In 1568 Ursula Blanchard is recalled to the service of her half-sister Queen Elizabeth. She is to remove Penelope Mason, her inappropriately flirtatious protege, from court & find the disgraced girl a husband. She is also to deliver a secret warning to Elizabeth's arch-rival, Mary, Queen of Scots. Gradually, Ursula comes to understand the true delicacy & danger of this mission. Mary is a fugitive queen & a "guest" in northern England's daunting Bolton Castle. Ursula must outsmart Mary's notorious charm & sidestep treasonous traps while extracting the truth. But can she protect those who look to her --including young Penelope--from a deadly game where, to those who hunger for power at all costs, murder is a small price to pay?.
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