Lady Eleanor Belmont sat on the edge of the bed, her heart-shaped face pale and drawn except for the red flush on her cheeks. She wove her fingers together, turning and twisting them as if to vent the excitement which flooded through her. She rose and walked over to the diamond-shaped window. A beautiful August day; the sun was now beginning to set, the stillness of the priory broken only by the clear birdsong from the trees beyond the nunnery walls. Eleanor stopped, straining her eyes as she peered through the casement window. She was sure she had seen men-at-arms – horsemen amongst the trees – her attention drawn by the flash of steel from their weapons. She leaned against the glass, her hot cheek welcoming its coolness. Was someone there? Had they come? No, she could hear nothing except for the chatter of the nuns as they filed through the cloisters before Compline. Eleanor sighed, dismissing what must have been another phantasm of her fevered imagination.

She looked around the chamber. All was ready. She drew herself up, gulping in air. Her friend, whoever he was, would surely send help. Soon she would be out of this benighted place, be reunited with her lover and working hard to recapture his affection. Edward might be Prince of Wales and heir to the English crown, but Lady Eleanor had decided she was made of sterner stuff. Hadn't her father reminded her on many occasions that the Belmonts were of noble stock, sturdy and sure?

She would ignore the rumours. Eleanor laughed abruptly to herself then froze as she heard a sound, a slither of footsteps in the corridor outside. She shook her head.

'Surely,' she whispered to herself, 'the Lord Edward means me no harm?'

They were evil people who claimed he wanted her dead but she could not believe that of him. Oh, of course, others might wish it, members of the Prince's secret council -Eleanor would believe anything of them, especially the ubiquitous silken-tongued Piers Gaveston, who had ensnared the Prince's heart. Eleanor stamped her foot at the thought of him.