The Bride Tournament (33 page)
Read The Bride Tournament Online
Authors: Ruth Kaufman
“I never knew of one.” He pressed the crease several times. “It doesn’t open.”
She stuck her fingernail in the crack. The back popped open, revealing a folded scrap of parchment.
“Look.” Eleanor gasped. She plucked out the parchment and gave it to Richard. “I assumed the brooch was so thick to support the stones.”
He held the parchment. “My father gave this brooch to my mother when I was born. She wore it almost every day until she died.” He unfolded the small note. “’Tis my father’s hand. It says, ‘Eureka! But secrets cannot be written, ’tis clear. From learned master to apprentice hear.’”
They stood in silence, absorbing the message.
At length Richard said, “I can’t help but wonder what he found. We’ll probably never know. I was right about one thing. The scrolls don’t contain his best ideas. They must’ve died with him. Perhaps, by leaving to become a knight, I denied him the chance to tell me of his discoveries. I don’t think he hired another apprentice while I was away.”
“Clearly my father never knew,” Eleanor mused. “What if that was the source of their dispute? Could your father have made a discovery he refused to share, leaving mine to salvage what he could and start anew?”
“It’s possible. Mayhap he sensed your father’s lust for power.”
“Perhaps your father’s second partner, Sir Thomas, knew. Did he have an apprentice?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Despite my aversion to alchemy, I feel sad for your father, to labor so long and hard without being able to share his successes,” Eleanor said.
“His work meant more to him than anything, so I’m sure he found satisfaction in the doing of it.”
Eleanor folded the parchment and put it back in the compartment before pinning the brooch to her gown. “All of your and Owen’s searching, all of FitzWalter’s and Blanche’s machinations were for naught.”
“Not quite,” he said, enfolding her in his arms. “In a strange way, my father, Blanche and FitzWalter brought us together. If not for them, we might not have accepted how we feel about each other. I love you, Eleanor.”
“And I you.”
They sealed their vows with another kiss. Arm in arm, they descended the stairs to enjoy their wedding and life as man and wife.
Praise for Ruth Kaufman’s
AT HIS COMMAND
Wars of the Roses Brides Book 1
Lady Amice Winfield doesn’t know how she can fulfill her duty to marry the king’s choice because she’s falling for the knight sent to protect her until she weds. But serving opposing factions that want to govern England threatens to pull them apart. Can she defy her king for love?
A wonderful debut sure to please lovers of romance!
—
NYT
&
USA Today
bestselling author Madeline Hunter
With a bold knight and a strong-willed lady, Kaufman’s story is positively medieval.
—
NYT
&
USA Today
bestselling author Tracy Anne Warren
If a book lingers in my mind for more than two weeks, then I say the author has certainly deserved to be put on my keeper shelf.
— Bookworm2bookworm
Praise for Ruth Kaufman’s
FOLLOW YOUR HEART
Wars of the Roses Brides Book 2
She’s a glass-painter making her way in a man’s world. He’s on a quest to redeem his family name and estate. When unforeseen passion makes their marriage of convenience inconvenient, will his dangerous secrets keep them from following their hearts?
Must-read romance: “Kaufman can certainly write an entertaining suspenseful romance and brings us a happy sigh-worthy story in Follow Your Heart.”
— USATODAY.com
“Kaufman’s strong second romance…appealing protagonists…maintaining suspense and building the reader’s hope that Joanna and Adrian’s mutual respect will grow into love.”
— Publishers Weekly BookLife
“As the story unfolds, it will suck you in…fantastic!!!”
— 5 Star Amazon Review
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading
The Bride Tournament,
which I summarize as the
Gone with the Wind
love triangle meets
The Bachelor
in late medieval England. I hope you enjoyed reading Eleanor and Richard’s story as much I as enjoyed writing it. I had so much fun researching the tournament that I gathered many more details than I could use. Perhaps I’ll compile them into an article for my website in case anyone else is interested.
I’d appreciate feedback on what you liked and even what you didn’t. You can contact me at
[email protected]
and if you’re interested, you can learn more about me and my writing at
www.ruthkaufman.com
. To be notified about future books and important news, please sign up for my newsletter on my home page at
www.ruthkaufman.com
. If you’d like to follow me, I’m on Facebook at
Ruth Kaufman Author & Actress
and Twitter:
@RuthKaufman
.
If you’re so inclined, I’d really appreciate a review of
The Bride Tournament
. My Amazon author page is
www.amazon.com/author/ruthkaufman
, and my Goodreads page is
www.goodreads.com/ruth_kaufman
(if you’re typing, it’s ruth_kaufman).
About the Author
Ruth Kaufman is an Amazon bestselling author, on-camera and voiceover talent and freelance editor and speaker with a J.D. and a Master’s in Radio/TV who loves living in Chicago, peanut butter and chocolate milkshakes and going to the theatre.
Writing accolades include Romance Writers of America® 2011 Golden Heart® winner and runner up in
RT Book Reviews’
national American Title II contest.
She’s appeared in indie features, short films, web series and national and local TV commercials, and has voiced hundreds of explainer videos, e-learning courses, commercials and assorted characters.
Learn more about Ruth:
Website:
www.ruthkaufman.com
Blog:
www.ruthtalks.com
Twitter:
@RuthKaufman
Facebook:
Ruth Kaufman Author & Actress
Copyright © 2016 Ruth Kaufman
All rights reserved. No part or the whole of this book may be used or reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any manner now known or hereafter invented without the prior written permission of Ruth Kaufman, except for brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
Names, characters, places and incidents are fictional or are used fictitiously and are solely the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by The Killion Group, Inc.
Digital Formatting by Author E.M.S.
Contact:
www.ruthkaufman.com
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