‘Wrong?’ he said. ‘How?’
‘She believes we will never stamp out Protestantism by burning people to death. It just creates martyrs. Rather, we should remove the impulse that creates Protestants by reforming the Catholic Church.’
She was right about martyrs. No one had even liked the overbearing Giles Palot during his lifetime but now, according to Pierre’s spies, he was almost a saint. However, reformation of the Church was a counsel of perfection. ‘You’re talking about taking away the wealth and privileges of men such as Cardinal Charles. It will never happen, because they are too powerful.’
‘Caterina thinks that’s the problem.’
‘People will always find fault with the Church. The answer is to teach them that they have no right to criticize.’
Alison shrugged. ‘I didn’t say Queen Caterina was right. I just think we have to be on our guard.’
Pierre made a doubtful face. ‘If she had any power, yes. But with the king married to a Guise-family niece, we’re in control. I don’t think we have anything to fear from the queen mother.’
‘Don’t underestimate her because she’s a woman. Remember Joan of Arc.’
Pierre thought Alison was wrong, but he said: ‘I never underestimate a woman,’ and gave his most charming smile.
Alison turned a little, so that her breast was pressing against Pierre’s chest. Pierre believed firmly that women never did such things by accident. She said: ‘We’re alike, you and I. We have dedicated ourselves to serving very powerful people. We’re counsellors to giants. We should always work together.’
‘I’d like that.’ She was talking about a political alliance, but under her words was another message. The tone of her voice and the look on her face said she was attracted to him.
He had not thought of romance for a year. His disappointment over Véronique and his revulsion for the ghastly Odette left no room in his heart for feelings about other women.
For a moment he was unable to think how he should respond to Alison. Then he realized that Alison’s talk of working together was not merely empty chatter to cover romantic interest. More likely it was the other way around: she was being flirtatious in order to lure him into a working partnership. Normally it was Pierre who pretended to be in love with a woman in order to get something out of her. He smiled at the irony, and she mistook that for encouragement. She tilted her head back a fraction so that her face was slightly turned up to his. The invitation was unmistakable.
Still he hesitated. What was in this for him? The answer came immediately: control of the queen of France. If Mary Stuart’s best friend was his paramour, he could become even more powerful than Duke François and Cardinal Charles.
He leaned down and kissed her. Her lips were soft and yielding. She put her hand behind his head, pressing him closer, and opened her mouth to his tongue. Then she pulled away. ‘Not now,’ she said. ‘Not here.’
Pierre tried to figure out what that meant. Did she want to go to bed with him somewhere else, later? A single girl such as Alison could not sacrifice her virginity. If it became known – as such things usually did at court – it would forever ruin her prospects of making a good marriage.
However, an upper-class virgin might well permit liberties with a man she expected to marry.
And then it struck him. ‘Oh, no,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘You don’t know, do you?’
‘What don’t I know?’
‘That I’m married.’
Her face fell. ‘Good God, no.’
‘It was arranged by Cardinal Charles. A woman who needed a husband in a hurry, for the usual reason.’
‘Who?’
‘Alain de Guise impregnated a maid.’
‘Yes, I heard about that – oh! You’re the one who married Odette?’
Pierre felt foolish and ashamed. ‘Yes.’
‘But why?’
‘My reward was the right to call myself Pierre Aumande de Guise. It’s on the marriage certificate.’
