Ruffled Feathers by Markland Anna

Author:Markland, Anna
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

ANTWERP

Luisa reluctantly accepted the necessity for her father to be out and about in Antwerp, but was always tremendously relieved when he returned to the house safe and sound. Even Roberto and Fabiano’s intimidating presence was no guarantee of their safety.

She’d stopped asking how things stood, sensing from his often downcast demeanor he’d had no luck securing passage on a vessel to Venezia. Nor had he been able to arrange inclusion in an overland venture. On a long and sometimes difficult journey, no captain wanted the responsibility of two women, one of them elderly. She began to wonder if perhaps the Pope’s influence had eased the way for their journey to England’s shores.

One evening, he returned to their suite of rooms brimming excitedly with news of a different sort. “By chance, I was introduced today to a group of Venetian merchants who were recently trading in the Spanish Netherlands.”

Luisa’s throat tightened. She prayed he hadn’t boasted of his role in the Spanish plot.

“It seems Count Alba has dispatched secret envoys to England. The invasion might be underway.”

Luisa wondered how secret these envoys were if transient merchants knew of them. On the other hand, there wasn’t much that members of the extensive Venetian network didn’t pass on to each other about events taking place in far flung lands where they traded.

“I tried to warn the duke,” her father wailed, wringing his hands. “Perhaps I should have contacted Alba.”

Upset by his sudden change of mood, Luisa hurriedly excused herself from his presence before the welling tears began. She didn’t care a fig about an anonymous English duke intent on committing treason against his queen, nor a Spanish duke leading an invasion. A premonition Dominic might be caught up in the coming storm tightened her throat. Guilt soared. What kind of daughter was more concerned for her lover than for her father? It was evident Basilio Bertolli wasn’t suited to intrigue. She could have told the Pope that if she’d been consulted.

Flinging herself onto the mattress in her chamber, she buried her face in the pillow and wept. She loved Dominic but they had never been lovers in the true sense of the word. She wished with all her heart she had urged the goldsmith to possess her body. He already owned her soul.

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