Whatfunny; I'm not surprised you don't quite like her yet! I had that feeling when I finished writing it and read it all through. I think it only adds to the overall affect though. I think the musketeers are looking for anything that might incriminate Eric. I think they want him gone from Paris if they can manage it.

So, here's chapter four and in it we shall be meeting Elizabeth's father!

Chapter Four - 26th June 1632

"It is good to meet you Madame, after hearing so much about you from your father!" the little French house-keeper exclaimed as Elizabeth handed over her hat and cloak to the eager woman. "He talks of you and your brothers all the time. He is so very glad I think to have you here in Paris with him!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as the woman pottered away with her things. "Not enough to have me stay with him here though..." she muttered under her breath.

When she was finally shown into the elegantly long room her father was using as a study of sorts, she was surprised by how much light the windows let into the room. From outside they had not looked large enough, but despite even the dark wood of the book cases and other furniture, Elizabeth felt warm sunlight on her face as she began to cross the room towards her father's desk. He stood when he heard the clicking of her heels on the wooden floor and threw his arms out for her to embrace him. Elizabeth did, feeling for the first time in a very long time that she might be about to have a conversation with someone who didn't have an ulterior motive.

He smelt of some sort of cologne and starch from his white collar. Elizabeth might have considered that he smelt like home before she entered the room, but he did not. She supposed though that she did not have a home really to compare it to. They held each other in silence for a long time before Elizabeth pulled away, feeling a little foolish to be almost brought to tears by the tenderness in her father's embrace of her.

"You're ill again?" he asked as he scrutinised her face. She had expected him to notice. He always did. "Shall I have my doctor call upon you; he's very good you know?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I've seen one. I've got some tonics and other things to help. I'm fine father, really."

"Eric shouldn't be dragging you across Christendom like some sort of lap dog. It's clearly doing your health no good at all," John Clifford mused. "Can't you ask him to prolong his stay so that you might rest a little and recover? Then we could spend more time together."

Elizabeth nodded solemnly. "I have been considering doing just that father. We've not been anywhere recently where I would have considered staying on otherwise I would more than likely have asked him sooner. I don't know if he shall comply though. You know what Eric is like. He causes trouble wherever he goes and there's usually not much choice for us but to leave."

Her father shook his head again and resumed his seat. Elizabeth perched on the edge of his desk. "He's not looked after you properly for a very long time you know. When you first married, for a time I thought you and Eric were rather well suited. He was a good husband in the beginning, that I will give him credit for. After what happened in Italy though your letters changed. I saw your mood drop almost instantly. It has never returned. Will you not try again to-"

"I'm not discussing that!" Elizabeth's clipped tones reverberated around the room as she straightened her spine, feeling as if she were being purposefully penned into discussing matters that she would not even let herself think about.

"Elizabeth you not talking is half the problem!"

She sighed heavily. "I did not come here to argue with you father. Eric does not like to speak of such times."

Her father had the good grace to stifle his incredulous bark of laughter. "Of course he doesn't. he behaved abominably and he knows it. Admitting it to others though is something I cannot imagine Eric de Vere doing readily. I know we are not a family that openly discusses our trials and tribulations but Elizabeth I am here if you ever do need to. Unfortunately I cannot extend my invitation to your husband. I fear that my patience has entirely worn thin where he is concerned. If he were not with you I would have welcomed you here into this house. I still would if I thought for a moment you would leave him."

"He's my husband," Elizabeth sighed. "I have always believed in the sanctity of marriage and of the loyalty that must be present between a husband and his wife. I wish to uphold my marriage vows despite the fact that my husband flouts them openly. I will not be looked at with disdain."

"No, you will not," her father agreed. "You've always been such a good sort of person Elizabeth. You want to make your marriage work and your courage does you credit but sometimes I do worry that you give too much of yourself. There comes a point when you must realise that the man gives you nothing but constant stress and worry in return. People will only look upon you with pity! I'd rather they scorned my daughter than pitied her. You are not a weak minded woman Elizabeth but people who do not know you may believe so. you have no children to speak of, so I am at a loss as to why you stay with him. You know very well I'd support you if you broke from him!"

Elizabeth felt her hands curl into fists but managed to retain her anger. It would not do to lose her temper with her father even though he himself had no right to speak of Eric that way. "That's actually why I'm here father," she supplied thinly. "I was going to ask you if I could have some money?"

"Did Eric send you to ask me? Elizabeth you know I cannot give that man any more money! He squanders every coin he's presented with! Why would I feed the habits of a scoundrel?"

Elizabeth placed her hand upon his arm as if to soothe him. "I do not ask for Eric. Indeed I do not intend to tell him about anything you should give me, but I have no money of my own. I have a need for new dresses, nothing extravagant as I've nowhere that fancy to go. It's just that nothing fits any more. I feel like I'm carrying around so much more material than is needed. I might even just have my dresses taken in and some new ribbons added but all of that costs money that I don't have. I also wanted to have some I could put away in case I have need of another doctor or some more tonics. I do not like to always be asking Eric for money. Of course for the doctors and for the tonics he is more than happy to pay, but I feel as if afterwards he uses it as leverage."

Her father was glancing up and down her slim figure as he nodded. "The dress is out of season and ill-fitting, but then you've lost so much weight Elizabeth!"

"I don't like talking about things like that with Eric. You know what happened to his sister after all. The poor girl was depressed and lonely, but when she tried to talk to her family they sent her away to bevpoked and prodded by men who called themselves doctors. She died in that infernal place father! All because she was a little low of mood and wanted for a friend. Her family were likely the cause of her mind-state in the first place! Only Harry ever visited her there and he was powerless against his father's rule. Eric has the same mind as his father. I would not have him shut me away like some invalid because I've lost some weight and I'm not feeling entirely myself. It is enough that he thinks I am ill enough to be hoodwinked all the time."

Her father was shaking his head, a knowing and pained smile upon his face. It was not a happy smile. It was one that told Elizabeth she was not going to like what he said next. "I always knew he was a rotten one, you know! It is a wonder Elizabeth that you did not think to marry his brother Harry, but I suppose at the time Eric posed more of a promising prospect for a woman like yourself who wanted the happy family life you never got to have. No, I had Eric marked as rather a bad choice from the beginning, but you were so keen and he did appear to prove himself at the beginning."

"This isn't fair!" Elizabeth cried as she began to feel her composure slipping away. "I did what was asked of me! I did what my mother instructed me to do and you went along with it father! If you were so predisposed to dislike him then why on earth did you let me marry him?"

"Elizabeth-"

"NO! You do not get to tell me that it was all my choice! you do not get to sit there in your grand chair and tell me how things were back then when you were not there! You were here in Paris living the life you were born into while we rotted in the tower! I do not blame my mother for what she did in marrying me off! She was trying to get me out of there! She tried to get the boys out too but they were too old! They were already a threat but poor little stuttering Elizabeth Clifford would never amount to anything so she could marry who she pleased, as long as it was into a family that would keep her in line. My mother gave everything she had for us, so much so that any chance she had of being freed is now lost to her. She will die in the tower, as my brothers might. You did nothing! You left for exile and did nothing at all to try and get us out! Now you sit here, holding on to your purse strings so tightly in fear that a sou or two might slip into my husband's hands! Do you not trust me father? But then this isn't about trust is it? It's about what's owed. You owe me a great deal more than the contents of your money purse father!"

"He did send you didn't he? Are you frightened to return without money; is that it?" her father bellowed after her as Elizabeth turned on her heel and stormed across the room. Yanking the door open she turned into the hallway and stopped short. Four musketeers stood waiting against the wall, the house-keeper waiting with them. She at least had the sense to appear shocked by Elizabeth's upset appearance, but knowing glances the musketeers shared with each other told Elizabeth that they'd heard nearly if not all of her argument with her father. What did she care really though, when all would soon be lost. They were likely waiting to question her father about Eric's dealings and she'd just made herself a waiting target. If they knew of trouble within her marriage they would try to use it as leverage. Whatever they tried though, she knew she would remain loyal to her husband. The housekeeper scurried to retrieve her hat and cloak but Elizabeth reached them first and snatched them up, not stopping to put them on before she walked down the hallway and let the door slam behind her as she ventured out onto the street again.

In the next chapter, Elizabeth faces some real heartbreak and a few home truths!

As ever, please leave a review and tell me what you think!