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Three ht, Madelyne was in the private herb garden tending to the five varieties of thyrown path, calling her name

"Maddie! Maddie, oh, dear God, Maddie, Gavin has been arrested!"

"What?" Madelyne staggered to her feet, tripping over her skirts and clutching at the apple tree for support She must have misunderstood "What do you say?"

Cle over her in his master&039;s stead, lurched to his feet "What?"

Judith could barely catch her breath Her face hite, and a lock of copper hair straggled into her face Madelyne felt all emotion drain from her as her friend repeated the impossible words "Gavin has been arrested"

"Why?" was all she could think to say Her heart was suddenly slaht

"He has been accused of atte to murder the queen!"

How? Why? Madelyne could only stare at Judith She could not even voice the absurdity of such a thought "Howhow can this be? Is the queen injured?"

"He presented a gift to her this ed Madelyne toward the entrance of the garden "In a wooden box, beautifully carved, and she did open it at once But her head ached, and she passed it to Lady Therese, ished to examine the necklet When Therese pulled it out and placed it around her neck, she was pierced through the skin in three places She became ill immediately, and, Madelyne, she has died"

Madelyne stu She tried tothat resonated in her mind was that her husband had been accused of attempted murder-of the queen

"&039;Tis aalone and pulling fro couldn&039;t believe that of Gavin How could he? He knew her husband She shook her head as if to dislodge the i wishes to speak with you There were needles hidden a the wires of the necklet, and poisoned" Judith&039;s eyes ide, with tears sparkling at the corners "Gavin is to be imprisoned-and he will be executed if &039;tis proven he is the murderer"

Madelyne, followed by Clem, hurried after her friend All the way, she tried to assie of the athered in her middle It was a mistake, she told herself It was not true

Gavin stood to the side in Henry&039;s private court roo at his side Madelyne fought the urge to rush to his side Instead, she focused on the grave face of the king as she positioned herself in front of hilanced at her husband, then returned her attention to the man she&039;d believed was Gavin&039;s friend as well as his liege

"Lady Mal Verne, do you understand what is happening here?" Henry asked There was no sign of the light hulinted in his blue eyes before, and no evidence that he had ever been anything but a harsh ruler Indeed, his face bore a haggard but steely set

"Aye, yourto harive me, your majesty, but you know that Gavin respects her majesty and yourself and is devoted to both of you!" Madelyne knew she spoke out of turn, but she could not stand to see the proud figure of her husband restrained thus "He would have no reason to wish either of you harm!"

"Lady Mal Verne," Henry&039;s voice boomed "We are quite aware of the circu your opinion until it has been asked Noe ask you, did your husband prepare a gift to be given to the queen?"

Madelyne drew herself taller and steadfastly kept her eyes from Gavin "Aye, he commissioned a special necklet to beThe box in which it was contained was also created especially for her majesty"

"Aye Created especially for her With a poisoned pin-prick that would have sent her to her death if she had been the one to wear the necklet" His eyes pierced blue-gray into her gaze

"Nay, your ift of thanksnot of death Why would ? Would he not know that &039;twould point to him immediately? He is not mad"

But her father was

A cold wave swept her

Henry rose He passed a glance over Madelyne, and she believed she detected regret in his expression "Gavin, you must be imprisoned until this is resolved I areat and I cannot allow it to appear that I will not follow my os"

"Your pardon, your"Please, your ainst the queen-ortoward her, a glower on his face that faded a bit as he recognized the concern in her eyes "Of course that is possible Did you think that possibility had not also occurred to me? Mal Vernewhen did you receive the necklet, and was there a tilanced at Madelyne, then responded "My lordI cannot think of a moment when it could have happened, in truth I should like to say otherwise, but I cannot It was delivered from the town to my trusted man And since that moment, &039;twas safely hidden in my chamber until thisswiveled to look at Madelyne, who felt her heart swelling in her throat, her stoh for me to hold him, Lady Mal Verne, at least at this time" There was a trace of sympathy in his eyes before he returned to her husband "Gavin, I do regret it, but you must be incarcerated until this is resolved"

One of the guards caesture Madelyne focused her attention on Gavin, though she stayed at the king&039;s side "Gavin," she said, her voice ringing clearly "I will do whatever need be done to find out the truth"

He paused, forcing the men-at-arms to wait as he spoke "Madelyne, have a care for yourself I trust this will be resolved soon"

She watched after the back the despair that built within her She turned to Henry and was surprised to see true regret in his eyes "He is not a murderer," she told hi&039;s response "And I well hope that you can prove it, iven permission to visit with her husband while he was under house arrest She reached through the iron bars to hold one of his hands

"&039;Tis not so dirty as I&039;d feared," she told hi behind him into the dark cell

"No rats," he replied, his eyes never leaving her face "And a stool to sit uponplus a small pallet on which to sleep One cannot say that Henry is neglectful in his hospitality"