Summary

Alison goes out riding with Mary Stuart on the latter’s forty-third birthday. They are under a new jailer named Paulet who is strict and immune to Mary’s charm. He reads all of Mary’s letters, and she has not established anything secret to discuss overthrowing Elizabeth. As they return home from the ride, Alison is sad that they have spent twenty of Mary’s birthdays in prison. They are now trapped in a house instead of a castle which is not quite big enough for Mary’s court and Paulet’s house. However, Lady Margaret is much nicer than her husband. Inside, they see her clustered around a traveling salesman until her husband tells the man Margaret is not interested in his wares. However, Mary and her servants gather around the man as Alison recognizes him as Jean Langlais...