The Greatest Lover in All England by Christina Dodd

height. “I obeyed my father when I married, and I might as well have been sold into prostitution.” The company gasped, and Lord Bothey’s eyes looked like his daughter’s, large and shocked. “So don’t try to frighten the girl with that threat, Freddie. It’s just your nasty bully tactics.”
    â€œToo true, Father.” Tossing her head, Lady Blanche said, “So I’ll stay here.”
    â€œYou will not!” her father roared. “We’re leaving at once. If the orphan-heir has returned, this upstart Tonywill be out of his estate and I’ll be saddled with an indigent son-in-law.”
    The company looked from Lord Bothey to Tony, and Tony didn’t disappoint them. “Lord Bothey, you’re forgetting a few things.”
    â€œEh?” Knowing he had overstepped his bounds, Lord Bothey turned the color of the scarlet embroidery on his shirt and glared.
    â€œOne servant returned alive from London—my steward, Hal. He was left in London to bring back the horses, and he says when Lord Sadler and the child left, the child was ill already. Even if she might have recovered—and we all know how unlikely that is—she couldn’t have recovered without someone’s care. Her father died, her nursemaid died, the coachman died, and no one would have stolen the girl if she were ill of the plague. No one is that mad, and so the fate of the child is a mystery.” Pausing, he let that sink in, then added, “Our gentle queen was indeed grief-stricken by the loss of Lord Edward, and she ordered a search for him that did not falter for years. For five years, Lord Bothey. The manor was empty for fifteen years in total. Not until Queen Elizabeth’s deepest uncertainties had been laid to rest did she remand this property to me. To imagine the existence of an heir is to doubt the wisdom of our queen.”
    â€œI say,” Lord Bothey sputtered. “I say!”
    â€œFor that reason”—Tony stepped as close to Lord Bothey as Lord Bothey’s unpadded, protruding stomach would allow—“and through no fault of her own, I cannot beg your daughter to be my wife. An upstart such as myself dares not ally himself with a family whose patriarch lacks confidence in the monarchy.”
    There was one collective hiss as the company sucked in their breaths, and Lord Bothey turned white. “Inever…I don’t lack confidence in our blessed queen! I never mentioned that no woman should sit on the throne of England, that it was against the law of God and man. I never suggested such a thing.”
    â€œOh, Daddy.” Lady Blanche moaned in despair.
    â€œIf I were you, Lord Bothey,” Jean said, “I would repair to London at once and assure our blessed sovereign of your confidence in her. She will not be pleased when she hears of the resurrection of this rumor, and need I remind you, you are not her favorite courtier.” And my brother is , she added without words.
    Tony looked around at the shocked noblefolk. “Come, let us eat and wish Lord Bothey and his family Godspeed. The rest of you, I assume, will be staying?”
    Everyone nodded in unison, like dumb sheep who dared not oppose their shearer. He had squelched their flight with guile and fear, for none would dare risk Elizabeth’s wrath by giving validity to the talk of the heir’s return. But he couldn’t keep them here forever, he knew. One by one they would invent excuses and slip off, wanting to see him fall yet anxious not to be involved.
    This damnable rumor had blossomed fast. Too fast. Had it been making the rounds the last few days, or had it spread like wildfire from Sir Danny’s single mention of it last night? Was Sir Danny repeating what he heard, or was he the instigator of the tale?
    The house party might be coming to an end, but the acting company would have to stay. Stay until Tony reached the bottom of the matter, and that might