“Tales that they were secretly married (bad enough), or had children (worse), or were fornicating shamelessly (shocking, but so enjoyable in the telling), were still in circulation. Reports of these came through with dismal regularity to the council, and offenders were dealt with increasingly severely. Some were sentenced to the pillory, some to a spell in jail, others to have their ears cut off. Often Robert found himself wishing there was truth in the rumors. He was forty and still single; he ...had no children to carry on his line or inherit his fortune and his great houses; and as for fornication (he sighed very deeply when he read those particular calumnies), it was years since he and Elizabeth had shared a bed, and for most of those years he had not—fool that he probably was—been able to bring himself to betray her with another woman. The truth was, he loved her, and a part of him still believed that she would relent and marry him after all. The more rational part of him was coming to terms with the fact that it might never happen.MoreLessRead More Read Less
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