A thrilling account of one of English history's most daring women who risked everything in the dark days leading up to the Civil War. The perfect novel for fans of Suzannah Dunn & Phillipa Gregory. Court beauty Lucy Russell Countess of Bedford feels frustrated by life with her weak husb&. Poverty stricken they are confined to their country estate & excluded from court life in London after he disastrously allies himself against Elizabeth I. Now some years later James I is seated on the English throne. His daughter Elizabeth Stuart former confidant of Lucy has married the King of Bohemia. The precarious political situation in Europe is fraught setting father against daughter. When Elizabeth & her husband are deposed exiled & forced on the run James is in no mood to come to Elizabeth's aid. Hearing of Elizabeth's predicament Lucy sees an opportunity to re-establish the Bedford name & offers herself as a peace envoy between the two parties. Setting out on a daring mission across the channel Lucy discovers she is being manipulated by unscrupulous men not least the calculating & darkly handsome Duke of Buckingham. Can Lucy tread this most dangerous path or by risking everything will she pay the ultimate price?