Chapter 3

It seems that what I feared most has come true.

When Wilma Spencer heard that James had visited me, she stormed into Windsor Palace with a group of maids and guards.

“Alexandra Hemming, you miserable wretch!” she spat, her voice laced with venom. “You may be old and withered, but you still cling to power through your daughter, desperate for favor even now!”

Wilma, towering above, glared down at me before barking at the guards, “Take Princess Anne to my residence!”

Anne was seized by several hands, and after a moment of shock, she burst into tears, screaming for her “Mother.” I tried to stop them, but the maids bound my hands and feet, pressing me to the ground.

“Mother? I am your rightful mother! She’s just a consort with no backing, you foolish girl!” Wilma sneered before sweeping out of the room, her yellow skirt trailing behind her.

I hastily wiped away my tears and rushed to the State Hall.

“What’s going on?” James, who was reviewing documents, frowned as he saw me disheveled and panicked.

Desperate, I clung to his sleeve as if it were my lifeline. “James, please, let Wilma return Anne to me.”

“Alex, I always wondered when you’d call me by my name again, but I never thought it would be for this.”

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. “Anne is all I have left, James. Please, bring her back to me…”

“Wilma just likes children. She’s only having Anne stay at Queen’s Hall for a while,” he said, cupping my face with both hands. “Besides, Alex, I should be your only concern, shouldn’t I?”

“So, you knew she would take Anne?”

He avoided my gaze, instead trying to pull me closer for a kiss.

“Stop being stubborn, Alex. Stay here with me, and we can have more children together. Then you won’t have to withhold even a glance from me.”

I felt a wave of nausea and raised my hand to slap him hard across the face.

“James, you disgust me!”

He was stunned by the slap, his gaze turning icy as his face hardened.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“Guards!” she commanded, her voice cold and imperious. “Lock Lady Alexandra in Windsor Palace. She is to be given only one meal a day, and no one is to attend to her needs. She will remain there in isolation until she confesses her sins and acknowledges her wrongdoing.”