height. âI obeyed my father when I married, and I might as well have been sold into prostitution.â The company gasped, and Lord Botheyâs eyes looked like his daughterâs, large and shocked. âSo donât try to frighten the girl with that threat, Freddie. Itâs just your nasty bully tactics.â
âToo true, Father.â Tossing her head, Lady Blanche said, âSo Iâll stay here.â
âYou will not!â her father roared. âWeâre leaving at once. If the orphan-heir has returned, this upstart Tonywill be out of his estate and Iâll be saddled with an indigent son-in-law.â
The company looked from Lord Bothey to Tony, and Tony didnât disappoint them. âLord Bothey, youâre forgetting a few things.â
âEh?â Knowing he had overstepped his bounds, Lord Bothey turned the color of the scarlet embroidery on his shirt and glared.
âOne servant returned alive from Londonâmy 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 recoveredâand we all know how unlikely that isâshe couldnât have recovered without someoneâs 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.â Pausing, he let that sink in, then added, âOur 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 Elizabethâs 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
âI say,â Lord Bothey sputtered. âI say!â
âFor that reasonââTony stepped as close to Lord Bothey as Lord Botheyâs unpadded, protruding stomach would allowââand 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.â
There was one collective hiss as the company sucked in their breaths, and Lord Bothey turned white. âIneverâ¦I donât 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
âOh, Daddy.â Lady Blanche moaned in despair.
âIf I were you, Lord Bothey,â Jean said, âI 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.â And my brother is , she added without words.
Tony looked around at the shocked noblefolk. âCome, let us eat and wish Lord Bothey and his family Godspeed. The rest of you, I assume, will be staying?â
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 Elizabethâs wrath by giving validity to the talk of the heirâs return. But he couldnât 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 Dannyâs 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
C. J. Cherryh
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