The Winter Queen Read Online Free PDF Page B

we are never recalled to Stockholm.’
    â€˜Better we do our duty to Sweden here, among the bored and lonely ladies of the Queen’s train,’ Anton said. ‘They should help make our Christmas merry indeed.’
    â€˜If you ever solve your puzzle,’ Johan said.
    â€˜And which puzzle is that?’ said Anton. ‘We live with so many of late.’
    â€˜ You certainly do. But you have not yet said—do you prefer to serve the needs of the countess, or the Queen?’
    â€˜Or another of your endless parade of admirers,’ Nils said as Mary Howard and two of her friends strolled past, giggling. Mary glanced at Anton, then looked quickly away, blushing.
    â€˜They are all enamoured after your great bouts of showing off on the ice,’ Nils said, sounding disgruntled indeed.
    â€˜And now that the Thames is near frozen over he will have even more such opportunities,’ Johan added.
    â€˜You can be sure all the ladies will find excuses to be in the Queen’s Riverside Gallery just to watch,’ Nils said. ‘To blow kisses and toss flowers from the windows.’
    Anton laughed, turning away from their teasing. He relished those stolen moments on the ice, speeding along with no thought except of the cold, the movement, the rare, wondrous rush of freedom. Could he help it ifothers too wanted to share in that freedom, in that feeling of flying above the cold, hard earth and all its complex cares?
    â€˜They merely want to learn how to skate,’ he said.
    â€˜Skate, is it?’ Nils answered. ‘I have never heard it called that .’
    Anton shook his head, twirling his skates over his shoulder as he strolled towards the palace. ‘You should turn your attention to the feast tonight,’ he called back. ‘Her Grace deplores lateness.’
    â€˜So you have decided to be the Queen’s amusement, then?’ Nils said as he and Johan hurried to catch up.
    Anton laughed. ‘I haven’t Lord Leicester’s fortitude in such matters, I fear. I could not amuse her for long. Nor could I ever have Melville’s and Maitland’s devotion. To serve two queens, Scots and English, would be exhausting indeed. But we were sent here to perform a diplomatic task, van . If by making merry in Her Grace’s Great Hall we may accomplish that, we must do it.’
    He grinned at them, relishing the looks of bafflement on their faces. So much the better if he could always keep everyone guessing as to his true meaning, his true motives. ‘Even if it is a great sacrifice indeed to drink the Queen’s wine and talk with her pretty ladies.’
    He turned from them, running up a flight of stone stairs towards the gallery. Usually crowded with the curious, the bored, and those hurrying on very important errands, at this hour the vast space was near empty. Everyone was tucked away in their own corners, carefully choosing their garments for the evening ahead.
    Plotting their next move in the never-ending game of Court life.
    He needed to do the same. He had heard that his cousinhad recently arrived at Whitehall to plot the next countermove in the game of Briony Manor. Anton had not yet met with his opponent, but Briony was a ripe plum, indeed. Neither of them was prepared to let it go without a fight, no matter what their grandfather’s will commanded.
    But Anton could be a fierce opponent, too. Briony meant much more than a mere house, a mere parcel of land. He was ready to do battle for it—even if the battle was on a tiltyard of charm, flirtation and deception.
    He turned towards the apartments given to the Swedish delegation, hidden amid the vast warrens of Whitehall’s corridors. As he did, his attention was caught by a soft flurry of laughter. It was quiet, muffled, but bright as a golden ribbon, woven through the grey day and heavy thoughts.
    â€˜Shh!’ he heard a lady whisper. ‘It’s this way, but we have to