The Arbella Stuart Conspiracy: A timeshift conspiracy thriller with a shocking conclusion (The Marquess House Saga Book 3) by Alexandra Walsh

Author:Alexandra Walsh [Walsh, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2020-05-25T00:00:00+00:00

Arbella’s bout of illness left her bedridden for over a week, her body wracked with pain, her mind a frenzy of fear and paranoia as demons crawled up her bed to whisper terror in her ears. Knife-sharp pains had sliced through her abdomen, and her eyes had slid from sight to blindness while her temperature raged.

On the ninth day, she was woken abruptly by Bridget shaking her. “George Brooke has been arrested. Robert Cecil’s men took him to the Tower at dawn.”

“Is he the only one, or has the whole plot been exposed?” Arbella gasped, once the meaning of the words had seeped into her sleep-soaked brain. Fear coursed through her. Would there be soldiers arriving at her door any moment to take her to the Tower?

“At present, he is the only one. They were betrayed by the Jesuit priest, John Gerard — the man whom Griffin Markham insisted would be loyal to the plot.”

“What about the Markham brothers? William and Griffin — have they been caught?”

“Not yet. We only know about George because a letter has arrived from Lady Gertrude Reade. Lizzie Brooke is staying there with her twin daughters; she is distraught about her husband.”

Arbella accepted the small ale handed to her by Anne Bradshaw. She noticed Margaret Byron was not in the room and was relieved — if events were about to take a dangerous turn, she would concoct a reason for the girl to be sent home; she did not want to risk the child’s life along with their own.

“Was there any mention of Baron Cobham and his alternate plot?”

“No,” replied Anne. “All those apprehended are concerned with George’s plan to try and coerce the king into treating Catholics with tolerance. It is believed that a number of Catholic informers discovered the plot and wrote to Robert Cecil. He is in a difficult position; George Brooke is his brother-in-law.”

“Robert and George have always squabbled…” Arbella began.

“But this is treason,” said Bridget, her voice rising in panic. “Do you think Cecil will help him?”

“I doubt it,” said Arbella, her voice matter of fact. “They have never been friends, despite their relationship through marriage, and Cecil is a shrewd man. He will see this as a way to prove his loyalty to the new regime. My biggest concern is George’s temper. Cecil will know how to provoke him, and he will use this to try and draw information from him. Our greatest danger is whether or not George has details of his brother’s plot.”

“Why?” asked Anne, white with fear.

“If George tries to save himself by selling out his brother and revealing Henry’s far more dangerous plan of removing James from the throne, bypassing the prince and crowning me instead, then we may all find ourselves on a barge to the Tower.”

“Would he be so disloyal?” asked Bridget, shocked.

“Not intentionally,” replied Arbella, “but we all know how George is when roused — he doesn’t know what he’s saying. He shouts and screams, blaming all around him for being fools and blaggards, before the recrimination of regret once he has resumed serenity.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.