A real-life character in a make-believe book

My husband and I often
traveled with National Holidays. On a weekend in Scotland, we visited
Edinburgh and in Holyrood Palace I saw the
bed where Mary Queen of Scots had slept. It was rather nondescript, unlike
another bed we saw encased in glass because of its fine bedcovering. This
contrast stayed in my mind and made me think of how Queen Mary had been
relegated to unimportance.

The Queen of Scots has an important
role in this book.

I'm celebrating the release
of Maid of the Midlands with four free digital copies given to readers who
leave comments today.

Excerpt:

True to his word, the guard
led Matilda to a bed of such abundance that she gasped with pleasure. For a time, they gathered the mushrooms in
silence. Finally, the maid had filled
her basket to overflowing, and she stood to take her leave.

“I must be about my duties,”
she said reluctantly.

Jondalar stayed her with a
longing look. “Not yet, me
dearest.” He stepped closer and took her
basket and set it on the ground, then caught her in a fierce embrace. “It is this I have been pining for.”

Matilda nestled against his
massive chest and wrapped her arms around him.
He pulled her even closer until she could scarcely breathe.

“I long to lay with ye,
Matilda,” he whispered, “and make ye truly me own. If ye but say the word?”

Matilda felt the earth
spinning around her at his words. Was
not this what she had also longed for?
For one impetuous moment she was tempted to give herself to him here in
the shadows of the cool, dark woods.
Then Lady Hafton's repeated admonitions prevailed and she shook her
head.

“Nay. I cannot...much as I wish.” Her cheeks flamed with the admission, but her
honest nature would not allow her to deceive the man she loved.

“Aye, sweet Matilda. Yer innocence is the part of ye I love the
best. And it would be wrong to besmirch
it.”

He held her away from him and
gazed at her lovingly, and she thought her thundering heart would surely burst
with happiness. The guard had said he
loved her!

“We have no means for
marrying,” Jondalar told her sadly. “But
if ye bind yerself to me in secret, I doubt not the time will soon come that I
can take ye for me wife.”

Matilda's brilliant smile
told Jondalar her answer before she spoke.
And her words were lost in a long kiss that sealed the promise.

A significant event relegated to insignificance

On another National Holiday tour, our coach stopped at a site where the castle of Fotheringhay had stood.
This was the place where Queen Mary was beheaded but only a small sign on a
weed-covered field marked the spot of that historic event. It seemed as if the
country who kept her prisoner for years had chosen to ignore the fact forever.

Leave your comments for a
chance to win one of the four digital copies of Maid of the Midlands that I'll
be giving away today.

Blurb:

When Mary Queen of Scots is sent to Hafton Castle in the
Midlands, Matilda becomes her waiting-lady. The comely maid loves Jondalar, a
stalwart castle guard who returns her affection but places his greed to succeed
above all else. After Matilda nurses the queen through a fever, she rewards the
maid with a valuable ruby. Jondalar plots with the young lord of the castle to
rid the Crown of the captive queen in return for a promotion in the guard.But
when Matilda learns of the guard's
betrayal of the queen she must chose between loyalty and love.

Excerpt:Matilda shrank back against
the wall, horrified at what she had heard.
She cringed with every sure step taken by the guard as he retreated from
the lord's chamber.

For a time, Matilda was
unable to sort her thoughts. Then she
began to speak aloud, as if the sound of her voice could bring order to the
jumble of conflicting emotions roiling in her mind.

“Jondalar has betrayed
me. And worse still, has betrayed the
Scottish queen. Instead of guarding the
monarch as she traveled, he has made plans to kill her. And Lord Hafton is a party to the devious
crime.”

“How could the valiant guard
who has pledged his devotion and promised to wed me be guilty of such a vile
act? How could he plot against Queen
Mary who holds him in such high esteem that she has left a bag of coins for his
service to her?”

Matilda sank to the floor and
wept bitterly. After a time, when her
tears had subsided, she tried to piece her thoughts together. She could not tell her mistress what she had
learned for the young lord might deny it and send her away. And it was too late to persuade the guard to
stop the murderers, even should he be willing to do so for her sake. As if he might.

The maid sprang to her feet. “There is none to tell save the queen! I must warn Queen Mary of her perilous
plight.”