The Lady's Battle (Ladies of Valor) by Anne R Bailey

Author:Anne R Bailey [Bailey, Anne R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkblot Press
Published: 2024-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

As the heat of summer settled upon England, Edward’s popularity among the barons and England’s other magnates was in the ascendency.

After the campaign in Wales, he no longer held back on being outspoken against his father’s policies. Before, no one would’ve paid attention to him, or his parents would silenced him, but with Simon de Montfort’s support he had a say.

Eleanor was proud of him. She only wished she had been able to do her part to make his rise to prominence complete. Not a week after Edward’s return from Wales, she lost the baby. It was early days, and she was reassured it was common, but it felt like a door shut in her heart forever.

Children left this world too easily. Even those who had yet to be born.

Edward had been attentive and was more concerned about the melancholy that had descended upon her.

“There will be others,” he assured her. “And if there’s not, I have nieces and nephews enough to adopt as my own.”

She forced herself to nod and smile. “I am just lost. Perhaps I am competitive with you. As you rise in the world, I feel like I remain stagnant.”

“Then let me give you a greater purpose to occupy your time,” he said, as they strolled through the gardens at Westminster. The roses were in full bloom this time of year, filling the air with their heady scent. She watched him pull a sheath of parchment from his lapel and hand it to her.

She studied the seal. Robert Leyburn. “Has something happened?”

“Read it for yourself.” He motioned for her to sit down on a bench, but she remained standing and paced before him while he sat leisurely with his elbows resting on his knees.

The letter began with assurances from Robert that everything was operating smoothly, but someone had set fire to a tenant’s farm not far from their castle. They were investigating the matter and hoping this wasn’t the start of some incursion by the Duke of Toulouse into Gascony, or some other baron stirring up revolt and rebellion. The letter urged Edward to return, as his presence would do much to settle the growing discontent.

“It is hard to manage a duchy from afar,” Eleanor commented as she refolded the letter and handed it to him. “Will you leave England now?”

Edward shook his head. “I’m finally somewhere I can make a real difference. If I leave, then I will lose their support and we will go back to writing letters begging for aid. They would fall on deaf ears while the real struggle happens here.”

“So what do you propose? Robert made it sound urgent.”

He ran a hand over his jaw. “I have half a mind to send you there in my place. What would you say to that?”

She gasped. “You would trust me to manage this?”

“We are of one mind. I trust you with our affairs. Besides, I can see how unhappy you are at court. My mother isn’t the most welcoming of women. We wouldn’t be apart for long.

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