Chapter 2

While the officers were distracted, I scooped up a handful of dust from the road and smeared it across my face.

Seeing me thus begrimed and plainly with child, the superior officer gave me only a glance before roundly cursing the other for his poor eyesight.

“The woman His Majesty seeks could hardly be pregnant! Have you taken leave of your senses?”

Thoroughly rebuked, the younger officer released me at once and waved me away.

“Go on, then. Move along!”

Yet somehow, as I walked away, the portrait lingered in my mind and stirred an uneasy feeling.

I quickly dismissed the absurd notion.

Edmund could not possibly be the king!

What king would consent to marry into an ordinary merchant’s family? The very notion was ridiculous.

That thought restored my composure. Even so, I instructed my steward to handle my business dealings for the time being.

I had thought the matter concluded.

That night, however, I dreamed of Edmund.

He stood before me in royal robes. His hand clamped firmly beneath my chin. There was a sinister smile on his face.

“Did you truly believe you could disappear from me, Matilda? Now, why have you stopped? Go on, run again. The nerve of you to run with my child! You clearly have a death wish. Guards, take her to the block!”

Terrified, I tried to flee, but Edmund’s men seized me in an instant.

The next moment, I found myself being dragged to the executioner’s block.

The very moment the blade descended, I startled awake.

As I wiped the sweat from my brow, I became aware of a dull ache low in my belly.

I looked down and saw fluid trickling between my thighs.

I cried out. The maids and matrons waiting outside rushed into the room.

One of the older women, who had attended many births, drew back the covers and exclaimed in alarm, “Good heavens! The lady is about to deliver early! Send for the midwife at once!”

As it was my first child, I labored a full day and night before the child was finally born.

She was a beautiful little girl, as delicate as a porcelain doll.

I had longed to see her. Yet the moment I looked upon her face, my spirits fell.

This child, whom I had brought forth with such suffering, bore not a single feature resembling my own.

She was the very image of Edmund, that wretched man!

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

My daughter, Lily Dauchy, had grown into an exceptionally bright little girl. At only three years old, she could recite verses by heart.

My father doted on his granddaughter beyond measure. More often than not, he carried her upon his shoulders as he wandered through the house with her.

I had no idea what charming little remark Lily had made that day, but it left her grandfather grinning from ear to ear as he handed her a sugar plum.

“My precious girl, you are as clever as can be! Nothing like your mother. She was such a muddle-headed child. Heaven only knows whose wits she inherited.”

The moment my father’s words brought Edmund to mind, I shot him a sharp look.

He cleared his throat and wisely let the matter drop before trying another approach.

“Still, Matilda, are you truly determined never to give me another son-in-law?”

Another husband? I could not bring myself to trust one.

I had lost all faith in men.

The truth was, when the king’s search had first begun three years earlier, I had made inquiries about Edmund.

After Lily was born, I discreetly returned to our former home to learn whether anyone had come looking for me. According to the neighbors, not so much as a stray cat had crossed the threshold.

I felt like a fool. I had actually thought that Edmund might be searching the whole kingdom for me.

Later, I made further inquiries and discovered the name of the reigning king.

His name was Henry Neville.

After that, I abandoned the notion entirely. All I wanted was to raise Lily well and care for my parents.

Seeing that I had fallen silent, my father changed the subject and turned his attention back to entertaining Lily.

The following day, I returned home from the shop as usual.

No sooner had I stepped through the door than I found Ethel Talbot, Lily’s nursemaid, hurrying toward me as pale and distracted as though she had seen a ghost.

“My Lady, something dreadful has happened! Miss Lily is gone! We’ve searched everywhere, but there’s no sign of her. It’s all my fault! I stopped to buy her a sugared apple, and when I turned around, she had vanished!”