Free A Dangerous Love by Bertrice Small Page A

daughters had gone to their grandmother’s, thus saving her the usual burden of entertaining the king’s mother, who made no secret of her dislike for Elizabeth Woodville. She didn’t want to be bothered by this problem, and it was certain to be a large problem if Adair Radcliffe had run off with some squire, which was undoubtedly the case. “I will call for the king,” the queen announced. “He must be made aware of this dilemma, and it is he who must decide what is to be done.” She signaled to her personal page.
    “Go and fetch your master, my lad. Tell him it is urgent.”
    The page ran off, and the two women sat waiting in silence. It was close to an hour before the king arrived in the company of his brother, Richard. The queen glowered. She did not like Richard of Gloucester, nor he her.
    “What is so urgent that you take me from my council, madam?” Edward demanded of his wife. “I ended a meeting that needed to be continued.”
    “Adair Radcliffe has gone missing. Her servant also,”
    the queen said. “Mags can tell you more, for I know nothing of it.” Her blue eyes already indicated her boredom.
    The king looked to Lady Margaret Beaufort.
    “Madam?” he said questioningly.
    “I have been ill, my liege, and was not made aware until today that both Adair and her servant, Elsbeth, are nowhere to be found,” Lady Margaret said. “Her usual companions are off with your mother, and only this   morning did a little maid note that her bed hadn’t been slept in for several nights. We have scoured the castle, but she is nowhere to be found, yet all her belongings are in her chamber.”
    “What about that great dog of hers?” the duke wanted to know.
    Lady Margaret thought a long moment, and then said excitedly, “You are right, my lord! The dog is gone too.”
    “Adair has run away,” Richard of Gloucester  pronounced.
    “What the hell do you mean, she has run away?” the king demanded.
    “Did you tell her that she was to wed Jasper Tudor’s bastard, Edward?” the duke asked his elder brother.
    “Aye, I did,” the king said. “And the sooner the better.”
    “And what was her reaction to such news?” the duke pressed his sibling.
    “She said she didn’t want to marry yet. That she wanted to go home to Stanton Hall and reacquaint herself with her lands and her people,” the king said.
    “A reasonable request,” the duke murmured, “but knowing you, Edward, you persisted in impressing your will upon Adair. Unfortunately, Adair is much like you in temperament.” He chuckled. “You would have your way, but so would she.”
    “Adair is my brat, and should be grateful that we took her in when her family was slaughtered,” the king snapped. “She is almost sixteen, and ripe for bedding. It is time she was married, Richard. And it is time she begin repaying her debt to me by taking a husband of my choosing, helping me to unite once and for all York and Lancaster.”
    “I will not disagree with you, Edward, but a touch more diplomacy would have served you better here than your iron determination to be obeyed. You know little about Adair other than that you fathered her on Jane Radcliffe in a bout of lust. The girl is intelligent,  and she is devoted to the house of York. The only thing she knows about the house of Lancaster is that some of its adherents murdered her mother and foster father.
    That she was driven from her home at a tender age. Yet you chose for her husband the bastard of one of the most important men of Lancaster. While I understand your reasoning, Adair did not.
    “You did nothing, Edward, to prepare her for this event. To explain to her the small part she would play in helping to unite the two warring houses. She is very fond of Lady Margaret. Admires her. If you had spoken with Mags and told her of your plan, she could have aided you in readying Adair for this marriage. You did not treat your daughter with the respect that she is due, and now she has run away. The