In which King Edward IV finds himself captivated by a woman he cannot have and no matter how many years pass or how hard he tries, he is unable to give up on their love. For she had a place in his heart no one else could have, a place not even his o...
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An hour later, the celebrations continued, but Nora herself did not find any amusement or happiness in it. She couldn't stop thinking about her uncle Henry being locked in the tower and the fact that Warwick had only brought him in because he wanted to get in Edward's good graces. It meant nothing good, she knew that much.
Nora was walking through the crowds of people celebrating when she heard her name called out. She turned her head, seeing it had been Lady Beauchamp, Margaret's mother. Margaret stood beside her mother, looking as though she did not want to be anywhere near her.
Nora couldn't blame her. Her mother had married Margaret off at age twelve and after her husband died and she had been left a mother at thirteen, her own mother wasted no time marrying her off again.
Hesitantly, Nora made her way over to Lady Beachamp, who looked delighted to see her again after so many years.
"Duchess Nora. How good it is to see you again, child." Lady Beauchamp greeted Nora kinder than she had greeted her own daughter, pulling her into a tight hug.
After a moment, she pulled away, smiling happily as she stroked Nora's face with her wrinkled hands. "You see, Margaret?" Lady Beauchamp asked with an attitude, "Now, this is the type of girl you should make yourself be. Not some Joan of Arc fanatic who wishes to devote herself to God."
"Mother, Nora is the King's Mistress," Margaret complained, giving her mother an annoyed look, "Sorry if that offends you, Nora, but it's the truth."
"Don't worry. It does not offend me, Margaret. It never has," Nora assured her, forcing a kind smile on her face.
"Polite, obedient, yet still confident about yourself," Lady Beauchamp boasted about Nora, leaving Margaret and Nora herself in an awkward position, "And so beautiful. It's a shame she wasn't my child and you were Katherine's. You have given birth to one child, Margaret. One! Nora is no more than twenty-three herself and is onto her third child. Yes, you may speak ill about the children being the king's children, but the king is devoted to her. Now, that is something to accomplish. He favors her over his own wife, the queen! He yearns for her love constantly and he will forever be devoted to her above all else. She is one of the powerful and richest women in England now through marriage and widowhood. She will spend the rest of her life in the king's favor. What have you done other than sulk?"
Margaret remained silent, looking down at the ground. She believed Nora would be smirking at that moment, proud to be complimented for being the King's Mistress. Nora would always be the best in everything compared to Margaret when it came to her mother.
However, if Margaret had lifted her head, she would have seen that Nora was not smiling in the slightest. She was frowning. She couldn't believe Margaret's own mother would speak to her in such a way.
