My Lady Jane Read Online Free

and then the fangs would come out, literally, and he would remain a lion until his anger abated, which often took hours. Sometimes even days. It had always been uncomfortable to watch. Especially when the king decided to use somebody as a chew toy.
    â€œAll right, so he can’t control it,” Edward acquiesced. “But that would mean that Jane would only have a husband by night. What kind of marriage would that be?”
    â€œSome people would prefer such an arrangement. I know my life would be a lot simpler if I only had to attend to my wife in the hours between dusk and dawn,” said Dudley with a weak laugh.
    It would hardly be like having a marriage at all, thought Edward. But for someone like Jane, such a marriage could afford her a sense of privacy and the independence she was accustomed to.
    It could be ideal.
    â€œIs he handsome?” he asked. Dudley’s other son, Stan,had suffered the misfortune of inheriting his father’s eagle nose. Edward hated the idea of marrying Jane off to that nose.
    Dudley’s thin lips tightened. “Gifford is a bit too easy on the eye for his own good, I’m afraid. He tends to attract . . . attention from the ladies.”
    Jealousy pricked at Edward. He gazed up once more at the portrait of his father. He resembled Henry; he knew that. They had the same reddish-gold hair and the same straight, majestic nose, the same gray eyes, bracketed by the same smallish ears. Edward had been considered handsome once, but now he was thin and pale, washed out from his bout with the illness.
    â€œ . . . but he will be faithful, of that I can assure you,” Dudley was blathering on. “And when he and Jane produce a son, you will have your E∂ian heir. Problem solved.”
    Just like that. Problem solved.
    Edward rubbed his forehead. “And when should this wedding take place?”
    â€œSaturday, I think,” answered Dudley. “Assuming you approve of the match.”
    Edward had a coughing fit.
    It was Monday now.
    â€œThat soon?” he wheezed when he could breathe again.
    â€œThe sooner the better,” Dudley said. “We need an heir.”
    Right. Edward cleared his throat. “Very well, then. I approve the match. But Saturday . . .” That seemed awfully soon. “I don’t even know what my schedule looks like on Saturday. I’ll need to consult—”
    â€œI’ve already checked, Your Majesty. You’re free. Besides, the ceremony must take place after sundown,” added Dudley.
    â€œRight. Because in the daytime, he’s . . .” Edward made a faint whinnying noise.
    â€œYes.” Dudley produced a scroll of parchment and unrolled it on the desk upon which all the official court documents were signed and sealed.
    â€œI bet you spend a fortune on hay,” Edward said, finding his smirk at last. He inspected the scroll. It was a royal decree—his permission, technically speaking—that Lady Jane Grey of Suffolk be wed, on this Saturday hence, to Lord Gifford Dudley of North-umberland.
    His smirk faded.
    Jane.
    Of course it had been a fantasy, this notion he’d had of marrying Jane himself. She had very little in the way of political capital—a rich family, to be sure, a title, but nothing that would truly strengthen the position of the kingdom. Edward had always known that he was supposed to marry for England, not himself. All his life he’d had a constant stream of foreign ambassadors trotting out the portraits of the daughters of the various European royalty for him to peruse. He was meant to marry a princess. Not little Jane with her books and her big ideas.
    Dudley put a quill in his hand. “We must consider the good of the country, Your Highness. I’ll ride for Dudley Castle tonight to fetch him.”
    Edward dipped the quill in the ink but then stopped. “I need you to swear that he will be good to her.”
    â€œI swear it, Your Majesty.