"Oh no, they would not trust me with such things," she laughs, and slips her arm into his offered one, and her other hand goes to his elbow. He does not know who she is, and that's a thrill on its own.

She looks pleased beyond measure, anyhow, as they leave the little copse of pear trees. "Queen Susan is unlikely to let anyone else so much as look at an invitation without her permission. But you are most fortunate, for I have been allowed a guest, and if it is not you, then it would be the pear tree."