r." Another pause, and then he
added: "If that means anything at all. Which I doubt."

"In any case," the Queen said, her eyes twinkling, "you were about to
enter a new objection to our little visit to the Palace, were you not?"

Malone admitted as much. "I really think that--"

Her eyes grew suddenly cold. "If I hear any more objections, Sir
Kenneth, I shall not only rescind your knighthood and--when I regain my
rightful kingdom--deny you your dukedom, but I shall refuse to
co-operate any further in the business of Project Isle."

Malone turned cold. His face, he knew without glancing in the mirror,
was white and pale. He thought of what Burris would do to him if he
didn't follow through on his assigned job.

Even if he wasn't as good as Burris thought he was, he really liked
being an FBI agent. He didn't want to be fired.

And Burris had said: "_Give her anything she wants._"

He gulped and tried to make his face look normal. "All right," he said.
"Fine. We'll go to the Palace."

He tried to ignore the pall of apprehension that fell over the car.

VI

The management of the Golden Palace had been in business for many long,
dreary, profitable years, and each member of the staff thought he or she
had seen just about everything there was to be seen. And those that were
new felt an obligation to _look_ as if they'd seen everything.

Therefore, when the entourage of Queen Elizabeth I strolled into the
main salon, not a single eye was batted. Not a single gasp was heard.

Nevertheless, the staff kept a discreet eye on the crew. Drunks, rich
men or Arabian millionaires were all familiar. But a group out of the
Sixteenth Century was something else again.

Malone almost strutted, conscious of the sidelong glances the group was
drawing. But it was obvious that Sir Thomas was the major attraction.
Even if you could accept the idea of people in strange costumes, the
sight of a living, breathing absolute duplicate of King Henry VIII was a
little too much to take. It has been reported that two ladies named
Jane, and one named Catherine, came down with sudden headaches and left
the salon within five minutes of the group's arrival.

Malone felt he knew, however, why he wasn't drawing his full share of
attention. He felt a little out of place. The costume was one thing,
and, to tell the truth, he was beginning to enjoy it. Even with the
weight of the stuff, it was going to be a wrench to go back to
single-breast