This short story is set in Elizabethan times. At Hampton Court Palace, Queen Elizabeth has arranged a marriage for her ward Burgundy Bedford with Lord Nicholas Mountjoy, Earl of Devon. This union will join two great shipping families and provide Mountjoy with vessels to transport his troops to Ireland to quell the uprising led by Tyrone of Ulster. Burgundy plans to thwart the queen, as her mother did before her, by eloping the day before the wedding. Burgundy comes into possession of an ancient book passed down through two centuries from mother to daughter. Between the pages of the book, Burgundy finds a letter written to her by her mother when her daughter was born. The book's ancient legacy and the letter of love touches her heart and alters the course of her life forever.
Author
Virginia Syddall was born on December 5, 1935 in England, where her father, Thomas Syddall, taught her to love history. She obtained a degree in History in the University. In 1956, Virginia married Arthur Henley. They moved to America, and now they live most of the year in St. Petersburg, Florida, and they spend the hot summers in Ontario, Canada, where they have their two adult children and three grandsons. Virginia Henley is a New York Times bestselling writer of historical novels. Her work has been translated into fourteen languages. She is the recipient of more than a dozen writing awards, including a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award, a Waldenbooks' Bestselling Award, and a Maggie Award for Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers.
