A Dangerous Love by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online Page B

grin. “I can see you will one day be of great use to me, Adair Radcliffe. Is there anything I might give you now for your pleasure?”
    “If Your Highness would be so generous,” Adair said sweetly, “Nursie and I could use some cloth for new gowns. We are not really fit for the company of your court in our country garments, and we escaped Stanton with little. And perhaps some new shoes. Ours are quite worn, I fear. I do not wish to appear greedy, my lord, but Lady Margaret will attest that our need is an honest one.”
    “Indeed, my liege, Adair is truthful as always,” Margaret Beaufort confirmed.
    “You may have whatever you think is necessary for the care and well-being of this natural daughter of mine,” the king told the royal governess. “You need not ask again. For as long as Adair Radcliffe is in our custody she shall be provided for, even as are the children of my queen.”
    Margaret Beaufort curtsied politely. “Thank you, my liege,” she said, and afterward she took Adair herself to the room where bolts of material were stored. Together they chose enough cloth for three gowns. The older woman was pleased to see Adair had an innate sense of what would be suitable for a girl of her station. It was a rare talent, and especially in one so young. The colors she chose were a violet, a dark green, and a deep red-orange.
    “Nursie must have something too,” Adair told her companion. “She has but one gown, and it is difficult to keep it clean for daily wearing.”
    Lady Margaret cut cloth from a dark gray-blue bolt, and another from a warm brown bolt. “I think these will suit,” she said. “And we will need some soft cotton for camises, and lawn and crepe for veils.”
    “What of our footwear?” Adair wanted to know, loath to let Lady Margaret forget that the king had promised them new shoes.
    “You and Elsbeth will visit the royal cobbler,” was her answer.
    The new shoes were forthcoming once the cobbler had taken measurements of their feet; and Elsbeth sewed diligently for several weeks to come on the new gowns. Adair, however, did her part, hemming each garment as Elsbeth cut it, and sewing each together. She had been careful in her choosing, picking material that was relatively plain, for Adair knew it would not do to outshine her royal half sisters.
    England had finally settled down to peace. With King Edward’s successful return after his brief forced absence, all pockets of resistance were cleared up. Henry VI had been returned to the Tower of London, and died shortly thereafter under murky circumstances. His queen, Margaret of Anjou, had been captured and brought to the Tower on the same day her husband had perished. It was rumored that she was forced to view his body as it was carried from his apartments. Their son  had died at the battle of Tewkesbury. Warwick the King-maker, whose allegiance to York had been withdrawn when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville, had died at the battle of Barnet, which preceded Tewkesbury. The king’s middle brother, George of Clarence, had begged his forgiveness, and it had been granted. But Clarence was unable to contain his ambitions, and was a constant source of trouble. Finally, in 1478 King Edward clapped him in the Tower, where it was said he drowned in a vat of malmsey wine.
    On the frequently troubled borders of Scotland, Richard of Gloucester kept order. Adair looked forward to his visits to court. While he made a great deal of fuss over his brother’s growing family, it was Adair who received much of his free time. The queen’s children were a little wary of their father’s brother, for Elizabeth Woodville no longer bothered to hide her distain for Richard. Adair, however, felt no loyalty to the queen, and she adored Richard, or Uncle Dickon, as the children all called him.
    The duke had married his childhood love, Anne Neville, the widow of Henry VI’s son, Edward, prince of Wales. A son, named Edward, was born to them at their home,