Frances wakes the next morning feeling much better and much more herself. She gets up when Jane comes in and gets dressed in her light blue gown with black as the secondary color on the trim and sleeves. She gets ready, having Jane do her makeup and hair. Frances looks out the window and sees the rain pouring down. She sighs, knowing she will be stuck inside and have to deal with spending time with Philip once again. She dreaded the thought of having to spend a whole nother day with him.
She finishes getting ready and heads downstairs to the great hall, looking around for her parents and listening if Phlip is nearby. She hears her parents voices and of course, they are speaking of the possible marriage between Frances and Philip. Frances stays hidden behind the wall listening closely to their conversation.
"I believe that this will be good for Frances and the family. Philip is a worthy heir and he is well known to Frances other than having to meet someone for the first time of their wedding day." Sir Francis states.
"I don't believe Frances is ready for marriage yet. Yes she is of age but mentally and emotionally I don't believe she is ready. She is still a young girl. We need to take care of her, shes the only one we have left." Ursula says softly but enough to get across that she wants to protect Frances.
"I don't need you to remind me that she is the only one we have left. I want what is best for her as well and this is what's best for her. We can't let girlish dreams hold her back." Sir Francis retorts
Frances is offended by her father thinking she is so naive and childish. She walks past the room, making sure its obvious that she heard. She was glad her mother was trying to help, but she wanted to be able to prove herself on her own.
Frances walks down to the kitchens and grabs a bowl of fruit for her breakfast. She sees James and smiles at him and he smiles back. Frances decides that after breakfast she'll change into a riding gown to go riding. It's no longer raining too hard and she just wants to be alone and go relax. She finishes eating and heads to her room calling Jane to come help her get changed. She gets changed into her brown and dark green riding gown. She braids her long hair straight back and puts on her riding gloves and hat. She walks down the stairs and goes to the stables. She goes up to her horse and has the stable boy help her put the saddle and bridle on. She climbs up onto the horse and she rides out. The rain is still falling down lightly and the ground is wet from the rain.
Frances rides through the open fields happily, happy that she can be alone and have some peace. She spends a few hours riding and just relaxing. It is starting to get late so she rides back towards the house. She sees her father standing by the stables, not looking happy. Frances rides over and hops off of her horse and hands him over to the stable boy looking to her father. "Father." Frances says as she goes over to him.
"Where have you been? Your mother and I were worried sick." He says sternly.
"I'm sorry father, I thought one of you had seen me leave,, It won't happen again." Frances says reverancing to her father. He nods and they both walk inside. Frances doesn't have time to change before dinner so she walks with her father to the dining hall and sits at her spot. Today she is sitting beside Philip, practically being forced to speak with him. He tells her stories, and today, she is actually intrigued. These are ones that she has never heard and they are quite interesting and entertaining.
After dinner, Frances goes to her room and locks the doors and begins to practice her cyphers. She practices decoding and starts to work on her main transcript that she will show her father to possibly convince him. She uses many different cyphers in one so it would be much more difficult to understand. She makes the one that needs translating then writes the translation onto a separate parchment. She starts to fall asleep and the fire in her room is starting to die as she hears a knock at her door.
YOU ARE READING
The Unsuspected Spy
Historical FictionThe story of a girl named Frances Walsingham, who's father is the head of spying and a high member in the privy council. She is very bright and very ambitious and wants to be more than just someone's wife. She wants to be one of her father's spies...
