No. This was madness.
"Her name!" Theodora demanded.
The patience was gone now. No coaxing. She spun back to Stephen with all the force of a queen who had never been crowned.
"Her name," Theodora snapped again.
His lips moved. For a bit, nothing came out. Then, with a whisper, he answered. "Livia…"
*****
Agnes, the late Thomas's nurse, hurried through Whitehall with her heart beating hard enough to make her ribs ache. She knew the queen mother.
Theodora did not have friends among servants. Agnes had cared for little Thomas in the short, fragile time he had lived, and that had placed her close enough to see things.
The queen mother was not cruel for sport. She was cruel with purpose. If Theodora had Stephen locked up, it would not end well.
So Agnes ran. She passed the lower gallery, turned sharply by the west passage, and kept going until she reached Lord Ashcroft's apartments.
She banged on the door. "Lord Ashcroft!" she yelled.
No answer.
