Rivals for the Crown Read Online Free PDF

Saxons, had built the magnificent structure and surrounding walls to protect his men and court from the hostile local population. Her mother hated the Tower, and although she'd never said why, Isabel thought she knew. Her father's office had been there. The very buildings must be a painful reminder of her loss.
    She watched her mother sew and thought of all the years her mother had served the queen, all the years she had been invisible at court, all the years she had cared for Isabel alone. And now, by a twist of fortune, Isabel had been given this golden chance. Somehow, she told herself, she would find a way to reconcile the two, to talk with the queen and still not endanger her family. She was sure she could. Somehow, strange as it seemed to her, she had caught the eye and the favour of the queen. She would be a fool not to make use of that.
    "Name the queen's ladies," Mother said.
    Isabel did, their faces coming to her mind with their names. Important women from important families, wives and daughters of important men. And Isabel, of no importance at all. But every one of them would know why Isabel had been included, and once again her great-grandmother's one sin would be recognized, but never discussed.
    "Lady Dickleburough," her mother said. "You forgot her."
    "Oh, yes," Isabel said, nodding, thinking of the aging courtier with distaste. Lady Dickleburough behaved as though she were
    young and desirable, but those days, and years, were long past, although she gave no sign of recognizing that.
    She wore clothing appropriate to a much younger woman, her very low necklines revealing deep wrinkles on her neck and decolletage, her sunken breasts no longer able to hold the bodice in the correct position. During the day sunlight cast shadows in the deep wrinkles around her mouth and eyes, and made the kohl she used to hide the grey in her hair all too visible. Isabel's mother often said that Lady Dickleburough pulled the coils of her hair tightly to the top of her head to draw her skin up to hide some of her wrinkles, but the attempt failed. Her skin, surrounded as it was by the white silk wimple she wore, was pasty. Her small brown eyes looked beady behind the folds of skins that threatened to hide them altogether. Her husband, a baron of little note from East Anglia, was neither influential nor wealthy, and his family was certainly not noteworthy. Isabel thought her repulsive.
    "Why is she still at court? Does she have some importance I don't know?"
    Mother laughed. "In her youth she was attractive enough, in a sly and furtive sort of way. She was a.. .very willing companion."
    "Is it true that she was mistress to several important men? Several!"
    "It is. And some were willing to pay to have her stay at court rather than risk her talking of all she knew. They gave her rooms in which to live, bought her clothing and jewels to keep her quiet."
    "What does her husband think of all that? Did he know?"
    "Do the waves on the shore recede and return? Of course he knew. He prospered because of it, was content to look aside and take other men's leavings. There may be no one willing to pay for her favour s now, but there are those who are willing to pay for her silence. She can smell a secret miles away. Never trust her with anything you do not want all of London to know. She can be an interesting ally, for she knows everything about everyone. Now, you will need to be alert when you travel with the queen. The roads are not safe, and even with the king's men guarding you, you must be careful."
    Isabel nodded, thinking of Rachel and her family. No word since they'd left. Isabel had not truly expected to hear from her friend, but it was so hard not to know what had happened to them. She sighed.
    "I wonder where Rachel-—"
    "Yes, yes," Mother said. "I know you still worry. But we may never know what happened to them. Her father will have thought of somewhere to go. It's been but three months. Rachel and her family have no doubt found a