"November, 1569. Happily married to her third husband, Hugh Stannard, former spy and lady-in-waiting Ursula Blanchard is hoping to give up her undercover work for Queen Elizabeth I in order to enjoy newfound domestic bliss. But when Hugh unwittingly endangers possession of his ancestral home, Ursula reluctantly takes on another assignment--a private matter for which she is to be handsomely paid. Lord Sussex's envoy, Mark Easton, has asked for her help in solving a murder which took place more than twenty years before. Although she believes it to be a hopeless case, Ursula needs the money. Nor can she say no when Elizabeth realizes that the case will be the perfect cover for a covert investigation into a group of rebel barons plotting to put Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne . . ."--Jacket.