The Elizabethans: Lord John's Folly — Margaret Brazear

After helping to suppress a Catholic plot to replace Queen Elizabeth I with Mary, Queen of Scots, The Honourable John Melford, youngest of three brothers, is given the estate and title of one of the traitors. At last he has something to offer a bride and, before leaving to inspect his new estate, he asks his eldest brother, Michael, the Earl of Melford, to find him someone. Before he can leave London, however, he is visited by Lady Geraldine. She was betrothed to his late brother, Malcolm, the eldest of the brothers who was killed in an accident four years before. Geraldine hands him some love letters from a peasant woman to Malcolm, as well as a letter from him to John, asking him to look after his peasant mistress and her two sons. Geraldine was neglected by Malcolm and when he died she was so angry to find there was someone he loved, she decided to keep the letters to herself. John now has the task of finding this peasant woman and ensuring her safety and wellbeing, along with her children. What he discovers changes his plans completely and he takes her and her sons back to his new estate, where they live happily throughout the summer. Their happy interlude is spoilt when the Queen sends for John to present him to Lady Jennifer as a prospective bride. John knows he will never be allowed to marry a peasant, but he has fallen in love with her and there seems no way out of a marriage he doesn't want. If he refuses the marriage, he will lose everything, but that is of little importance to him. However, his brothers could also lose everything and that is something he will never allow. Can he find a solution to his dilemma?