far committed?’

‘Yes.’

‘That’s wonderful,’ said Rollo. ‘I’ll go, of course.’

‘Good man,’ said Lenny.

Six weeks later Rollo was at the palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh. The house stood at the foot of a hill called Arthur’s Seat. To the west, the road ran for a mile to another hill on which stood Edinburgh Castle, a much less comfortable home. King James and Queen Anne preferred to live at Holyrood.

Rollo dressed in priest’s robes and hung a crucifix around his neck. He went to the west range of the palace and gave the name Jean Langlais to an assistant, together with an appropriate bribe. He was shown to a pleasant small room with tall windows and a big fire. Scotland was not so bad, he thought, if you were rich. It would have been quite another matter, in these cold winds, to be one of the barefoot children he had seen in the town.

An hour went by. Everyone knew that all royal servants pretended to be influential in order to solicit bribes, whether they had any real power or not. But Rollo was not relying only on his bribe. The priest who had converted Queen Anne to Catholicism was supposed also to tell her she should see Rollo. Nevertheless, she must first be told that Jean Langlais was here.

The woman who came in was not the twenty-seven-year-old queen but a gracious woman past sixty who looked familiar. ‘Welcome to Scotland, Father Langlais,’ she said. ‘Do you remember me? It’s been almost twenty years.’

When she spoke he recognized her as Mary Stuart’s long-time companion Alison. Her hair was grey now, but she had the same alert blue eyes. He stood up and shook her hand. ‘Lady Ross!’ he said.

‘I’m Lady Thurston now.’

‘I didn’t expect to see you.’

‘Queen Anne has been very good to me.’

Rollo got the picture. After the execution of Mary Stuart, Alison had returned to Scotland and married again. She had made herself useful to Queen Anne and become a lady-in-waiting. No doubt it was Alison who had introduced Anne to the Catholic priest who had converted her. ‘I imagine it was you who suggested my mission today,’ Rollo said.

‘Perhaps it was,’ Alison said.

This was good news. It improved Rollo’s chance of success. ‘Thank you for your help.’

‘I owe you a great deal,’ Alison said warmly, and the thought crossed Rollo’s mind that she might have a soft spot for him. But he had never been very interested in romance. Love was a passion that seemed to have passed him by. He was wondering how to respond to Alison when Queen Anne came in.

She had a long oval face with a high forehead and curly light-brown hair. Her figure was good, and she wore a dress with a low neckline to show off her generous bust. ‘I’m very glad to see you, Father Langlais,’ she said pleasantly.

Rollo bowed low and said: ‘Your majesty does me great honour.’

She corrected him. ‘I do honour to the Church you represent.’

‘Of course.’ Royal etiquette was maddeningly difficult. ‘Forgive me.’

‘But let’s sit down and talk.’ She took a seat herself, and Rollo and Alison followed suit. The queen looked enquiringly at Rollo, waiting for him to open the conversation.

Rollo got straight to the point. ‘His Holiness Pope Clement believes that your majesty may soon be queen of England.’

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘My husband’s title to the English throne is indisputable.’

It certainly was not indisputable. Mary Stuart had been executed as a traitor, and it was generally accepted that the children of traitors could not inherit titles. Rollo said tactfully: ‘And yet there may be men who oppose him.’

She nodded. She knew the facts.

Rollo went on: ‘His Holiness has instructed English Catholics to support the claim of King James, provided only that he promises to allow us freedom of worship.’

‘His majesty, my husband, is a man of tolerance,’ she said.

A grunt of disgust escaped Rollo at the loathed wordtolerance, and he had to smother the noise with a cough.

Queen Anne did not seem to notice. ‘King James has accepted my conversion to the true faith,’ she went on.