Free Until You by Bertrice Small

Finally satisfied, they sighed in unison, laughed, and Tom said to his cousin, “Well, now, dear girl, I would know absolutely all! Hold back nothing!”
    “We are lovers,” Rosamund began, and he nodded, not in the least surprised. Anyone at court who thought otherwise was a simpleton and a fool. “I am going away with him shortly, Tom. I would have you understand everything, but you must keep what I tell you a secret, for many lives depend upon it. Can you do that, cousin?”
    He nodded. “You know, Rosamund, that while I love England, I am not a man to involve myself in politics. Do you swear to me that this will not be treason on your part or mine by hearing you out?”
    “There is no treason, Tom,” she assured him.
    “Then I will keep secret all you tell me, but haven’t I always, dearest girl?”
    “You have, Tom. But this is very different. Hal has entered into an agreement with the Holy Father in Rome to attempt a removal of the French from northern Italy. Venice, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire have joined them. They call themselves the Holy League. Hal has been pressing King James to join them. This Scots king has always been in high favor with the pope. That favor is now endangered by England insisting that Scotland join their cause. Patrick has told me what King James would do.”
    “Ahh,” said Lord Cambridge, seeing the problem immediately. “The auld alliance, of course. King James is an honorable man. He has no cause to break his word.”
    “Exactly,” Rosamund replied. “So the king is sending Lord Leslie to San Lorenzo, where he once served as Scotland’s ambassador, to meet secretly with Venice and the Empire in hopes that he may convince them to withdraw from this league, and by doing so weaken the alliance. Then Scotland will not seem so out of step. But if there is any chance of this plan succeeding, it must be done clandestinely. When Lord Leslie disappears from court it will be assumed that he has gone home. He hasn’t been to court in eighteen years, after all, and is hardly considered among the powerful or influential. He has asked me to go with him. I have said that I would, but my absence would be questioned, as I was asked to come to court by the queen and am considered her friend. I must lie to Meg. I will tell her that I have been sent a message that one of my daughters is very ill. That I must return to Friarsgate immediately, but that I will return to her as soon as possible—and indeed I will.”
    “You want me to go back to Friarsgate and tell Edmund and Richard? Is that it?” he asked her.
    “Aye, I do, Tom, but there is more. I would give you authority over my lands and my daughters until I return home again. I will not allow Henry Bolton any opportunity to steal my lasses, and by doing so, steal Friarsgate from me. He would try to bully Edmund and even Prior Richard, but he will not bully you. You are Lord Cambridge, and he just plain, ordinary Henry Bolton. I realize that I am asking a great deal from you, cousin. You thought to spend the winter here with me at the Scots court, escort me home, and then return to your own holding near London.”
    “True,” Tom said. “And I am more disappointed that I cannot travel with you to San Lorenzo. I have heard it is a most beautiful little duchy.”
    “I told Patrick you would be disappointed not to be accompanying us,” Rosamund responded with a small smile.
    Lord Cambridge chortled. “And I am certain he expressed his regrets at losing my company, dear girl.”
    She laughed. “Forgive us, dear Tom. Unexpectedly, and quite to our mutual surprise, we have fallen madly in love with each other. We must have this time to be together before it ends.”
    “You do not expect to marry him, cousin?” Tom looked troubled.
    “I will not leave Friarsgate, and neither can he leave his Glenkirk. We both understand this, Tom, and are content to have what time fate will allow us. That is why when the king asked Patrick to go to