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Puss Lovejoy, shivering in a red dress, was selling what she always sold.
a bit like the half-hidden community of men who loved men, Ned thought.
But they took every opportunity to object to bawdy songs, bosom-revealing gowns, and drunk priests. And there was no law against dull clothes.
Hatfield Palace
Perceptively she said:
The bloody signposting!
Rollo did not understand his sister. She took religion very seriously, but she had always been disobedient. How could that be? For Rollo, the essence of religion was submission to authority. That was the trouble with Protestants: they thought they had the right to make up their own minds. But Margery was a devout Catholic.
Ned had always been like this, Rollo recalled. Even when he was a cheeky little boy at school he had been a fierce fighter, ready to defy older boys, and Rollo had been obliged to teach him a lesson or two with a bundle of birch twigs. Then Ned had matured and grown those big hands and feet; and, even though he was still shorter than average, bigger boys had learned to respect his fists.
With a massive effort of will, Pierre replied: ‘My dear fellow, I have absolutely no idea. Forget it, please.’ Then he was inspired to add: ‘You obviously need the money.’
Caterina de’ Medici, queen of France,
the strong mutual attachment of those who live through adversity together.
There was something about ships that made his soul sing. He had never been happier than on the voyage here. Despite the rotten food, the foul drinking water, the stinking bilges, and the frightening storms, he loved the sea. The sensation of speeding across the waves with the wind swelling the sails was a thrill as intense as lying with a woman. Well, almost.
Spain was the richest country in the world but also the most conservative: there were laws against gaudy clothing. The rich dressed in black while the poor wore washed-out browns. It was ironic, Barney thought, how similar extreme Catholics were to extreme Protestants.
Looking up, Barney got what he hoped for: a glimpse of Señor Ruiz’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Jerónima. He walked even more slowly and stared at her, drinking in the pale skin, the lush waves of dark hair, and most of all the large, luminous brown eyes accentuated by black eyebrows. She smiled at him and gave a discreet wave.
for a little while longer, he would be able to endure.
There was an immense altarpiece, a riot of gilded carving that was still unfinished after seventy-five years of work.
He turned his hundred-candle smile on Jerónima.
Everything about her expressed resolution, not animation. The imp of mischief had vanished.
I’ll see him suffer.
‘Francis must get on top of Mary, and either fuck her or pretend to fuck her.’
extempore.
‘When a man is certain that he knows God’s will, and is resolved to do it regardless of the cost, he is the most dangerous person in the world.’
Ned was part of the force that would break the power of men such as Bishop Julius and Sir Reginald. Ned was thrilled to be part of Elizabeth’s household.
In the world of kings and courtiers, Ned had learned, no one told all of the truth all of the time.
Ned was frustrated. He had felt confident that Dan would be eager to revenge the killing of his father by leading a Kingsbridge militia to fight for Elizabeth, and he had assured Sir William Cecil of it. Perhaps he had been overconfident.
She had turned the full force of her charm on Feria, and he had gone away half in love with her.
The city of London was small by comparison with Antwerp, Paris or Seville, but it was the beating heart of England’s growing commercial life.
‘My sister is dying, and I am to be queen,’ Elizabeth said. ‘I feel a kind of defeated joy, gladness and sorrow equal in the balance.’
But she hardened her heart and persisted with her question.
An advantage was no use unless it was seized.
When Sylvie made her vows, she was overcome by a feeling of serenity, as if her life had at last begun.
Sylvie thanked him and left. She was so weak with relief that she could not find the energy to feel exultant.
Gómez had been a hateful man, and his death was a blessing to the human race, but Barney could not feel good about it.
He felt as if he had staked everything on the turn of a single card.
Sometimes he wondered if his entire philosophy of life might be faulty.
Pierre realized he had been avoiding the real subject. Don’t be afraid, he told himself. You are Pierre Aumande de Guise. ‘Everything is ready,’
once again power and wealth would go to those who moved fastest and fought hardest.
In a crisis, frightened people would obey anyone who sounded as if they knew what they were doing.
vituperative,
He never tired of gazing at her, and she never minded.
Sadly, Sal had developed a lump in one of her ample breasts, and over the past year had been transformed from a fleshy middle-aged sexpot into a skeleton with skin.
She had no idea that such a blow could hurt so much. She felt as if her head would come off her neck.
pusillanimous
Changing your beliefs with every change of monarch was called ‘policy’, and people who did it were ‘politicians’.
But you are smart, and Swithin is stupid, so come up with a clever way to put an end to him.
His mother urged him to keep his doubts to himself, but he could not: he was seventeen, and for him right was right and wrong was wrong.
He had thought she was brave but impulsive, and he had imagined she might make decisions that were bold but unwise.
This is a day for remembering.’
Then perhaps they could think of one another calmly, as old flames that had sputtered out long ago.
‘Listen to me carefully, because the whole of the rest of your life depends on how you behave now,’
‘The queen should build ships that are narrow and low, and therefore more manoeuvrable. An agile ship can dance around a galleon, firing at it without letting the galleon get close enough for all those soldiers to board.’ ‘I have to tell her this.’ ‘The other main factor in sea battles is speed of reloading.’ ‘Really?’ ‘It’s more important than having heavy guns. My sailors are trained to clean out the barrel and recharge the cannon rapidly and safely. With practice they can do it in under five minutes.
