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at the tears that sprang to her eyes.
    François wanted to hear everything I could think to tell him about our mother, and he asked me many questions that I tried hard to answer.
    â€œDid she sing to you?” he asked. “Before you went to sleep at night?”
    â€œShe did! Mither has a lovely voice. I can sing the tune but not the words.
Lu lu la, lu lu lala lu,”
I sang.
    â€œI remember, I remember!” he cried, and began to weep softly.
“Venez rêves, venez à mon enfant.’’
    Before he left that day, my brother kissed my hand and told me I was as beautiful as his memory of our mother and he was sure we would spend many happy hours together from that day on.
    ***
    I now belonged to the royal nursery The king had decided that I must be educated with the royal children, including the dauphin. That seemed a surprise to many—especially Lord and Lady Humières, who supervised the nursery (though it was Madame de Poitiers who told them, and everyone else, what to do, claiming she had received her authority from the king). It fell to Lord and Lady Humières to make certain that, from the time I opened my eyes in the morning until the moment I closed them at night, I heard nothing but French. They were pleased when I was able to reply in complete French sentences.
    I was delighted with my new “sister” Princesse Élisabeth, probably because she seemed delighted with
me.
The infant Princesse Claude was still at least a year or two away from joining in our conversations and little games. The dauphin, François, was closest to me in age, so naturally I spent a great deal of time with him. He became the one who answered my many questions.
    â€œWho is Madame de Poitiers?” I asked one day when we were not attending to our lessons, and Lord and Lady Humieres had left us a little time to ourselves. “Why is she with us so much more than your mother, the queen?”
    â€œShe is my father’s mistress,” he replied with a shrug. “She wants to make sure we are properly trained in the ways of the court.”
    I nodded, having only a vague idea of what a mistress was. Later I overheard Sinclair muttering to Lady Fleming on this very subject. Neither my nurse nor my governess liked Madame de Poitiers. In truth, they could not abide her.
    â€œIt is beyond understanding that the queen puts up with that woman,” said Lady Fleming. “The king must be in her thrall.”
    â€œI’ve heard all about it in the kitchens,” said my nurse with a snort; she always enjoyed a bit of gossip with her meal of bread and sausage. “King Henri has been Madame de Poitiers’s lover since he was a young lad and she old enough to be his
mither,”
Sinclair said disapprovingly. “And poor Catherine de Médicis, coming here from Italy to marry him when she was a lass of fourteen and him not wanting much to do with her in the way of husband and wife. Married eight years and not a single bairn! At last God showed His mercy to that good woman, and she brought forth the little dauphin, someday to be the husband of our own darling Mary!”
    â€œNow the queen is about to give the king a fourth child,” Lady Fleming pointed out. “Another for Madame de Poitiers to rule.”
    â€œAye, and how hard it must surely be on Queen Catherine, her rival running the royal nursery with an iron fist like she does. Nobody can do anything regarding the queen’s children without Madame’s say-so.”
    â€œI wonder if it is so when the king is here,” mused Lady Fleming. “He is expected in the next week or two, I hear. I look forward to meeting him, as I am sure you do as well.”
    â€œNot much,” said Sinclair sourly. “But we shall see what we shall see.”

Chapter 5
The Dauphin

    "
J OYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE ,
Madame Marie,” Madame de Poitiers caroled cheerily.
    It was the eighth of December, my sixth birthday as