Nine Days a Queen: The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey by Ann Rinaldi

Author:Ann Rinaldi [Rinaldi, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - Historical, Tudors, 16th Century, England, Royalty
ISBN: 9780060549251
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2006-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

S

o the spring I was fifteen I paid another visit to Mary. And I couldn't help but notice. She treated me like a woman now.

"You know John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, of course," she said to me as soon as we were seated in comfort in her private chambers. "What do you know about him?"

"That I like him not," I said.

She smiled. Mary was well past thirty now, with the flush of maidenhood gone from her face. But then, had she ever been a true maid? All her life she had had to act with wisdom beyond her years just to survive.

I was glad I wasn't a princess. Their lot is not a happy one.

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"You should not only like him not," she told me. "You should fear him. He is not a man of good parts. He may be elegant, handsome, and accomplished, but it is he who set the Seymour brothers against each other. And now he is working to upset the Lord Protector."

"How?" I asked.

"For one thing, Northumberland has just put down a bothersome rebellion. Everyone praises him for it. Few stop to think it gave him an excuse to have his own army, and now that he does, the Lord Protector is in danger of being thrown over."

"Will King Edward allow that to happen?"

"My little brother is enamored of Northumberland. You know he's the finest jouster of the day and has a skill at games that fascinates Edward. He treats my brother as if he has already attained his majority. And he has hangers-on and climbers in court who will falsely testify in a minute to the Lord Protector's treasonous activities."

Fear came upon me. "And if he takes over as Lord Protector?"

"You and I are both in danger. You'll find

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yourself no longer betrothed to your earl, but likely to one of Northumberland's sons. He has five of them. You know your parents want you attached to power."

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