Read Online Heart of Gold by May McGoldrick - Free Book Online

bolted, running blindly as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
    “ Stop her !” Elizabeth heard the hysteria in her cousin’s shrieking voice. “ After her, you fool !”
    Pressing her hand hard against the gash along her cheekbone, Elizabeth raced down the alley. The shout of the squire and Madame Exton’s raging screams rang out behind her, but she never paused as she ran. She could feel the blood running through her fingers, but she dared not stop to tend it. Flying along the torchlit way, Elizabeth glanced back, catching sight of the soldier chasing after her. Turning corner after corner, she raced frantically in the direction of the clusters of French tents.
    She couldn’t let them catch her. Despite all that she had tried to do, Elizabeth knew if she was caught, Madame Exton would make sure Sir Thomas’s plans were carried out. Elizabeth knew, with a certainty that seethed in the pit of her stomach, she would be lying with King Henry before the next sunset. She knew her guardian would see to it.
    Panic swept through her as Elizabeth realized that her father’s squire was gaining on her. A grove of trees beyond the next line of shimmering tents marked the division between the rival countries’ courts, but Elizabeth suddenly felt weak, fearing she wouldn’t make it to the tents beyond. She could hear the soldier’s rasping breaths and pounding footsteps closing in.
    Rounding a sharp bend, Elizabeth ducked between two large pavilions. They were deserted, but both were too well lit with torches to provide a hiding place. Pausing, she listened to her heart pounding so loudly she thought it would surely give her away. At the sound of the pursuer’s footsteps, she held her breath and listened as he passed by. Then, by the light of the rising moon, she worked her way along the back of two more tents until she found herself at the edge of the wooded grove. Stepping into the shadows of the overhanging trees, Elizabeth paused to catch her breath.
    Assessing her situation, she peered down in the dimness at her bloody hands. Her entire body ached. Her lips were puffy and sore, a good match for the swollen cheek her father had given her that afternoon, but what really concerned her was the stinging, throbbing cut that continued to bleed profusely. She would have a scar, she was sure. He’d marked her. Her own father.
    Elizabeth looked up at the moonlit sky. Her problems were just beginning. She needed to get away from this place. But how? Everything she possessed was in the tent that she shared with Mary. All her worldly possessions, she thought, her derisive chuckle turning quickly into a wince of pain. Which meant her paints. But Madame Exton would be waiting for her. Elizabeth was certain of that. The only chance she had was to get a message to Mary. If she could just get her sister to meet her in secret. The ember of an idea was glowing teasingly in the corner of her mind.
    The sound of raised voices somewhere nearby startled Elizabeth, and she crouched low in the covering darkness. Whomever the voices belonged to, they were not far from where she’d taken refuge. Elizabeth’s first thought was to back out of the grove, but then a familiar voice caught her attention. Creeping forward through the underbrush, she soon spotted the flickering beam of a covered lamp. Following the glimmer of light and the murmuring voices, Elizabeth found herself on the edge of a small glade, and in the middle stood two men, one much larger than the other. He was speaking, and she recognized him instantly. The lamp shone faintly on them from a nearby stump.
    “How dare you question me now?” Peter Garnesche growled angrily. “After all this time. Years.”
    “Then tell me what was said,” the other man’s voice broke in. “You cannot suddenly begin keeping things from us. We know your king met with the envoys of Charles. I need the details.”
    “I don’t know what was said. ”
    “You can find out. Don’t play games with me,