“Alaric, you are drawing to a conclusion. Now I beg you to get there with all speed. And speak plain, if you will, so I can understand.”
“Very well. I hereby, formally and officially, offer you my hand, my kingdom, and my love. I want you as my queen and the mother of my children. I want you to be the first face I gaze upon in the morning, and I want you by my side as I grow old. Without you I am incomplete.
“So speak plain, Molly: will you have me?”
“Of course I will.”
About the Author
DIANE STANLEY is the author and illustrator of beloved books for young readers, including The Silver Bowl, which received three starred reviews, was named a best book of the year by Kirkus Reviews and Book Links Lasting Connections, and was an ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice; The Cup and the Crown; Saving Sky, winner of the Arab American Museum’s Arab American Book Award and a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year; Bella at Midnight, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and an ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice; The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy; The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine; and A Time Apart.
Ms. Stanley has also written and illustrated numerous picture books, including three creatively reimagined fairy tales. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can visit her online at www.dianestanley.com.
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Books by Diane Stanley
IN THIS SERIES
The Silver Bowl
The Cup and the Crown
Bella at Midnight
The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy
The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine
Saving Sky
A Time Apart
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Credits
Cover art © 2013 by Dan Craig
Cover design by Cara Petrus
Copyright
The Princess of Cortova
Copyright © 2013 by Diane Stanley
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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ISBN 978-0-06-204730-4
EPUB Edition JULY 2013 ISBN 9780062047335
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First Edition
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The Princess of Cortova Page 19