"Rich in history, Amethyst Crown follows the life of the granddaughter of the hero and heroine of Blood Red Roses. Constance is a great heiress, the Countess of Morliax, a pawn to King Henry. She was 14 when she was wed to a man in his 40's as a reward for loyalty. She was 17 when he wed her to a very brutal man, part of a truce with an enemy. And a third time, she was wed at 19 to a young man who died in war. Now, she has bought her freedom for three years, supposedly, but she soon fears the King plans to make a fourth match for her.
She is returning to Morlaix for a wedding (Daggers of Gold opened with everyone going back to Morlaix because of a wedding as well - her aunt's). This time it is the wedding of her younger sister. At the wedding, she is shown a witch and a madman and told she must take them with her so they can be tried later. After the wedding, on the trail home, they stop for the night and there is a terrible storm. The madman is set free, but before he goes to slips into Constance's tent and makes love to her. Constance is shocked; widowed three times, twice a mother, she had found the act boring, at best. The madman - who is no madman, but hiding his identity - sets her aflame. But she never expects to see him again.
At Yuletide, she is shocked to see him at the Christmas revels. He comes before King Henry dressed as a Fool. He later sees a troops of foreign soldier looking for him, and knows he must leave the town...but first he must see Constance. She realises she loves him, but knows, bottom line is it can never work out for them.
Her half brother kidnaps her in a plot of seize part of her earldom, tries to marry her to another, but she is rescued by Cedred the Madman. After a long journey to save her people from the clutches of her half brother, she so wants to go with Cedred, but knows she has a duty to her children and the many people that depend upon her.
"
DeborahAnne MacGillivray, Resident Scholar
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