Chapter 5

Excited, she reached toward the buttons of his doublet.

Her fingers had not yet touched the cloth before Edward, with his eyes snapped open, seized her hand firmly.

"Edward, it's me," she said, startled, turning to show a fragile, pitiful countenance, her voice softened slightly. "Edward..."

Before Charles had come into prominence, there had been a time when her feelings for Edward had quietly begun to bloom. He had always known how to please her—gifts, careful words, measured gestures—and never once overstepped. But Edward had little ambition for court or office, while Isabelle had dreamed of marrying into a family…