Wolf Bride (Lust in the Tudor Court - Book One) by Elizabeth Moss

Author:Elizabeth Moss [Moss, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2013-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Susannah was agitated. ‘But why cannot I accompany you back to court, Eloise?’ she demanded again, staring anxiously out at the sky. ‘Please say yes. It will be dawn soon and you will be gone. It is not fair to send me home when you are escaping to court!’

The sky outside was still that cool slate-grey before dawn, though the household had only awoken an hour before, chasing away the darkness with candles and hurriedly kindled fires. Since then, servants had been bustling about, packing chests and provisions for the journey, and from the stables came the repeated clang of iron, the smith having been called to reshoe the best horses in Wolf’s stables.

Eloise herself had been busy, sorting out which clothes and shoes to pack, and briefly scribbling down orders for the running of the household during her absence. It irked her that she had not even seen Wolf since the night before. After riding back from the lodge together through the dark fields, her husband had escorted her to her bedchamber, then left her with a curt bow and not returned all night. She did not know why Wolf had gone, nor where he had slept last night – if he had slept at all – but his silence towards her since leaving the lodge had been frightening.

‘Forgive me,’ Eloise told her, ‘but it is fair.’

‘How so?’ Susannah turned from the window, her loose fair hair swinging. Her fingers plucked at Eloise’s gown in a childishly agitated manner, putting the lie to her words. ‘I am not a child anymore, and Father will not be angry if you take me with you. In faith, he has often said I should go to court and learn my manners. You had your chance to escape. Now this is mine. And Hugh Beaufort is to accompany you back to court as well . . . Once Hugh is gone, I will be quite alone again in Yorkshire, with nobody to talk to but the cows and sheep. You must let me come with you!’

‘Do you not understand?’ Eloise exclaimed at last, rounding on her sister. ‘I am not returning to court to spite your chances with Hugh Beaufort. I have been summoned as a witness. The accusation against the queen is one of adultery, an offence which is considered treason, punishable by death.’

Susannah had taken a step back at her outburst. Now she stared at Eloise blankly, her lip trembling. ‘It is not you who is accused.’

‘Not yet, no . . .’

Eloise was thinking out loud, the fear nearly driving her mad, just as it had done in the night, lying alone in her cold bed with nothing to do but remember the queen’s secret kisses and forbidden liaisons at court.

‘But what if they claim I had secret knowledge of the queen’s adultery that I ought to have shared with one of the king’s advisors? If she is condemned, and I kept silent where I should have spoken, then I .

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