Francis Howard, Mrs. Surrey, paced anxiously and apprenanently to and fro in the drawing-room, occasionally gazing at the hours displayed on the French clockwork on the fireplace. Beth, the personal maid sitting in the chair, looked even more anxious and uneasy, she feared that if the lady who was about to give birth in two months fell to the ground quickly, then she might not even have a chance to atone for suicide.

"Why hasn't Henry come back yet? Beth, let the two of them take a look outside the manor. Frances turned her head and commanded eagerly.

"Ma'am, you may walk slower or sit down, I am very worried about your child......" Beth, who always followed Frances's belly, looked at Beth, with a look of horror in her eyes.

"Beth, the child is important, and so is the father of the child." With that, Frances immediately walked back to Beth and sat down. Glaring at the maid, "Beth, tell me, why did Henry go for so long?" ”

Beth didn't dare to say that she was also nervous, so she could only try to make a smile and look at her: "Madam, it takes at least three hours to walk from the manor to the palace, and if there are no accidents on the way, it will take so long for the adults to come back." In addition, the adults have to talk to His Majesty the King, so it should be... It's 6, 7 or 8 hours. ”

Frances shook her head, "Beth, I know. I'm just worried that if Henry were to meet the queen, he might meet ......."

Frances was worried not only about her husband's safety on the road, but also about her husband's encounter with Queen Jane Seymour's brother, Sir Thomas, at court. She could no longer imagine how Jazz would speak to her husband, or how Sir and his queen sister would go to great lengths to invent lies about her husband in front of His Majesty. However, the young Mrs. Surrey seemed to have forgotten what her husband's main purpose was in entering the palace.

By the time Beth had spoken to Mrs. Surrey, it was sunset. At this time, when she looked at the French clockwork again, she found that the time had already come to two o'clock in the morning of the next day. Just as she was about to get up and help Mrs. Surrey to her room to rest, there was a rush of footsteps outside the parlor.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, for keeping you waiting." As soon as the Earl of Surrey entered the parlor, he immediately came to Francis and tenderly apologized for coming home late. Beth, who was sitting on Frances's side, stood up long before the Count came in, and bowed gracefully to the Count.

"It doesn't matter. Henry, you didn't encounter any danger along the way, did you? Frances said as she asked her husband to sit down.

Henry shook his head and glanced at the valet standing on the right behind Madame, "Beth, Madame and I are going to talk alone. ”

Beth hurriedly bowed and left the parlor, and ordered the valet in the parlor to close the two doors of the parlor. The Earl of Surrey stared at his wife, who was about to give birth to his eldest son or eldest daughter, and said gently, "Madame, do you know? His Royal Highness also wrote a letter to His Majesty. ”

"Later, His Majesty told me that after reading His Highness's letter, he expressed great anger at the rebellion in the north. Then His Majesty asked me how I could put an end to the rebellion. ”

Frances, who always listened to her husband's affairs at court, whispered, "How did you answer your majesty, then?" ”

Henry pursed his lips and smiled, and said, "I suggest that Your Majesty can first send envoys to investigate the leaders of the rebels, who participated in the rebellion, how many people participated in the rebellion, and then arrange the affairs of extermination." ”

The Earl of Surrey then took out a letter rolled into a paper tube: "Before I depart, Your Majesty has issued a decree ordering me and His Highness to serve as envoys, and to go to Yorkshire today to meet His Highness in Richmondshire. ”

Frances caressed her husband's face lovingly and whispered, "Your Majesty asked you and His Highness to serve as envoys?!" Thank God for your protection, so that war may be avoided. ”

"Yes, ma'am. However, I am afraid that you and your children will have any particularly urgent matters when I am on a mission to Yorkshire. ”

"Henry, it's okay. During this time, little Thomas has always been very well-behaved. Frances stroked her high bulging belly as if she were caressing her son, named after the Duke of Norfolk III.

"Madame, why don't I write a letter to Mary and ask her to stay with you for a while?"

Her husband's kindness reminded Frances of her husband's sister, the Duchess of Richmond. However, the Duchess, who was younger than herself, treated her good companion Isabel with extreme cold and contempt.

Gradually, Frances' attitude towards Mary became less friendly than before. At this time, he still said gently: "Henry, Mary is now the Duchess of Richmond, and I am afraid that it is not appropriate for her to accompany me in her capacity." I figured I could get Beth's two younger sisters to keep me company. ”

Earl Surrey nodded: "Well, as long as you and the child can get through this time safely, I'm relieved." ”

"Henry, I pray to God every day to bless you and Your Highness."

At 10 a.m. on 3 October, the heavily armed Earl of Surrey and 20 guards armed with spears and torches, crossed knights' swords at their waists, and dressed in full quasi-lancer armor set out from Surrey Manor on horseback and galloped along the road to the north.

Twenty-four hours earlier, Isabel Walton had been patrolling the county border with five heavily armed Duke's palace guards and a vigilante patrol of 20 cavalry. Jacob Wycliffe, Earl of Lancashire, who had spent the night at the Duke of Richmond's castle, led his own bodyguard, but followed her.

Ever since he parted ways with Isabel in the summer at his castle in Thrand, Jacob has been looking for opportunities to bond with her. In Jacob's heart, he thinks he likes Isabel and wants her to be his lover. However, the Earl of Lancashire, who already had a family, a wife and two children, was a pure assailant who wanted to have an extramarital affair in Isabel's mind.

At this moment, the cavalry squad, consisting of an earl, a privy counsellor, and more than 30 heavily armed cavalrymen, had made its rounds to the northeastern part of the county, near the county boundary, outside the village of Aldborough. Isabel stood on the side of the road on her horse, shaking her head as she looked at the village where there was not a single man working in the fields.

Jacob drove his horse to her side, looked at the village that was almost deserted, and sighed, "Miss Isabel, this is another village without men. Do these men really think that joining the rebels will necessarily change His Majesty's mind? ”

"Your Excellency, I don't believe the state of affairs in Lancashire will be any better than here, will it?" Isabel's tone was as cold as an ice kiln.