72

Polonius had not said much to me in the car. I was happy he hadn’t taunted me after the meeting where my allies had signed in support of marital incarceration. He’d left me to my thoughts.

As soon as we entered the house, Polonius stopped to address me. “I'm sure you're tired and would like to freshen up. I will meet you for dinner this evening.” With that, he followed two of his guards down the hallway.

I stood there with Leonore and three of my Royal Guardsmen, unsure of where to go when a housekeeper dressed in a crisp dark blue uniform approached us.

“If you come this way, Your Majesty, I’ll show you to your room,” she said.

We followed the housekeeper to an elegant residential suite. It had a large canopied bed teeming with cream-colored lace and satin. There was a roaring fire in the hearth surrounded by deep blue velvet couches and a long, low table.

“I will be stationed outside until this evening, Your Majesty,” Leonore said, and I left my Royal Guards to retreat to my room, w