Chapter 41
Elspet Balfour
‘YOU’RE NOT SERIOUS, BEATRIX. this is madness.’
The conversation with Dorothea is going about as well as Elspet expected it to. They’re in a small but grand sitting room in New-Frater House. Elspet looks longingly out towards the red-framed window next to her, a panel of red stained-glass diamonds running down its length.
Beatrix and her mother are speaking in increasingly insistent whispers. ‘The Queen has decided, Mother. We have to do this.’
Dorothea shakes her head emphatically. ‘I had my doubts at Dunrobin when you told us of the plan to bring Mistress Balfour to court, but I helped you. I did it for the Queen. This, though, is going much too far. This is treason,’ she hisses.
‘Mother, you can’t move at court for people committing treason, and you know it.
And yes, you had your doubts,’ Beatrix continues, her positive mood as undefeatable as ever, ‘yet look what a success Lady Alvah Gordon has been – and look how much better the Queen is, compared to during her last pregnancy. You should trust us in this too.’
Elspet remains silent – awkwardly looking away and regretting she ever brought up this preposterous idea.
‘Think of what would happen if the King found out,’ Dorothea says. ‘Our good name, the Ruthven name we’ve worked so hard to restore, will be destroyed once more. The Earls are plotting worse than ever. We have an opportunity to become the most favoured family at court, and you would destroy that.’
Beatrix scoffs at this. ‘Tell that to Mary then – tell her to stop her husband from plotting, they’re worse than anyone. Talk about treason – we don’t have to look very far from home.’
Dorothea waves her hand dismissively. ‘This is different, Beatrix, surely you can see that. The Earls will scheme as they always have. That is the realm of men and it is all the King has ever known. This is women plotting secretly in the shadows – and we know very well what that will be called. The King is desperate for a son and heir and you’re talking about destroying that bloodline. His anger would know no bounds.’
Listening to this, Elspet’s ranyie pangs stab. Dorothea Ruthven is an intelligent woman, and one who’s spent many years at court. Perhaps they should listen to her.
Beatrix, though, is unmoved. ‘I understand your worries, Mother, I really do, but the King will never know. You’ve seen how the Queen suffers.
This is our only chance to ease that suffering.
And we won’t only be helping the Queen, we’ll be saving Mistress Balfour from persecution at the hands of the Earl of Orkney. ’
‘You won’t be persuaded against this, will you?’ Dorothea looks at her daughter sadly.
‘No.’
There is silence for a long while. The sound of people shouting and laughing in the street below drifts up through the window. Dorothea sighs. ‘Then I will help you. Of course I will help you.’
There is good colour in Queen Anna’s cheeks. Whether this is due to the fresh air in the Holyrood garden, or the thought that this plan is taking shape, Elspet’s unsure. Either way, the Queen is looking healthier and happier than she has since Elspet’s arrival in Edinburgh.
The air has grown colder and the garden shows signs of the coming winter. The soorik is beginning to die back in the borders, and the mallow flowers are falling. They reach the stone bench and Elspet takes the Queen’s arm to help her sit.
Margaret, unable to disguise her disapproval and frustration, sighs. ‘I must say I’m surprised at you, Mistress Balfour. I credited you with more sense than this. Who says Kitty Muirhead won’t tell anyone about your conversation?’
The Queen reaches out a hand and touches Margaret on the arm. ‘Mistress Balfour was only doing what I asked her to, as you well know.’
‘Well, I’m surprised at all of you,’ Margaret goes on. ‘This is the most dangerous, most impossible fantasy I have ever heard. And we’re behaving as though it might actually be feasible.’
Queen Anna looks straight at Margaret. ‘One of the reasons I value your company and your counsel is that you tell me the truth, Margaret. That is all too rare a commodity in this place. I will not force you to be part of something you disapprove so strongly of. But if this is my chance to keep my child, I must take it no matter the risks.’
Margaret is silent then sits down next to the Queen. ‘If you are set on this path then you know I will assist if I can.’
Beatrix claps her hands. ‘With our combined skill and effort, we cannot fail.’
Margaret slaps her hand down on her lap in anger. ‘No, Beatrix, don’t you see? I will assist – but we mustn’t be foolish. Of course we can fail. Indeed, failure is by far the most likely outcome here.’
Her voice rises as she gestures in the direction of New-Frater House.
‘We have to take care of Kitty Muirhead until she gives birth and somehow insert her child into the royal household as the heir to the throne of Scotland. We have to get the Queen’s child away to a secret location and replace it with another – all under the noses of the King’s most trusted medical men.
Not to mention keeping the Queen safe and well during her pregnancy and ensuring no one discovers the real identity of Lady Alvah Gordon.
I will not allow you to treat this like a game. ’
Everything she says is true, and they’re silent in the wake of Margaret’s outburst. Elspet looks up into the branches of a tall elm tree growing against the garden wall. The leaves are turning brown, the final tenacious few clinging onto the branches.
The Queen clears her throat. ‘It is important to see all the obstacles in our way clearly. Not so we will be daunted, but so we may plan to overcome each one in turn. Your perception is vital, Margaret.’
Elspet is impressed by the wisdom of this young woman. She sees her ladies for who they are – and values their differences.
‘Mother has agreed to keep Kitty Muirhead at New-Frater House until she is ready to give birth to the child,’ Beatrix says sheepishly. ‘That at least is settled.’
‘Tell me your mother doesn’t know the truth of what we’re planning,’ Margaret says sharply. ‘The more people we tell, the greater the risk.’
‘But Kitty Muirhead is staying under her roof,’ Beatrix says. ‘Of course I had to tell her.’
‘It’s true, Margaret,’ the Queen says gently. ‘We have to share the plan with Dorothea or this will be impossible.’
‘What about your sister, Lady Mary?’ Margaret says. ‘If she even sees her there, all could be lost.’
‘Mary rarely visits New-Frater House now she’s the Countess of Atholl,’ Beatrix scoffs. ‘Mother won’t tell her and you’ll be unsurprised to know the servants have no affection for her. I don’t think anybody will even tell her of Kitty’s presence.’
‘Then we shall turn our attention to dealing with the physician, the surgeon and the apothecary,’ the Queen says, drawing her cloak around her shoulders more tightly.
She shouldn’t stay out too long now the air is colder, Elspet thinks.
These walks outside are doing her good but she shouldn’t get too cold.
‘We already know how to get Primrose out of the way,’ the Queen continues.
‘His love of strong wine will be his downfall. Alexander Barclay, the apothecary, is at court today, I believe. Margaret, I think it would be an excellent idea if you were to become an even more valued customer, find out more about him.’
‘As you wish,’ Margaret agrees, reluctantly. ‘And what about the physician?’
‘Schoner has shown himself to be a more reasonable man than we first suspected,’ Beatrix says. ‘Perhaps we could trust him too. This would be so much easier with his help.’
‘Absolutely not.’ Margaret stands and paces up and down. ‘It’s risky enough that he knows as much as he does about Mistress Balfour’s advice to the Queen.’
The Queen turns to Elspet. ‘What is your view of Schoner?’
Elspet thinks carefully. ‘He wants to be the best physician he can be but I don’t think we could trust him with this.’
‘Of course we can’t trust him,’ Margaret says. ‘We can’t trust anyone.’
‘He is desperately competitive,’ Elspet continues. ‘He feels passionately about the superiority of his profession as a physician above that of surgeon and apothecary. Status means a lot to him.’
Beatrix nods. ‘You’re right. This court is all about jostling for position. He believes if he has a high enough status, it will make him safe from the feuding.’
‘Nothing can make you safe from the feuding,’ Margaret says.
‘Perhaps,’ Queen Anna says thoughtfully, ‘if I were to tie his fate to my own more formally, he could be brought round to see our point of view. I could create a position – a Master Medicinar – with a handsome salary attached.’
Elspet nods. This is an idea with potential to influence the physician.
The thought he might ever agree to assist in switching royal babies, though, still seems nigh on impossible.
She looks at the brown elm leaves fallen onto the garden floor.
Time is passing. But for now, she must get the Queen inside and warm again.