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River Avon and
    headed for the Peacock Gardens, where she was meeting her betrothed.
    Kenilworth Castle wasn't as grand as Warwick, but it was close
    enough to her rightfully inherited home that she could visit her
    family whenever she pleased and set up another animal hospital
    there.
     
     
She was now living at Warwick, since Lady Margaret had moved to
    court at King Henry's invitation to serve as Princess Mary's
    governess, and had taken all her servers with her.
     
     
Topaz raised her left hand, and for the dozenth time that day,
    admired her betrothal ring, holding the cluster of rubies set in
    gold up to the sunlight. It glinted, twinkled and winked at her as
    if to commend her on her choice of such a handsome and charming
    husband. She would never succumb to any arranged marriage, as her
    sisters inevitably would. Marriages in her social circle were
    primarily for combining lands and titles, and the parties involved
    were merely vehicles to secure the claims.
     
     
But no, Topaz, Duchess of Warwick, would bestow her generous dowry
    on the man of her choice, not her mother's choice, not that
    fraudulent Henry's choice, no one's but her own.
     
     
She watched the peacocks strutting proudly, the males displaying
    their brilliant tails like the plumed hats of the realm's mighty
    nobles. How much like Henry VIII they were, so pompous and haughty,
    so pretentious and proud! And what were they really, without that
    majestic splaying of feathers? Just ugly, scrawny birds, like Henry
    undoubtedly was under his royal regalia of ill-gotten jewels and
    robes.
     
     
He was a pretender, nothing more. Males. Phonies, one and all. From
    the highest ranking noble to the lowliest slug burrowing through the
    soil. Matthew was no exception. Handsome and comely as he was, he
    was there to serve one purpose—to sire her heir, her future King of
    England, Edward the Sixth, she reminded herself with a sneer.
     
     
How easy it had all been. She had found herself a fairly worthy
    companion to help her on her mission of revenge and quest for power
    and all it had taken was a bit of cunning strategy and feminine
    wiles.
     
     
She turned away from the peacocks and decided to head for the
    stables to check on her animals before Matthew arrived.
     
     
As she crossed the moat towards the east entrance, she noticed an
    ornate carriage drawn by four white palfreys heading for the
    gatehouse. Surely that wasn't Matthew. Even he wasn't that
    extravagant. She broke into a run through the inner courtyard in
    order to greet them, excited at the prospect of a visitor, and a
    noble one at that.
     
     
The carriage halted and the horseman dismounted to help his
    passenger alight. She didn't recognize his livery. Perhaps it was
    someone calling on Amethyst or Emerald. They were being wooed by
    several noble gentlemen, the most persistent being the Duke of
    Norfolk, who'd had an eye on young Emerald for some time now.
     
     
She gasped in delight when she saw the passenger daintily stepping
    to the ground was none other than her dear Aunt Margaret Pole!
     
     
"Auntie! God's foot, you look splendid!" And indeed she did. Her
    golden cloak was trimmed in fur, and the circlet on her head glinted
    with clusters of sapphires.
     
     
"I bring wonderful news!" She greeted her niece with a kiss on each
    cheek, and a small box. "Don't open it yet. I have gifts for all of
    you."
     
     
"Gifts!" Aunt Margaret always had a heart of gold, and a large
    portion of her annuity was distributed to the poor. But this one
    looked beyond the norm. "What is the occasion? Another betrothal
    party? But I just had one last week!"
     
     
"No, my dear. Let us all assemble and I shall dispense the glad
    tidings. Pray tell me your mother and sisters are in residence?"
     
     
"Aye, they are. I believe they're in the Green Drawing Room working
    on their needlepoint," she said, leading the way. She glanced at the
    carriage once more before entering. One day, she would