The Winter Queen Read Online Free PDF

left.’
    â€˜What happened to her?’ Rosamund asked, picking up a sable muff that had fallen from the pile of finery.
    â€˜The usual thing, I fear. She became pregnant and had to leave Court in disgrace. She is quite fortunate she didn’t end up in the Tower, like poor Katherine Grey!’ Anne perched on the edge of her own bed, swinging her feet in their satin shoes. ‘Did you mean it when you told the Queen you were not here to find a husband?’
    â€˜Of a certes,’ Rosamund said, thinking again of Richard. Of the letters from him she had never received. One man to worry about at a time was enough.
    â€˜That is very good. You must keep saying that—and meaning it. Marriage without the Queen’s permission brings such great trouble. Oh, Rosamund! You should wear that petticoat tonight, it is vastly pretty…’

Chapter Three
    â€˜S he wants you, Anton,’ Johan Ulfson said. He was laughing, yet his tone was tinged with unmistakable envy.
    Anton watched Lady Essex stroll slowly away along the garden pathway, her dark-red hair a beacon in the winter day. She peeked back over her shoulder, then swept off with her friends, their laughter drifting back on the cold wind.
    He had to laugh, too. The young countess was alluring indeed, with her sparkling eyes, teasing smiles and her claims of vast loneliness with her husband away in Ireland. He could even enjoy the flirtation, the distraction from the hard tasks he carried here at the English Queen’s Court. But he saw it—and Lettice Deveraux—for what they were.
    And now he could hardly see the countess’s red hair and lush figure. A vision of silver and ivory, of wide blue eyes, kept overtaking his thoughts. Who was she, that beautiful winter-fairy? Why had she run away so fast, vanishing into the mist and snow before he could talk to her?
    How could he ever find her again?
    â€˜You are blind when it comes to a pretty face,’ he told Johan, but he could just as well be talking of himself. ‘The countess has other game in her sights. I am merely a pawn for her.’
    He inclined his head towards Lord Leicester, who stood across the garden amid a cluster of his supporters. Everyone at this Court seemed entirely unable to move singly; they had to rove about in packs, like the white wolves of Sweden.
    Lady Essex might have her sights firmly on him , but Leicester had his on a far greater prize. It would be amusing to see which of them prevailed.
    If Anton would be here to see the end-game at all. He might be settling into his own English estate, the birthright that should have been his mother’s. Or he might be back in Stockholm, walking the perilous tightrope at the court of an increasingly erratic king and his rebellious, ambitious brother. Either way, he had to fulfill his mission now or face unpleasant consequences.
    Lady Essex was a distraction, aye, but one he could easily manage. When she was away, he thought not of her. That winter-fairy, though…
    Perhaps it was a good thing he did not know who she was, or where to find her. He sensed that she would be one distraction not so easily put away.
    â€˜Pawn or no, Anton, you should take what she offers,’ Johan said. ‘Our days are dull enough here without such amusements as we can find.’
    â€˜Ja,’ Nils Vernerson added, his own stare sweeping over the occupants of the frost-fringed gardens. ‘The Queen will never accept King Eric. She merely plays with us for her amusement.’
    â€˜Is it better to be the plaything of a queen?’ Antonsaid, laughing. ‘Or a countess? If our fate this Christmas is only to provide entertainment for the ladies.’
    â€˜I can think of worse fates,’ Johan muttered. ‘Such as being sent to fight the Russians.’
    â€˜Better to fight wars of words with Queen Elizabeth,’ said Nils, ‘than battle Tsar Ivan and his barbaric hoards on the frozen steppes. I hope