The Second Wife — Margaret Brazear

A Tale of the Black Death Early in 1348 the people of England went about their daily lives fairly peacefully. King Edward III had caused few problems so far and a new middle class of wealthy tradesmen was growing. Charlotte is the eldest daughter of one of those wealthy tradesmen, a man who loves his family and wants to give them the best his new found wealth can afford, despite opposition from local noblemen. What he does not expect is that one of those noblemen will ask for Charlotte to be his countess. She agrees and is delighted with Lord Robin, Earl of Eversley, even though she guesses his first reason for marrying her is as a stepmother to his damaged daughter. But she comes to love Genevieve and she comes to love him. Everything is perfect until people begin to grow sick and die, their skin turning black and making the priests think them possessed. The disease gradually creeps over the land, a disease which terrifies the populace as they struggle to discover how it is spread and decide who is to blame. It kills within two days, and it spreads so quickly it seems that no one can escape it. The disease will be forever known as the Black Death but Charlotte does not know that; all Charlotte knows is that the happiness she has found could be stolen away as the plague sweeps closer to her and the people she loves.