teaser tuesday
Things go from bad to worse for our Elizabeth this week. Having fought with her best friend only to find she’s disappeared, Elizabeth now sees a new side of the Queen of England. Comments and lambasts urged as always.
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After chapel the next morning, I follow the Queen with her other women to her watching chamber, to report for duty. Lettice is not there. The Queen dismisses everyone except me, and her secretary hands me a stack of reports, bowing out.
The Queen sits, filling the room.
I am waiting for her to speak. This is one of the rules - Lettice told me, on the day we met - that I do not forget: I mustn’t speak first.
‘Well?’ the Queen says, gesturing to the papers in my arms. ‘I am all agog to hear. They want the Scots Queen dead - still - they want me to entertain the notion of a French marriage. They want me to build more ships, always more ships. I ask you, Lady Carey, what has gone so amiss in my stewardship of this kingdom that we are every moment in danger of invasion?’ She sighs, and scratches beneath her wig. ‘Well?’ she shouts.
‘Madam,’ I say, and it is not in my reading voice. It is a small, almost inaudible voice, a voice that might be calculated to make her foul mood fouler, but I find I cannot speak any louder. ‘I wonder - I wonder why the Countess of Essex was not with us in chapel today? Is she unwell?’
It is extraordinary: as I watch, the Queen’s eyes shrink from the size of almonds to infinitesimal black pinpricks, darts to pierce my skin. ‘Let us review, shall we?’ she asks, prettily. ‘Today, I have told you of the menace of all Catholic Europe, its centre in my own kingdom. I have told you of the impending loss of my virginity, without which I am nothing, without which I am an ordinary foolish woman like you. And what you heard was an invitation to ask after the health of my cousin Lettice.’ She stops here. And then: ‘I have greater concerns than the wanderings of my women!’ she shrieks, and now my hands are shaking to make me drop the stack of papers, and that does it. She closes her eyes, but opens them again, whippet-quick, and looks around her for the briefest of moments before yanking up the hem of her gown and pulling off a jeweled slipper.
I brace myself, but not nearly quick enough, and the shoe, heavy with stones, finds its mark on my right shoulder. It hurts more than I could have imagined, and in spite of myself I look up at her - the worst thing to do, under the circumstances - as I clutch my new wound. I remember again the day I met her, when she pulled me up from my cushion with such ease: this, it seems, is how she keeps her slim arm in condition.
I stoop to gather the papers to me, and already it smarts too much to hold them up; I shift them from my right arm to my left. I also pick up the slipper, but am less sure of what to do with that. After a moment I approach her, my eyes on the floor, and hand it back to her. I wait. Should I have re-armed her - or indeed have reminded her of what she’s just done? She takes the shoe from me, and with grand, almost comic serenity, returns it to her foot. I step back.
‘Well, then,’ she says after a long pause. ‘That’s that out of the way.’ She smiles at me and claps her hands onto her knees. ‘I feel quite ready to hear my Council’s bleatings now.’
I am hobbled with pain. I wonder if she will invite me to sit.
‘The Countess left for her own estates this morning,’ she says. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t know. She asked my permission weeks ago. Now read. And I want those reports to sound quite dulcet - otherwise, why would I keep you?’
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July 28th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Nice glimpse into the Queen’s petulance. You paint a marvelous picture of her, I can imagine she must’ve had quite a short fuse.
Brilliantly drawn, as always. Love the line about her eyes shrinking from almonds to pinpricks.
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July 28th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Excellent characterization and description. The dialogue is representative of the characters within the period. I also admire your mastery of writing in the present tense.
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July 28th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I love this and I don’t usually care for present tense. The characterization of the two women is beautifully focused and distinct. My magpie attention was caught by the detail of the slipper with stones in it. I’ve read sources to the effect that Elizabeth threw slippers at people, but never that they were weighted with stones. Those crazy Elizabethans.
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July 28th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Ooh, I hadn’t thought about the ambiguous wording - by ’stones’ I just meant the jewels that were encrusted outside it. Good catch - thanks!
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Elizabeth Loupas Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
LOL! Duh. I should have realized that. I was visualizing a sole filled with rocks, perhaps to make the Queen appear taller and walk in a slower, statelier fashion. She would not have been above such a thing. Heh.
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July 28th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Ah, what a nasty temper the Queen has here! I love the way you set the mood in your work - very evocative. I loved this description - “voice that might be calculated to make her foul mood fouler, but I find I cannot speak any louder.” It works so well to get your point across on multiple levels; we get the anxiety, the sensitivity/unstable reactionary queen. Fabulous. The only thing I didn’t like was the description “whippet-quick” when the queen opens her eyes. I’m not sure why, but it didn’t quite capture what I was imagining.
Thanks for the read!
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July 28th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
“…this, it seems, is how she keeps her slim arm in condition.” Hee. This line made me laugh.
Not much else to add. You’ve got the level of detail and dialogue that really puts me in the time period, and great characterization. Good job!
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July 28th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
“…this, it seems, is how she keeps her slim arm in condition.”
This is my favorite line, too.
I want to read more!
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July 28th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
All I can really say is that I loved this. What a great scene!
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July 28th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
This was awesome! I loved all of it–and especially the part where she doesn’t know what the heck to do with the slipper afterwards, lol. I totally read “jewels” for “stones”, btw. And I agree with Alias–the only thing that distracted me at all was “whippet-quick.” I thought maybe it was because I do dog show stuff, but maybe not.
At any rate, thought the writing was beautiful, and the pace quick. Fan-tabulous.
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July 29th, 2009 at 1:55 am
Wonderful job on this. I really got into your characters and could feel this scene. You write with grace and your work sounds so interesting.
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July 29th, 2009 at 4:36 am
This is fantastic. Your voice has a whimsical aspect to it, which I love.
The Queen is a riot!
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