Traitor's Kiss Read Online Free Page A

of tears. “You were married to him, madam. Did he never speak about her? Did she bewitch my father and betray him?”
    â€œI do not know, Bess. It was forbidden to mention her.”
    â€œIf nobody will tell me, I know somebody who can,” I cried.
    I ran to my chamber, sat on the window seat and let the tears come. Then I took out the silver box from my writing desk and traced the falcon. I am an impatient person, yet I did not open it.
    What if there was poison inside? I had been angry with Jane for repeating the gossip – that Mary thought my mother had poisoned Catherine of Aragon – but it was not the first time I had heard it. And my father’s death had set Mary and me against each other. He had passed a law just before he died stating that Mary could only succeed Edward if she agreed to keep the new faith. If she did not, I would succeed in her place.
    I pushed the evil thought away. Mary and I were still close, in spite of her hatred of my mother. She always said that I could not be blamed for her sins.
    I was still crying when Kat came in. She glared at the box in my hand. “Bess, your father loved you and you loved him. Isn’t that enough for you?”
    â€œNo, it isn’t. You’ve been with me since I was four years old and you alone know that I was nine years old before I spoke to him in private. He couldn’t bear to look at me all those years because I reminded him of her . Then suddenly he was taken with my wit and intelligence. As long as I didn’t mention my mother, he was pleased to see me.”
    Kat put her arms around me and shed a few tears at my distress. “Oh, Bess, if only I had known her. I could have spared you this misery.” I did not respond and she drew away. “Have I not been like a mother to you? Ah – you’ve got Lady Catherine now. You don’t want me.”
    â€œI’ll always want you, Kat.”
    She stroked my hair. “But your stepmother is right for once,” she said. “You shouldn’t let your mother haunt you from the grave. Let me take the box, Bess. Let me get rid of it.”
    I refused. Angry, she ripped a jet bead from the bodice of her dress. “You may as well worship this,” she said. “If you believe something has power, then it will . It’s called superstition.”
    Kat threw the bead onto the floor. Then she went downstairs for breakfast. She could not persuade me to go with her. The thought of food sickened me. A man’s beard brushing my neck, a stranger speaking about my mother… Who would not be disturbed by such events?
    No, I did not dine that morning. Already I had too much to digest.

Chapter Four

    Jealousy spread through the dining chamber that early evening like the autumn mists rising from the Thames.
    Thomas Seymour’s elder brother, Edward, had come to dine. When my father died, and my nine-year-old brother Edward became King of England, it was Edward Seymour who had proclaimed himself my brother’s Protector. Thomas Seymour had never forgiven him for snatching the most powerful position at court.
    Edward Seymour and his wife, Anne, had brought Robert Dudley with them in their water barge. My heart leaped with pleasure at the sight of him. We were almost the same age and we had been friends since we were eight years old.
    Since I last saw Robert, his thickening beard had been clipped short in the latest Italian fashion, although his moustache was still a faint shadow.
    We were all out of sombre mourning clothes for the first time since my father’s death seven months before. Robert’s slender legs were clad in turquoise hose, in contrast to the orange silk that showed on his velvet sleeves and breeches. A short ruff stood clear of his silver earrings. An orange plume adorned his cap.
    I stood by the window and let him come to me. He bowed and kissed my hand. “Hello, sweet Bess. I’ve missed you.”
    My arm tingled. I