The Last Heiress Read Online Free PDF Page A

marten skin, and other accessories necessary for a lady of the court.
    There were caps and headdresses and veils, as well as gloves of both silk and leather, and beautiful shoes.
    While Thomas Bolton had given much jewelry to his cousin Rosamund and her two elder daughters, he had kept some back for  Elizabeth. “For you, dear girl,” he said, handing her an ebony box edged in silver.
    “What is this?” she asked, opening the box. “I do not wear jewelry, Uncle.”
    “A lady of the court always wears jewelry, dear girl.” He lifted a strand of pale pink pearls from the box. “These belonged to my sister,”
    he said. “Now they are yours.” Then he showed her pear-shaped matching pearl earrings.
    Much to her surprise, Elizabeth began to cry. “Uncle,” she sobbed,
    “I shall never forget this kindness. To think you would have saved these for me.” Her fingers lifted two more strands of pearls together.
    One was black and the other a creamy shade of white. They had matching earrings. There were two fine gold chains: one with a gold enameled cross, and the other of gold squares studded with blue stones he told her were called sapphires. She found a cream-colored ribbon Lord Cambridge told her was to be worn about her forehead. In the center of the ribbon was another large oval-shaped stone of pale blue.
    An aquamarine, he explained. There were two brooches. One was of diamonds and pearls set in gold filigree. The other of sapphires and diamonds set in Irish red gold. There were several rings for her fingers, which would be refitted if necessary.
    Elizabeth closed the box finally. “I am really going to court,” she said softly.
    He nodded with a small smile. “You are, dear girl,” he replied.
    She sighed. “It is so difficult to watch my tongue, Uncle. If they are all like Philippa, I shall have such a hard time of it.”
    “The fun of the game, dear girl,” he told her, “is in being able to outwit your opponent. Philippa will be expecting the outspoken little girl she hasn’t seen in eight years. But you are no longer that little girl.
    You will be a beautifully dressed and coiffed young lady. An heiress of respectable, if not grand, lineage.”
    “But alas, Uncle, I am still quite outspoken, and Philippa can irritate me so.”
    “I will tell you a secret, Elizabeth. She can irritate me too,” Lord Cambridge said. “But you will fool her by not giving in to your temper when she is annoying. Philippa likes her world to be an orderly one.
    You will surprise her greatly if you remain calm in her presence, and we can use her help in this delicate matter. Now, you cannot travel without a tiring woman, dear girl. Do you have someone here who is suitable?”
    “I will ask Maybel, Uncle. She will know.”
    And indeed Maybel did have a serving woman in mind. “No young and flighty lass for you, Mistress Elizabeth. Nancy is who I have in mind. A sensible woman is Nancy. And she knows how to do hair nice. You know her, my lord.”
    “The creature is terrifying,” Thomas Bolton said. “She has a face like a hawk. Will she appreciated being uprooted and dragged to London, and Greenwich, and probably Windsor? She doesn’t have an adventurous look to me. I want no one accompanying Elizabeth who will grumble and grouse at every turn.”
    “Not old Nancy, my lord. Young Nancy, her daughter,” Maybel said, chuckling. “Her face is more like a ewe sheep’s. She’s just two years older than Mistress Elizabeth.”
    “And not married?” Lord Cambridge was surprised. Country girls married young as a rule, and had a houseful of children aging them long before their time.
    “Left at the altar, she was, by a shepherd lad who run off with a Gypsy girl,” Maybel said disapprovingly. “She needs to get away from Friarsgate, if only for a short time, my lord. Like Mistress Elizabeth she knows nothing of the world outside of Friarsgate. If she did it might help ease her sorrow. And when she comes home there is a