Free Written in the Stars by Patricia Rosemoor, Sherrill Bodine

as
     she could. Breathing heavier after expertly executing several small leaps, Carlyle
     led her back to where Alice and Tom waited.
    “I believe it is time to return to the castle,” he declared.
    Exhausted from pretending to enjoy herself without Will, Elizabeth nodded and pulled
     Alice to her side. As before, the men paced behind them.
    They had passed the lace stall when Elizabeth felt a tug on her gown and, looking
     down, saw an old man with a winking green stone in one ear. He flashed her a gold-toothed
     smile.
    “I know your fortune, my lady. Let me tell it to you.” His tent, its flap open, lay
     behind him.
    Instinct made her stop. “Yes, I believe I shall let you tell me the future.”
    Carlyle lifted one eyebrow. “By all means, amuse yourself. We shall wait here.”
    “Oh, no, I won’t. I’m going in with her.” Alice followed closely behind as the gypsy
     lead Elizabeth away.
    Once inside the tent, the man dropped the flap, cutting off the fair sounds. Elizabeth
     crossed on rag rugs covering the ground to an unsteady-looking chair beside a small
     table. The air was stuffy and carried the faint smell of garlic.
    The gypsy seated himself across from her. “Give me your hand, my lady.”
    Palm up, she placed her right hand before him on the black, cloth-covered table.
    Smiling, his gold teeth gleaming in the candlelight, he looked down.
    His expression abruptly changed.
    “Don’t sit there with your mouth hanging open and your eyes bugging out of your skull.
     Say something. What do you see?” Alice demanded to know.
    “Life. Death.” The gypsy jumped up so quickly his chair toppled over. “No more.”
    “I could have done a better job of it and I don’t have the eye.” Alice snorted.
    I saw his eyes and they were full of terror for me.
    Elizabeth rose, took a coin from the small silk purse at her wrist, and placed it
     on the table.
    “Don’t give this charlatan a penny!” Alice lunged for the table but the gypsy was
     quicker, snatching the coin and backing deeper into the shadows of the tent.
    “Great danger,” he whispered.
    The sounds of the fair returned and an instant later they were gone.
    Still seething in indignation, Alice stared after him. “Man had an escape route in
     the back. No doubt to save himself from dissatisfied customers.”
    Elizabeth grabbed her arm to look steadily into her eyes. “Promise you will say nothing
     of this.”
    Lips pressed in a tight line, Alice nodded.
    Emerging from the tent, they found Carlyle looking bored and Tom with an expectant
     gleam in his wide eyes.
    “No, there will be no telling our secrets to you.” Alice laughed up at him.
    Once again Elizabeth took Alice’s arm so they could walk side by side and hoped her
     dear friend would not have a bruise from the pressure of her fingers.
    Reaching the castle, Elizabeth forced herself to move and act normally and not betray
     the growing unease she felt all around her.
    Great danger from where? From whom?
    At last they reached her chamber door and she quickly turned to bid Carlyle a good
     night.
    He clasped her hand, carrying it to his lips. “Rest tonight and tomorrow. You are
     pale. A ride in the brisk air will return the roses to your cheeks. Ride with me the
     day after.”
    Knowing she must chart an honorable course for all of them out of this torment, she
     nodded. “Yes, Carlyle, I shall ride with you.”
    …
    Once Tom reported the fairgoers had arrived safely back in the castle, Will walked
     to his father’s chambers.
    As he did every night, the duke sat in his large carved chair before the fire and
     waited for him.
    Tonight, Will knew, would be different than all others before.
    He took a stance in front of the fire, much as his father had done earlier.
    The duke lifted his eyes to meet Will’s steady gaze. “Tell me.”
    “I love Elizabeth. I want her for myself.”
    The shock of saying aloud what was in his heart and soul instead of what he had intended
     to ask,