Read A Rose for Lancaster (The Tudor Rose Novella series) for Free Online Page B

your friend and Anne is your sister. We must agree to their request.”
    Giles nodded in satisfaction. “I will leave now, and notify the priest to be ready on Sunday.” His warm arms slid around me as his mouth found mine and I wished I had not lied as a surge of desire heated my blood.
    ****
    A crumpled note found its way into my hand. A nameless servant retreated quickly after setting it on my couch. Giles and the men had left to make rounds on the Somerset lands. I read the note.
    Flowers gather in the cold winter.
    Prepare; the day changes swiftly into spring .
    I shivered at the prospect of winter in a cold, unforgiving castle. A white rose must be ready for spring . The note curled and blackened in the fireplace as Gerda appeared by my side, her voice a low murmur. “A priest is here for you.”
    As usual the timing of the clergy irritated me. I had no use for them trading on my position as a York to gain advantage and now they sought me out as a lady of Somerset.
    The priest unsettled me. Fine featured and younger than my husband, he watched my approach from the doorway of the great hall, his eyes bold and his smile charming.
    “Father?”
    “Dominic,” he replied in haste. A servant passed us in the entryway.
    “And pray tell what brings you today?” I led him into one of the private rooms near the great hall used for such occasions.
    “A matter of the utmost urgency.”
    I hesitated. “You are over young to be a man of the cloth, Father Dominic.”
    His voice dropped to a whisper. “I am Edmund de la Pole, my brother is the earl of Lincoln. He needs men from your father’s estate to accompany him on a journey.”
    I had little choice; the earl of Lincoln ruled my house. “He has every right to them. I hold none back from his service. Go to the village of Langley and spread the word.”
    “Lady, if he succeeds in his plan you will be rid of your husband and join our family.”
    “Your brother is married.”
    The young man chuckled. “Yes, but I am not, and as my brother’s heir I need a wife.”
    The boy could hardly be seventeen years old. My current husband bordered on the ripe age of twenty. “Succeed in what?”
    He leaned in close to my ear. “Plans to overthrow Henry, and soon.”
    “How is that possible?”
    “I cannot disclose the details but be ready, my Lady.”
    The surprise and shock of this visit along with young Pole’s startling looks spun my head. “I am wife to Somerset.”
    “The earl has petitioned the Holy See. Your marriage must be annulled. A bastard is not a fit match for a highborn lady of Lincoln. Henry Tudor twists the law to benefit his court and we cannot stand by and watch him ruin the kingdom.”
    “Your brother plans to fight the king?”
    “Henry will not hand over the crown easily but we will force him.”
    I shivered. Giles would defend his king to the death and I did not wish his demise. In that moment I fretted over his safety. Thoughts of a petition to annul my marriage distressed me.
    “Be ready in the springtime. We winter in Ireland while our agents raise support.” He took my hand a pressed it between his warm fingers. “You will make a good wife to me, Lady of Langley.”
    “Were you in Langley village last month, Father Dominic?”
    Edmund Pole smirked. “Not I, but perhaps another of my family. We have devised a means of safe communication and travel using the faithful clergy.”
    John Pole’s plans to bring down the king struck me as having little chance of success. “You may tell the earl that I pass the responsibility of my father’s men into his hand. My husband keeps me here indefinitely. I receive no visitors and no letters.”
    “The earl will free you from this dreary prison. Next summer you will live at court with the rightful king and his queen.”
    I remembered Pole’s wife, Lady Margaret FitzAlan, a young woman with an ambitious streak and an envious eye cast toward the throne.
    “You must not stay here long. My husband’s