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journey to the north. The cold weather had eased a little and sunshine thawed the frost in the courtyard as Eloise was led outside to the covered litter in which she would travel home. She had packed her meagre belongings, and dressed as warmly as she could in a travelling gown, two pairs of thick woollen stockings beneath her skirts to keep out the cold, and a shawl about her shoulders.
    She had also been honoured with the lavish parting gift of a gold and pearl brooch from the queen.
    Eloise suspected this was as a reward for her silence though, rather than given out of love. She had, after all, witnessed the queen entertaining Wyatt and Norris in her chamber without the king’s consent.
    That would not end well, she thought, fearing for the queen now that another pregnancy had ended in bitter disappointment for the king. But she could understand such infidelity rather better now, facing her own arranged marriage with a stranger. Anne had been coerced into a royal union with a man past his best, who had since lost interest in her beyond his need for an heir. Perhaps she was even in love with one of those courtiers, Eloise thought compassionately. But it would be dangerous for her to flirt too openly. Since his jousting accident, King Henry’s temper had grown more notorious by the day; God only knew what he would do if he suspected his wife of adultery.
    In the courtyard, the day was grey and chilly. She helped her young maid servant Mary climb into the covered litter, for the queen had insisted she take a girl with her on the journey. Then she looked about for a groom to help her too.
    ‘Eloise! Wait!’
    She turned, hearing the shout, and her lips tightened when she saw who it was.
    Simon came hurrying down the steps into the courtyard where her covered litter stood waiting, a rolled-up paper in his hand. Much to her relief, Lord Wolf had not yet emerged from the palace, and her father seemed too busy speaking to the driver to have noticed her former suitor.
    ‘My love,’ Simon said, embracing her. His lips touched hers, though he did not seem aware of how still she held herself beneath his touch. ‘I’m so glad I caught you, Eloise. I could not stand the thought of you leaving court without so much as a farewell.’
    ‘It would be best if we did not speak to each other again,’ she told him frankly. ‘I am to be married soon, remember.’
    ‘I told you, we need not let your marriage to Lord Wolf stand in the way of our desire.’ Simon smiled, holding out the rolled-up paper. ‘Take it, and let my words warm you on your journey north. Only do not show it to your betrothed.’
    ‘I cannot take it, Simon.’
    He seized her hand, stroking her palm intimately with his thumb, and pressed the letter into it. ‘Don’t break my heart with this coldness. At least read what I have written to you, my love.’
    ‘You must not call me that. You know that you do not love me.’ Frowning, she shook her head at his hurried protest. ‘You only love yourself.’
    ‘So cruel?’
    ‘So honest,’ she said drily.
    ‘My dearest love,’ Simon replied, his look pitying, ‘you will find honesty a worthless enough commodity in a marriage. No wife and husband were ever true to each other, whatever promises they may have made at the altar. And you do not love Lord Wolf,’ he added pointedly. ‘You are only marrying him because your father wills it. Why be faithful to a man who will be your jailor for the rest of your days?’
    She looked into his eyes. How deeply she had thought herself in love with Simon once. He still seemed so handsome and charming, it was hard to remember the careless nature of his deceit. Now she knew him for a young man who would think nothing of lying in order to dishonour a maid, or even of stealing a woman from her husband’s bed, so long as their night together brought him satisfaction.
    ‘Because it is my duty,’ she told him, and felt a chill of despair creep through her heart at those awful