When she received this letter Agnes wept bitterly.
"Is there no means by which she could be brought to court?" she said to Patience.
"I know of none except by the king's command," said Patience, "and unfortunately the queen-mother is not well inclined towards the Newbolts."
"Where is their country place?" asked Agnes.
"How should I know?" answered Patience. "They are new people who have old lands which by rights belong to others."
She spoke bitterly, and Agnes noticed it.
"Well," she said, "I like the Newbolts; I met the colonel last week when he was presented to the king. He is a fine man, but the queen received him coldly; and when I asked the princess why her mother did so, she said, 'Because she misdoubts all old Parliamentarians. There is not one of them but had a hand in my father's death'."
"'Well, at least Reginald hadn't,'" I said. "He was very young at the time, and both he and Ann have told me that when they heard of the king's death they wept and stamped their feet at their father, saying it was a shame, for which their mother flogged them both and sent them to bed with bread and water. 'But it only made us more loyal,' Ann said. By the bye, Patience, do you know I saw Reginald ride past the other day on his way to Whitehall in the full uniform of the King's Guard? He looked so handsome."
"Where did you see him from?" asked Patience.
"Oh, from the stained mullion window in the corridor behind my room. I often go and stand there because I see into the Strand. I think I like the town better than the river."