“You are kind beyond my deserving, Madame” she said. “Against such generosity I feel I must speak to you of something that has troubled me.” As she paused, waiting for permission, Kit shot her a worried look.
The queen’s brows rose in sharp surprise. “Speak, if you must.”
“Madame,” Anne said, raising her head to look upon her monarch, “it comes to my ears that the duke of Norfolk has given the Scots queen a diamond against his pledge of marriage. I feel it only right that you should know.”
A horrified gasp rolled over the courtiers. All color drained from Elizabeth’s face. Her eyes widened then her mouth twisted in something between rage and terror.
“He’s done what?!” Elizabeth shrieked, and leapt to her feet. Grabbing the cushion from her chair, she threw it into the room. The chair toppled behind her.
Courtiers scrambled. The earl of Leicester backed steadily from the room. Anne cringed.
Elizabeth turned to look upon the higher of those who served her. Tears filled her eyes, while fury colored her cheeks bright red. Her hand was at her jeweled belt as if seeking a sword. When she found no weapon she tore the belt from her waist, and threw it at the window. It clattered against the thick glass then snaked to the ground.
“Cowards!” she shouted at her courtiers. “How long have you known? Yet none but this maid has the courage to tell me! By God, I’ll separate all your heads from your necks for this,” she roared.
Amyas touched Anne on the arm. “Come lass, you’ve wrought enough havoc for one day. It’s time for you and your new husband to leave.”
Anne looked at Kit. He watched her, both awed and stunned by what she’d done. Then the corner of his mouth lifted and he reached for her hand. “God save me, but with you at my side I daresay it’ll never be a dull marriage.
Now a note from me
Thanks so much for reading this, the first of my two Elizabethan novels. If you liked this book (or even if you didn't, I suppose) please consider leaving a review. I thought I'd take a moment to let you know how this book came to be. You see, when I was young I kept remembering living a life in the court of Elizabeth the First. Sounds weird I know, but when you're five, six and seven, and having these memories you don't really realize it's unusual. But here's the really strange part: as much as I identified with that time period, I didn't have any interest in studying it. I was far more interested in ancient Egypt. So as time passed I let go of Elizabeth and her court and moved on to other things, like jobs, marriages, kids...you know, things.
The kids came and the marriage went. So did another marriage. Then I met my present and forever husband, Ed. At the time I was writing my first novel, Winter's Heat. Ed couldn't believe I was writing about a place I'd never seen. He insisted on taking me to England so I could experience the place first-hand. During the tirp we stopped into the church at Warwick. (Warwick one of those places in England where they stick extra letters into names to confuse Americans--it's "War-ick" not "War-wick"). I knew Robert Dudley, Elizabeth's favorite, was buried there but I was totally unprepared to come face-to-face with an effigy whose image I remembered seeing in all those weird memories from my childhood. I read her name in complete astonishment: Lettice Knowles, first the Viscountess of Hereford, then Robert Dudley's wife and finally the mother of the Earl of Essex, who would later become Elizabeth's ill-fated favorite.
Talk about being rocked off my feet in surprise! After that I guess it was just a matter of time (and book contracts) before I got around to writing a book set in this time period. You'll notice I couldn't resist putting Lettice (myself?) in the background. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.
As a thank you to all of you out there who turned Rannulf and Rowena into best sellers, I'm offering my novella "An Impetuous Season" FREE on my website. Click here to download it
In case this is the first book of mine you've read here is the full list. If there are links missing on the books, it's because I haven't quite got them live on Kindle yet. Just check my website for the proper links as I bring them up. And thank you!
The Graistan Chronicles (sometimes known as the Seasons Series)
Winter's Heat
Summer's Storm
Spring's Fury
Autumn's Flame
A Love for All Seasons
The Lady Series, although two doesn't quite a series make. There were supposed to be more. Hmm, I wonder... .
Lady in Waiting
Lady in White
The Warrior Series
The Warrior's Wife (previously The Warrior's Damsel)
The Warrior's Maiden (previously My Lady's Temptation)
The Warrior's Game
My only Regency era book. I'm sorry. It was too modern for me. I'm better off back when guys just bashed each other with hunks of steel.
Almost Perfect
Monica Sarli's Memoir Men-ipulation
And then there's Monica Sarli's memoir that I co-wrote. Men-ipulation is a memoir of addiction and recovery. After fifteen years abusing Cocaine, Crack and (her personal favorite) Heroin, Monica chose on August 4, 1986 to clean up and hasn't looked back-even though cleaning up cost her everything she valued in life. For anyone struggling with addiction or who loves someone suffering with addiction, this is a book you won't want to miss. (And, yes she really talks like that...all the time.)
By the way, I'll note here that I am title defective. For the first five books, my fabulous stepdaughter Amberly Neese came up with the original and very clever idea of using the seasons, and the publisher ran with it. Beyond that, well, I count on the kindness of editors and others.
If you want to keep up with me or send me a note, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or visit my website at DeniseDomning.com where you can read my blog. I'll warn you, the blog has nothing to do with writing. Instead, it's the chronicle of how my husband takes me on a journey into Green Living and Permaculture. I have a feeling this will turn out to be a mangling of "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Green Acres".
Wish me luck (I'll need it) and happy reading!
Table of Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
A Note from Denise
Lady in Waiting Page 32