'From off this briar pluck a white rose with me.' Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part 1, Act II, scene 41

Once the figure revealed her face, Neville's mouth opened in surprise. "Simone!"

"Shhhh! I'm here at the behest of Sir Francis Walsingham. He was the one who paid Mother Shipton to plant doubt in the King's mind regarding the Spanish alliance." Simone held out her hand. In her palm sat a heavy gold ring. "I'm to give this to you."

Intrigued and puzzled, Neville took the ring, He examined the Fleur de Lis seal on the signet, carefully. "I'm sorry. I don't know what this design signifies."

It's the seal of The White Rose Party, and the House of York. I'm an agent of your deceased father's faction."

"That's impossible! The rebellion was crushed years ago. All the participating York family members were killed, or financially destroyed." Neville's mind filled with questions as he digested what he'd been told. "Simone, please understand. I'm not the figurehead of a second rebellion. I'm only a common servant. One who's being used to fool the King."

Simone shook her head. "You're in the running for the throne now. You're right, the original rebellion died shortly after it started. King Henry was successful in using the Church's unpopularity to pass his reformation. The church angered people, making them pay for everything from the cradle to their grave. From getting a child baptised so it would go to Heaven, to marriage, then charging them to bury a person on their own land."

Neville nodded. "My mother was Protestant, but my father was Catholic. She thought the reformation would ease the fees the church was levying on people."

"How has that worked for the subjects of England? They're angry, starved and tired of their wealth continually going to the church. At the moment, they're too frightened to protest."

They both grew silent as they heard a shuffling noise outside the stall. "Who goes there?" Neville asked sharply.  The Inn was quiet and empty as everyone was outside.

There was an abrupt knock on the privy door. "Lady Elizabeth!It's me, Mary!" Simone remained silent as Neville listened to the maid through the door.

"Master Ingle sent me to fetch you."

"Tell him I'll be there shortly." The only reason Neville could think of for the physician to have sent for him right now, would be if his mother's condition had worsened.

Neville and Simone listened until they heard the girl's footsteps fade. "Does Mary know you're impersonating Princess Elizabeth?"

Neville shrugged. "If she does, then she and I are both safer if she doesn't acknowledge it. Mary knows nothing of your White Rose faction?"

"No one in the manor knows about the resurgence. Only a select few are privy to knowing who our members are at this time."

Simone held out a bundled burlap sack she'd brought with her. "Here, keep this to use under your dress to relieve yourself. You can't be visiting public privies, My Lady." Simone pulled a gourd from the sack that had been dried and hollowed out. A string had been tied securely around the neck of the improvised mobile urinal. Neville took the device and blushed, slightly.

"Thank you. I had no idea how to remove all these layers of clothing."

Simone ignored his response. "Know this, Neville. Sir Francis will not be idle. He won't let this chance to gain the crown slip through his hands. Even if it has to be at your expense."