Read Secrets of the Tudor Court Boxed Set for Free Online Page B

thrust out my chin.
    The idea of a romantic attachment between the two of us was laughable. Harry was a friend. Nothing more. Still, it annoyed me that Mother Guildford thought she could do so much better for her son. I was as gently born as he was, even if my father had been a merchant. More to the point, given what Harry’s father had been up to, Lady Guildford and her son were fortunate to still be at court.
    The previous July, Sir Richard Guildford had been arrested over irregularities in the accounts he controlled as master of ordnance.He’d spent five months in Fleet prison awaiting trial. Just before Christmas, without explanation, the king had ordered his release, but everyone at court knew that he had not been cleared of wrongdoing, nor had he been pardoned. He had retreated to his country estates, where he still awaited His Grace’s pleasure.
    “You worry me, Jane.”
    The hint of genuine concern in Mother Guildford’s voice diffused my irritation, but then I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes heavenward. I did not need anyone to look out for me. I had been fending for myself from a very early age.
    “You have grown into an attractive young woman. You have been noticed.”
    “What is wrong with that, madam?” I preened just a little. “Everyone comes to court in search of advancement, if not for themselves, then for their families.”
    Her lips twisted into a wry smile. “True enough. We all look to marry higher than we were born. But marriage is a business arrangement, best negotiated by one’s father.”
    An all too familiar ache settled into the center of my chest at the reminder that I had neither mother nor father to look out for me. Squaring my shoulders, I stared the Lady Mary’s governess straight in the eye. “Lady Guildford, I have no desire to wed your Harry, but if I did, I do not see why we would be such an unsuitable match.”
    Mother Guildford did not enlighten me. Instead she said, “You are sixteen, Jane. That is a dangerous age.”
    “Dangerous to whom?”
    Her eyebrows shot up at my tone. “To you, my dear. You must not wander about the palace alone. It is neither wise nor safe.”
    I blinked at her in genuine surprise, unable to imagine what danger could possibly escape the notice of the king’s guards.
    Mother Guildford sighed and patted my arm. “You are young inmany ways, Jane, and innocent, but you are old enough to marry. That you have no one to make arrangements for you to wed concerns me deeply.”
    “I am one of the king’s wards.”
    “You are His Grace’s dependent. His servant.” Voice even, words blunt, Mother Guildford gave no quarter. “You inherited nothing when your mother died, because she brought nothing of value with her when she left France. This places you in an awkward position, Jane. Gentlemen seek a rich dowry when they contemplate taking a wife, and you have none save what the king decides to give you.”
    Already well aware of these hard facts, I resented her all the more for reminding me of them. I preferred to concentrate on the pleasures of life at court.
    “If you are to remain in the princess’s household unwed, then you must have a care for your virtue. Any man, even the most honorable, will take advantage of a woman if he’s given half a chance.”
    I made a small, involuntary movement before I managed to hold myself still again. What Mother Guildford said was true enough. Master Brandon’s kisses were proof of that, and he was not the first courtier to show an interest in me.
    “I am always careful of my reputation,” I lied. “And no courtier would dare accost one of the princess’s ladies.”
    “You were observed kissing Master Brandon.”
    For a moment I thought someone had seen us together earlier that day. Then I realized that she meant the kiss Charles Brandon had given me when we’d encountered each other in the garden the week before. I had been with several of the princess’s ladies. Brandon had been accompanied by