by Gill, Tamara
Elena had it all planned and was the reason why she had asked Margaret to call today, for she too featured in her escape. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the six letters she had written to Alessa. "You know that I adore you as a friend, but I do need your help if I'm to succeed. Will you help me?"
Margaret's mouth opened and closed several times, her eyes wide with surprise. "Me?" she said, pointing to herself. "What is it that I'm supposed to do. Need I remind you that you have a sister who is a Queen and another who is a very independent, strong-willed princess right here in town. Should either of them find out I helped you escape, I shall be strung up and hung from the nearest gallows."
Elena chuckled. "I can always count on you to make me laugh, but you are wrong. Neither sister will ever find out. If you can have these letters sent over the next four weeks while you're at Kew Palace, Alessa will be none the wiser. She will not know that I'm in Somerset at all."
"And if your sister calls in at Kew Palace. The estate is not so very far away from London."
Elena waved her friend's concerns away. "She is far too busy with her charities to be worried about me at a house party for a month. While I have little doubt that she will lecture me to behave and remember my manners before I go, she will never think that I shall not attend at all."
And what of King George who sent out all these invitations. Will he not out you to your siblings?"
"No," Elena stated, shaking her head and not the least concerned with that part of her plan either. "King George will not attend, even if he has invited us all to his country estate. You know he prefers to keep his select few and himself locked away at Windsor."
"Even so, I feel nervous about deceiving your sisters. They will be ever so cross with me should they find out."
Elena reached out and took Margaret's hand. "Listen, they will not be angry with you; they will be angry with me." She reached back into her pocket and pulled out another letter. "This is all the information of where I am and the dates. Lord Lyon was very particular as to the time that he required a companion for his mama, and it was perfect luck that they coincided with the house party at Kew. Do not worry at all. You enjoy your time away from town, hand these letters to a footman at the palace, and that is all you need to concern yourself with."
When Margaret entered on indecision, Elena wondered if she had been foolish in thinking she could do such a thing. To run away, even if only for four weeks, was still a risk. Her heart went out to her friend, worrying so. "If you do not wish to, that is perfectly well too, Margaret. I would never ask you to do anything that you're uncomfortable or disagree with. I can change my plans and come to the house party, and no one would ever be the wiser to what I wanted to do."
Margaret bit her bottom lip in thought. "No, I shall help you. You are my closest friend, and you deserve to do what you think will make you ready for marriage. An institution that we all shall have to face very soon I should imagine. I want to help you, and I shall post your letters. But," Margaret said, stemming Elena from pulling her into a hug. "Should your sisters arrive and enquire of your whereabouts or want to see you, I will tell them the truth. Are you in agreement?" she asked her, holding up her hand and sticking out her smallest finger.
"What are you doing with your hand?" Elena asked, having never seen anyone hold out their finger in such a way.
"This is a piggy promise. Should you shake my finger with your own smallest finger, it will mean that you agree to my terms, and you are free to travel to Somerset and Lord Lyon's estate."
Elena stared at her friend's smallest digit, thinking over her friend's terms, which were utterly appropriate and fair. She hooked her finger around Margarets. "I swear and agree to what you say, and I thank you so very much."
Hope and excitement thrummed through her veins over her forthcoming month away from town, from people and noise, scandal and negotiation. How wonderful her time in Somerset would be, and tomorrow morning when the carriage arrived to take her away, she would be ready and willing to transform into Miss Elena Smith, Princess Elena no more.
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Series by Tamara Gill
The Wayward Woodvilles
Royal House of Atharia
League of Unweddable Gentlemen
Kiss the Wallflower
Lords of London
To Marry a Rogue
A Time Traveler’s Highland Love
A Stolen Season
Scandalous London
High Seas & High Stakes
Daughters Of The Gods
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Stand Alone Books
DEFIANT SURRENDER
TO SIN WITH SCANDAL
OUTLAWS
About the Author
Tamara is an Australian author who grew up in an old mining town in country South Australia, where her love of history was founded. So much so, she made her darling husband travel to the UK for their honeymoon, where she dragged him from one historical monument and castle to another.
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A mother of three, her two little gentlemen in the making, a future lady (she hopes) and a part-time job keep her busy in the real world, but whenever she gets a moment’s peace she loves to write romance novels in an array of genres, including regency, medieval and time travel.
www.tamaragill.com
[email protected]