~𝕭𝖊𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖞𝖆𝖑 𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌~
Born the youngest daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, Constance of Bourbon grows up amidst comfort and splendour on her powerful family's estates in France. A shy child, she prefers her...
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~The Divine Art of Letters~
May 1484, Middleham Castle....
And so it began, she wore her blue gown when she next hawked and a secret organisation blossomed that saw letters sent across the country, over the sea and vice-versa! It took all Constance had to hide the new lease of life they gave her, the first time she'd seen her little love's handwriting, so similar to her own, she'd broken into tears and Richard joined her, an arm around her shoulders.
There quickly became a way for the letters to appear, a small, insignificant note (designed to look like a letter from one of the higher servants families to their kinsman or woman) in the centre and the real message in orange juice written above and below!
Martha quickly arranged for an orange to be brought with her breakfast, saying she liked to take it in her morning ale, and - often under the cover of darkness with a candle to light her way - Constance would hide it; use the knife she'd swiped from dinner one night to slice it open and squeeze it into her inkwell.
She would pour the remains down the garderobe!
She would always give her letters to Martha but the letters from Marie and Margaret started to appear around almost every corner! One surfaced under a slice of cold ham at breakfast, one in her saddle bag when she went riding, another appeared in her pillowcase when the sheets had been changed, a soft crunch beneath her head altering her to its blessed presence!
Once a serving girl had knocked into her in the hallway on the way to chapel, spilling the blankets she carried and when Constance bent down to help her collect them, she had slipped a letter into her hand! Constance hid it in her Bible!
She learned that her daughters had been moved to the royal apartments in the Tower, that they appeared to no longer be threatened by Arthur! Mayhap not Arthur, Constance thought, when she received the letter from Marie bearing news of her sisters, but Elizabeth - she would never ever put anything past the Witch.
She was also asked for advice on her eldest son's nuptials. Little Edward, her sweet boy, married! It was a strange thought, he was her baby, her son and yet he was to take a wife? Well, it had not exactly been his decision, it was being orchestrated by his sister, his Aunt, and now his Mother!
It had to be done, she conceded when her heart cried for him to remain a child forevermore. After all, many royal children were betrothed and married at his age, just as Marie said in one of her letters. She'd raised a clever daughter, that was clear, and wholeheartedly agreed with the plan to ally Edward with Brittany, though she could see how it would anger France.
