She'll play this part to her last breath, or so she knows only privately. But this is a role that came before that, she sits back, relaxed but still posed. That too tense way courtiers held themselves, the fear of eyes upon her at all times.

"A pleasure." She looked him over again, noting the differences between them. He was striking in his black to say the least. Italian perhaps, from his accent but she couldn't be sure. "Victoria Guildford." Her private own lie, but as much as she might be appreciative, she noticed one thing that was familiar, and her eyebrows went up. His ring. Everyone of a court in Christendom knew that ring, even if it was only a vague memory of her childhood.

"... You are a Cardinal, are you not?"