"Your Majesty!" he gasped. "Welcome, sire."
Henry stopped just inside the doorway. "I hear I have you to thank for Miss Valenti's life."
"No thanks are necessary, sire. Lady Livia has been quite good to me since she arrived at Whitehall. Most people here forget I exist."
"I shall visit you more often, then," Henry said.
Hartwell went pale. "My lord, surely, I did not mean—"
Henry raised a hand to stop him. The poor man fell silent at once. Henry stepped closer to the desk. "Ask whatever you need, Master Hartwell. I owe you my life. You saved hers...That is the same thing to me. I should like to repay you."
"Heaven forbid that I request payment for being a human being," Hartwell said.
"You are a rare man, Master Hartwell," Henry said.
Hartwell gave a startled little laugh. "I am a librarian, Your Majesty. We are rarely rare."
"You saved the life of the woman I intend to marry."
