Served by two Hawkins maids, Isabelle Walton, who was immersed in the tub, went through all the letters written to her. With the exception of the Duke of Richmond's letter, which dealt with the most important event of the moment, the Anglo-Soviet war, the rest of the letters were from her family and most trusted friends who showed her concern and greetings.

The Duke of Richmond's last letter to her was sent in early March of this year. The letter stated that war was inevitable, and that Henry VIII had drawn up a plan to attack Edinburgh by land and sea. The Army appointed Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertfordshire I, as Commander of the Army, and the Earl of Shrewsbury as his deputy. On the naval side, the Duke of Richmond was appointed commander of the royal fleet as Lord of the Navy and admiral, and Viscount Rice was deputy commander. In the letter, the Duke of Richmond also referred to the date of the beginning of the war as planned by Henry VIII: May 3, 1544.

After reading all the letters written to her by the Duke of Richmond, Isabel leaned back by the tub and sipped her wine thoughtfully, pondering the contents of the letters, "Why did Henry VIII insist on sending the army and navy to attack Edinburgh?" Just because Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland? ”

Perhaps, Henry VIII wishfully believed that the Queen of Scots was hidden in Edinburgh by her mother, Queen Queen Guise? Foolish Henry VIII, since the Scottish Parliament had the courage to unilaterally tear up the treaty, it must have considered the personal safety of the queen and her mother first. ”

"Now, the war between the two countries is on the verge of breaking out. The Queen of Scots and her mother would have left Edinburgh to hide in castles, abbeys or estates elsewhere. ”

"Well, it must be so. Or, Henry VIII wanted to warn the Scots by attacking Edinburgh that they must surrender their queen. ”

"In addition, Edinburgh must have hidden a lot of valuable belongings, and the castle and nearby towns were looted while searching for the Queen."

At that moment, there was a soft knock on the closed door. Without waiting for Isabel's instructions, the maid Rose had already walked quickly behind the door but did not open it, but asked outside the door, "Who is it?" Miss Isabel was not available at this time. ”

After a while, Isabel's familiar voice came from outside the door, "I am Your Highness's bodyguard Baldwin, and I have placed all your belongings in the room next to you according to your instructions. ”

"Well, Miss knows. Anything else? ”

"I have sent people to bring back all the treasure chests, weapons and goods and place them in the living room on the second floor, and arrange for other guards to supervise the treasure chests and goods."

There was no need for the maid Rose to speak separately, and Isabel could hear what Baldwin said more clearly. Turning his face to look at the maid standing near the door, "Rose, tell him that I already know, let him and the others take turns to eat lunch." ”

After Baldwin agreed to leave, Rose, the maid, immediately returned to Isabel's tub and stood aside. As a maid working in a merchant family, she may not be able to meet the standards of a maid in a noble family in terms of etiquette. As a result, they appear to be lively, outgoing and good at expressing their ideas.

However, after hearing a half-joking remark from the noble lady of the north, Rose immediately became well-behaved. The other maid just stood silently on the side of the tub, waiting for the orders of the noble lady who was immersed in the tub. At this time, most of the hot water in the tub had become cold, and Isabel, who was still unsatisfied, stretched out her left hand holding the wine glass to the outside of the tub, "Rose, take the wine glass, I'm going to get up." ”

As the two maids wiped the bath water from Isabel who was standing on the ground, there was another knock at the door. After some inquiries by Rose, he learned that the Hawkins family's lunch was about to begin, and invited Miss Isabel to the banquet. After the servant outside the door left, Isabel's mind was still on the contents of the Duke of Richmond's letter, "Since His Highness has been appointed commander of the fleet, he must have led the royal fleet to the port near Edinburgh." ”

"May 3, the day when the English army went on the offensive." When he thought of this, he tightened his jaw and glanced at the maid who was wiping his body for himself, "Rose, what day is today?" ”

"Miss, today is April 23rd." Rose stopped what he was doing and replied softly.

"I see." Isabel nodded, still standing still, and raised two more arms for the maid to continue wiping her body, thinking, "There are still 10 days before the war starts, and the Earl of Hertford has probably sent out all the army troops. At this time, starting from the western border to burn and loot all the way to Edinburgh? ”

"It would be impossible for an army to cross the whole of England to Scotland by land, if it had been from the south. Well, Henry VIII would have had His Highness's fleet sail from the sea to Edinburgh with the southern army. ”

"What about the armies of the North? The elder brother Sir Ernest, his brother-in-law Sir Herbert, his good brother Sir Alex Ferguson, and his godson Baron Latimer IV, as a northern nobleman, naturally did not miss the opportunity to besiege Edinburgh. ”

"God forbid, I just hope that a few of them can return to the north alive."

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Isabel put on her clean clothes, clean riding boots, and put on the handguard sword made by the royal workshop that the Earl of Surrey had given her, and followed by two maids to the Hawkins family house on the east side of the garden. As she walked briskly into the dining room on the first floor, everyone in the room stood up and nodded respectfully to her.

She accepted the respect that the Hawkins family members held for her, and was led by the manservant of the diner to an empty chair to the left of the patriarch, William Hawkins. After the valet pulled out the chair for her, she calmly sat down at the table. Glancing at the people present, he whispered, "Captain Hawkins, city officials, councillors, and other businessmen didn't invite you to the luncheon?" ”

Captain Hawkins stroked his beard, looked at her and smiled, "Miss, because you are feeling unwell, you and I will be invited to the dinner party that will be held tonight at the mayor's estate. ”

"Isn't it, you have to treat me to a meal?" Isabel looked at Captain Hawkins and then smiled politely as a noble lady, "Well, well, I accept the invitation to me." ”

While everyone present was happily having lunch, Isabel addressed the captain's brother, Richard Hawkins, with a question, "Sir, has the royal fleet stationed in Plymouth departed?" ”