Written in the Stars Read Free Page B

possible consumed me when
     I believed I had met my betrothed. I knew with him I had found my destiny.
    Yet the man to whom I gave my heart in one look is not Carlyle, Earl of Seymour, heir
     to the Duke of Lennox.
    The man is named Will Grey, Captain of the Guard.
    Confronted by such feelings, I faltered, forgot all I have been taught. All I must
     do.
    Now I must close my mind and heart to these traitorous longings.
    I am Lady Elizabeth York, the Earl of Wharton’s only child, and know well my duty.
    Yet, even reason and purpose cannot still the questions burning in my mind.
    Surely the blood of the duke runs through Will’s veins. Yet I sense deep within me
     there is more to his story than him being a bastard son and grandson to the duke’s
     physician. More which I crave to learn.
    Who is Will Grey, and why do I know that our destinies are to be entwined for all
     time when duty demands it cannot be so?

Chapter Two
    A sleepless night spent staring at the curved ceiling, searching for her compass,
     the sense of self which had always guided her, left Elizabeth fearful of meeting with
     Laurel this morning.
    What if Will is with her and I falter as I did when first our eyes met?
    Her chamber door swung open, startling Elizabeth out of her careening thoughts of
     Will and her future.
    “What can you have been thinking not calling for me last night?” Snapping brown eyes
     wide, her maid Alice, sounding very much like her grandmother, Cybil, exploded into
     the room.
    Pleased by the interruption, for indeed she felt only disgust with her new weakness
     and dishonorable desires, Elizabeth flung back the bed cover and rose. “You had fallen
     asleep. Fatigued by our long days of travel. I managed with the duke’s servants.”
    Hands on hips, sensible Alice surveyed the damage done by Elizabeth’s sleepless hours
     of soul-searching. “I can see the fine job they did by the look of you. Not even my
     Granny Cybil’s concoctions can take away those purple shadows from under your eyes.”
     Sighing, she shook her head, brown curls bouncing about her face. “Well, let me try
     to put all back as it ought to be.”
    Like she’d done since the first day, when they were both young girls giggling together,
     Alice helped Elizabeth through her morning absolutions.
    Once dressed, she sat in front of the gilt-edged mirror to have her long, oft-unruly
     hair brushed. At last she caught a smile from Alice.
    “Elizabeth, I know you are not fond of gossip but if you let me tell you what I learned
     last night and this morning in the kitchens, I won’t be hurt by you not letting me
     do my duty. Such stories there are here and all eager to tell.”
    Curiosity and confusion had been her demons throughout the long night and they had
     not vanished with the dawn sun.
    With a fearful determination, Elizabeth nodded. “It is no doubt wise to be informed
     about my new home.”
    “Indeed,” Alice replied, a lilt in her voice. “Well, Carlyle’s mother, Judithe, brought
     a great dowry and vast lands to the west, along the border.”
    Elizabeth knew well the role she played. “As I bring gold and lands to the east, with
     access to the sea.”
    “Well, let’s hope that is all the two of you have in common!” Alice frowned. “Poor
     Lady Judithe. One year after she produced an heir in Carlyle, she again was with child.
     She endured months of illness before she lost the babe. It would have been another
     son to secure the lineage. She never recovered from the loss.”
    In the mirror, Elizabeth met Alice’s eyes. “Surely Charles Grey could have helped
     her. He appears very wise in the ways of health and well-being.”
    “Lady Judithe would have no part of him. She only desired to be attended by a servant
     who had come with her from her home. She who was also Carlyle’s nursemaid. Lady Judithe
     lingered for two years until one morning she simply did not awaken.”
    Remembering the loss of her own mother, Elizabeth took a