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BOOKS BY ELIZABETH ENGLISH

The Borderlands Trilogy:

The Border Bride

Laird of the Mist

The Linnet

The Prince

(originally published as Elizabeth Minogue)

Written as Gwen Rowley:

Knights of the Round Table: Gawain

Knights of the Round Table: Lancelot

To learn more, visit:

ElizabethEnglish-author.com

Excerpt – The Linnet

The Borderlands Book 3

The first step was to be rid of Fergus's apprentice. She must send him off at once, and in such a manner that he would not return.

He sat down at the table, his dark head bent as he wrote something on his parchment.

"You are Irish?" she asked.

"I am."

"My uncle was in Ireland some years ago," she ventured. "With Prince Lionel." The words lay between them like a lure upon fast water. She held her breath, waiting to see if he would take the bait.

"I remember when the prince visited."

His voice was expressionless, but his brows contracted in an almost invisible frown as he continued writing.

"Uncle Robert used to say the peasants were thick as fleas upon the road whenever the prince rode out, gawping at his finery," Maude went on smoothly. "Were you among them?"

He looked up at her then, a flash of emerald between dark lashes. "There was no need for that. The prince came to us."

Us? And who might that be? Maude wondered. She did not doubt he spoke the truth; his voice and bearing were unmistakably those of a nobleman, and the Fitzgeralds were a family of some consequence. Was he some noble's by-blow, then, or the younger son of a minor branch? Even if he could hardly pluck out a tune upon that harp, his looks alone would assure him a place at any court. Whatever was he doing here in the very back of beyond?

Well, whatever he was doing, he wouldn't be doing it at Ayslford for much longer. She would make sure of that.

"That must have been quite an honor for you."

"An honor?" An amused, slightly scornful expression passed across his face.

"Prince Lionel was a great man," she said, though actually she'd always thought King Edward's second son was a bit of a fool. "He was the queen's favorite," she added more truthfully. "Her Majesty never got over mourning him when he died."

"Well, I'm thinking Her Majesty never saw him kick an old man in the face who'd done no worse than present himself as ordered. But there, I mustn't be too hard upon the prince. Wasn't he too drunk to know what he was doing half the time?"

Most likely true, Maude thought, but hardly relevant just now. She sniffed. "Nobles cannot be not held to the same standards as other men."