After leaving all the preparations to the hands of the guards, Isabel rode out of Plymouth with Baldwin and three other guards, and arrived in Exeter, the county of Devon, before sunset. The next morning, as they galloped along the main road in the direction of Taunton, Somerset, a postal attendant in a royal postal coat appeared at the back of the procession, riding a fast horse.

The postal attendant sped up to catch up with the galloping procession, and as he pulled the reins, he shouted to the group riding on the left side of the road, "Are you the squires of the Duke of Richmond and Lord Walton of Yorkshire?" ”

Isabel, who was walking in the middle of the line, glanced to the right, glanced at the postal insignia on the chest of the postal attendant who was jolting up and down with the horses, and nodded, "Postal attendant, do you have any business?" ”

"Here is a letter mailed by the Duke of Richmond to Miss Isabel, the daughter of Lord Walton."

"Oh...?" Isabel was a little surprised, and quickly turned her head to look at the flag-bearer in front of her, "Baldwin, stop." ”

The procession and the postal attendant stopped their horses on the side of the road, but did not dismount. The postal attendant took out a sealed letter from the wooden letterbox and looked at Isabel's costume and breastplate as he handed it to her. He looked at her face suspiciously, and said hesitantly, "Miss, you... Is it Miss Isabel? ”

"Postal squire, you know what, your eyes have encroached on my noble honor. When I propose a duel of honor to you, you must say yes! Isabel stared coldly at the postal attendant with her haughty, conceited eyes.

"I'm very sorry, Miss Isabel, but this is your letter." The postal attendant glanced only at her eyes, but did not dare to look any further, and did his best to avoid her gaze as he handed the letter with both hands.

The royal postal attendant, who specializes in delivering letters to the royal family and officials, is no stranger to this kind of arrogant aristocratic eyes, and he can see a kind of aristocratic temperament inadvertently revealed by the other party just from the other party's eyes. It's just that this aristocratic lady is not wearing a tight dress unique to aristocratic women, and she really doesn't look like a noble lady who is cautious about traveling.

Taking the letter apart and looking at it, Isabel was amused by the letter written to her by the Duke of Richmond, shook her head, just re-rolled the letter, and looked again at the postal attendant standing on her right. Then he said to the flag bearer in front of him, "Baldwin, give this postal attendant a few pennies." I believe this guy has been chasing him all the way from Plymouth and should be rewarded with some food and drink. ”

"Yes, miss. When I got to the Hawkins family in Plymouth, they said you're on your way. So, change horses at the post office in a nearby town to catch up with you and your team. The postal attendant smiled a little embarrassedly as he said respectfully. Now, he was completely convinced that the other party was a genuine aristocratic lady.

Baldwin, after sending the postal attendant away with three or four pennies, smiled at Isabel, "Your Excellency, Your Highness misses you so much that he has written a letter from the north to Plymouth. ”

Isabel was noncommittal to the guard's words, but looked at the road in front of her and thought about it, "Yesterday, His Highness set off from the castle in Yorkshire to Windsor Manor to attend His Majesty's wedding on the 12th. ”

"His Majesty the King invited His Highness to the wedding? Well, it really should be, Your Highness is one of His Majesty's favorites... Prince. ”

"Well, let's go, hopefully we can get to Bath, Somerset, and find a post office for a night's rest within today."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

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At sunset on the afternoon of 5 July, the third day after her departure, Isabel and several guards galloped from horseback to the town of Reading in Berkshire. The Duke of Richmond's Windsor Estate is now less than 30 miles away from the town of Reading and takes about an hour to get there.

On the morning of July 6, on a day when the sky looked a little hazy, Isabel and the others returned to the estate in Windsor again. After a day's rest, he rode slowly to the Earl of Surrey's estate, nearly three miles away. As a valet ushered her into the drawing room, Lady Surrey smiled and said, "Privateer captain from the North, so soon to complete the privateering mission?" ”

Isabel asked her to sit down first, and after she sat down, she looked at the smiling Mrs. Surrey helplessly, "Your Majesty is going to have a wedding, don't you know?" ”

Mrs. Surrey blinked and focused on her expression and nodded, "I know, it's just His Majesty's sixth wedding, marrying a sixth wife." ”

"Her Majesty, the new Queen, is inviting me to her wedding to Your Majesty." As Isabel spoke, she saw a living room valet bring her a glass of wine.

"Catherine Parr? Oh...... I remembered that you had spoken of your good friend, Mrs. Latimer, hadn't you? ”

"Well, yes, Her Majesty also sent a few royal attendants to Plymouth to send me a letter to tell me about it."

"Her Majesty is your good companion, and of course I hope you can attend her wedding." Mrs. Surrey took a sip of wine from her glass and looked at her again, "In addition to inviting you to the wedding, Her Majesty the new Queen has also invited me and other nobles. ”

Isabel carefully examined the metal wine glass in her hand, shook the wine inside, and said unhurriedly, "The Duke of Richmond and Her Majesty's brother, Lord Essex, have sent me letters inviting me to the wedding. ”

"Smack," Mrs. Surrey put her glass down to the small table beside her, and stood up and walked over to her with a smile, "Isabel, lift your head up and let me see your face." I wonder what the two married nobles love about you. ”

Isabel raised her chin and deliberately pursed her small mouth to look at the dignified-looking Earl of Surrey's wife, "Frances, what do you want to see?" See the face of a noble woman fit to be a high-class aristocratic mistress? ”

"Mistress...? Well, wait. Lady Surrey stretched out her finger and gently stroked her cheek, "If you have a true love affair with one of the two nobles, you don't have to be a mistress." ”

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I can go to the Supreme Court and file a divorce lawsuit and marry you. At least, you're not married, are you? ”

"That's what Lord Essex thinks. That's why he invited me to his sister's wedding. ”

Lady Surrey sat beside her with a smile, "Now, talk to me about the people and affairs of Plymouth. ”