After escaping the royal estate on the outskirts of Watford, Isabel led a squad of light cavalry south, galloping for more than an hour before rushing headlong into the royal borough of Windsor. The purpose of coming to Windsor, of course, was to go to the Duke of Richmond's Windsor estate for a delicious, fragrant lunch. By the way, let yourself and the guards rest for a while so that you can change the horses in good condition.

Shortly after entering the manor, Isabel came out of the room and summoned the valet in the living room who was on duty in the hallway, "Now, you go and tell the butler at once, and let the butler send someone to Lord Surrey's manor." ”

The valet bowed respectfully, then whispered, "Your Excellency, is there anything urgent you need to tell Lord Surrey and Lady Surrey?" ”

Isabel shook her head, "No, you go and ask if Lord and Lady Surrey are on the estate. If so, I'll visit them at the manor after lunch. ”

Shortly after lunch began, the men sent by Isabel rode back to the Duke of Richmond's estate. When he came to the restaurant, he reported to her: "Lord Surrey has gone to war in France with his father, the Duke of Norfolk, and there are only Lady Surrey and Lord Surrey's children on the estate. ”

Isabel glanced at the valet standing behind her with her glass, "Did Lady Surrey say anything?" ”

The manservant replied respectfully, "Mrs. Surrey said that she was waiting in the manor with the children for the arrival of the young lady. ”

Isabel took another sip of wine, "I see, you go to lunch." ”

After lunch, she told the dozen or so people who had come from the north with her to take a break, and Bill Smith, Jr., the treasurer, was still in charge of guarding the treasure chest while resting. If you want to go to the toilet to urinate, you must first find Baldwin and Fast to take his place as guards.

After 2 p.m. on Saturday, the summer sun hung like a fireball in the sky, pouring a fire-like red light on trees, farms, estates, fish ponds, and the whole land. Isabel, who was riding on horseback, felt a little hot, and raised her right hand between her eyebrows to look at the empty road ahead.

At this time, she suddenly thought of the primeval forest outside Mary Tudor Manor, and couldn't help but sigh a little, "It's a pity that Mary lives alone in such a good place." A few years later, Mary succeeded to the throne as queen, and it was wonderful to be glad to give me the estate. ”

I closed my eyes and reminisced about the pleasant feeling of walking in the primeval forest in the morning, and the corners of my mouth unconsciously grinned to one side. Soon, she thought of the fishpond in the Earl of Surrey's manor, "Well, the Earl of Surrey is not on the manor when he went to France to fight, so I can swim in his fishpond and relax." ”

As soon as he thought of this, he immediately opened his eyes and looked back at the two manor guards who were traveling with him, "Hurry up, let's go to Lord Surrey's manor immediately." ”

When the two guards who were a little dry from the sun heard her words, a smile immediately appeared on their faces, "Yes, miss." ”

Isabel and two manor guards hurried from the horse to the entrance to the Earl of Surrey's estate, only two or three miles away. On this visit to Windsor, she was sure to meet with Mrs. Surrey and her children. Either way, Lady Surrey, Frances Howard, was one of her few close friends.

After respectfully letting the two sergeants guarding the fence gate at the entrance, the three of them galloped along the only road in the manor to the door of the Gothic house of the Earl of Surrey. In the blink of an eye, the three of them arrived at the Earl's Manor Square, which was large enough to accommodate 40 would-be lancers.

As Isabel reined in her horse, she watched a manservant waiting at the door of the house running quickly to the interior of the house. "Dismount." He turned his head again and commanded the guards behind him.

As the three of them jumped off their horses, the previous manservant led Mrs. Surrey and her eldest son, as well as their personal servants and their personal servants out of the house briskly. Thomas Howard, the eldest son of the seven-year-old Earl of Surrey, left his mother's side and giggled as he ran to Isabel as she walked towards him, followed by one of his personal young valets.

In the summer sun, little Thomas ran on two legs to a distance of two steps from Isabel and stopped, bowed slightly, and said with a grin, "Good day, godmother, Miss Isabel." ”

"Good day, Lord Thomas Howard." Isabel returned the salute and walked forward with a smile, kneeling on one leg and stroking the little boy's hair, "Thomas, it looks like you've grown a lot taller." Well, maybe next year it'll be even taller than me. ”

"Next year? Giggles... Godmother, even though I am taller than you, you are still my godmother. Little Thomas said with a smile in a childlike tone. At this time, the valet standing two steps behind little Thomas looked at such a scene in amazement, and did not dare to speak rashly.

"Go and take Miss Isabel's horse and squire to rest. It's summer, so remember to feed your horses plenty of clean water and forage. Mrs. Surrey took her valet and walked in the direction of the two men, and commanded the manservant who followed her.

When Isabel saw Lady Surrey come to her, she stood up and saluted. After Mrs. Surrey returned the salute, she hurriedly greeted Isabel, "Come to the house, the weather is a little hot today." ”

Isabel asked curiously, as she walked towards the door of the house in front of her, "Francis, what about your other children?" Where are they? ”

"It's a little hot after lunch, they're still resting, and they'll be here in a minute." Mrs. Surrey spoke with a motherly smile on her face.

Soon the three of them came to the drawing-room, and Mrs. Surrey had her servants bring Isabel a great deal of summer fruit, wine, and ale. When Isabel stood in the parlor and had just unfastened the belt around her waist, she found that little Thomas beside her had been staring at the handguard sword in her hand.

Gently smiling, he untied the bayonet sword tied to the belt and handed it to the little boy, "Thomas, be careful when you play, this sword is very sharp." ”

Thomas looked up at her with wide eyes, and suddenly laughed happily, "Godmother, I will definitely be careful." ”

After speaking, he stretched out two small hands to take the bayonet sword that his father had given to Isabel, and turned his head to look at Mrs. Surrey, who was sitting on the throne, "Mother, can I borrow my godmother's saber to play with for a while?" ”

Mrs. Surrey smiled and nodded, then looked at the valet standing beside her eldest son, "Follow Thomas, protect him." ”