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Lizzie will show the sheet to my father as proof that Henry has - has done as a husband should. Everyone will believe he has acted as a proper man. Maybe in time, when he knows you better, he may act as a real man,’ she added doubtfully. ‘Will you do this, Isabella? Do you promise not to tell anyone? If my father found out we had deceived him he would whip both of us, and Henry too. He might even put us in the dungeons.’ She shuddered. ‘He is ruthless when people cheat him.’
    ‘I will do as you say. The secret will be ours.’ Isabella felt closer to Anna then. ‘You love your brother very much, don’t you, Anna?’
    ‘Yes, as I believe you must love Jamie. Henry never knew our mother. She died soon after he and his twin sister were born. He is very gentle for a boy but everyone loves him. It is since he wanted to become a monk that he makes our father so angry.’
    ‘Then I shall do my best to protect him from his father’s anger. He reminds me of my young sisters. I think it will not be hard to love him as another brother.’ Anna gave a sigh of relief.
    ‘The past two days, since Zander carried Jamie to me to nurse and heal his wound, they have been the strangest I can remember,’ she said. ‘Now this is your wedding and we must dress you in the finest clothes I can find. You are as tall as I am but you are more slender.’ She lifted the lid of a second clothes chest and lifted out a beautiful dress in crimson velvet with wide sleeves and a split skirt, held in place by tiny bows. The front panel had been richly embroidered. Please try this one, Isabella and I will call for Maggie to help me take in the seams.’
    Isabella gasped. She had never seen such a beautiful dress, even though her mother was an expert with her needle. But her mother tended to favour plainer garments, possibly due to the influence of the nuns who had reared her. Would she have been more lavish if she had been preparing for a daughter’s wedding, Isabella wondered. She glanced up and saw the wistful look on Anna’s face. In that moment she knew Anna had sewn the dress for her own wedding.
    ‘It is truly beautiful Anna but I fear it would bring me bad luck if I wore the dress which has been so lovingly made in preparation for your own wedding. I am right, am I not?’
    ‘We-ell yes, but I must dress you in something lovely for this special time, even though it is a marriage neither of you want.’
    ‘You have a kind and generous heart, Anna, but any other dress will do so long as it is clean.’ Anna thought for a moment then her blue eyes lit up.
    ‘I have one with laces. It is a little tight for me but it should fit you perfectly if I tie the laces tightly. I will bring it. It will save time too when all the women are so busy preparing food.’
    ‘I don’t want to cause any trouble.’
    ‘It is no trouble,’ Anna smiled. ‘I think I shall enjoy having a sister and we must sew together to make you a chest full of clothes when you have none of your own here.’
    ‘I left everything behind,’ Isabella said tremulously and her eyes filled with tears. ‘When I was ten my father brought me a shiny copper needle case with needles in many sizes. I treasured it. My mother learned to sew at the convent so she is very good. I must tell Jamie to give my small treasures to Marjorie. She is twelve now. If my father had been alive he would have brought back a needle case and some silk for her too.’
    ‘It is very sad. I love my father,’ Anna said, ‘Lizzie tried so hard but sometimes I longed for a mother to love us and comfort us when we felt sad or lonely. It will be lovely if we are friends, Isabella. When I marry Walter in the spring you must come to visit.’
    ‘Will you not live here?’ Isabella asked with disappointment.
    ‘No, but I shall not be far away. The Watchtower was built on the land belonging to Walter’s family so he is building a new stone house close by. If there is any danger from reivers we can move