Chapter 6
FORTUNATELY THE REST of the ride to the palace was short.
The coach stopped at the bottom of the palace steps where a guard of honour waited for the king. They were all dressed in smart Carmine livery. The marble steps they stood on were neatly swept and the entrance to the foyer with its marble columns had been scrubbed clean.
The herald announced the arrival of the king, and the soldiers lifted their trumpets, glittering in the sunlight. The fanfare echoed over the forecourt.
Hang all of King William’s pomp. Those were her men, and they looked good and presented well, and she was proud of them.
A good number of citizens had gathered on the other side of the gilded fence and looked on while the party arrived. Besides their own, there were two other coaches, with the king’s
