The pretty Arnold sisters have grown up on their father’s farm & yearn for something more out of life than drudgery & toil.
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The relationship between Queen Elizabeth I of England & her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, is one of the most complex, tempestuous & fascinating in history. United in blood but divided by religion, the two women were in some ways uniquely close; in others, poles apart. Championed by English Catholics as the rightful Queen of Engl&, Mary was nevertheless given protection by her cousin after she was deposed amid outrage at her immoral behaviour. Rumours of papist plots involving Mary were rife & Elizabeth was put under extreme pressure to be rid of this dangerous threat to her sovereignty & to the Protestant Church in Engl&. After much reluctance & procrastination Elizabeth finally signed Mary's death warrant. Alison Plowden shows how political fear brought out the worst & yet also the best in these women, & how history was overshadowed for centuries afterwards.