The Queen From Provence - Plaidy Jean. Страница 1

About the Book

Marguerite, eldest daughter of the Count of Provence, had married a king of France – and now her sister Eleanor is determined to make just as grand a match.

Good fortune and wily cunning bring her Henry of England. A good and generous husband but a weak king, he rules a nation that still remembers his cruel and foolish father, King John. As Henry showers gifts on his new bride his extravagance forces him to levy ever greater taxation on the land, and the spectre of revolt soon looms against him. For Simon de Montfort, the adventurer who will give England its first true parliament, the house of destiny is at hand.

‘It’s hard to better Jean Plaidy … both elegant and exciting as she steers a stylish path through the feuding Plantaganets’ Daily Mirror

‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama’ New York Times

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781446427040

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published by Arrow Books in 2008

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The Estate of Eleanor Hibbert has asserted its right

to have Jean Plaidy identified as the author of this work.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

First published in the United Kingdom in 1979 by Robert Hale Ltd

The Random House Group Limited

20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 2SA

www.rbooks.co.uk

Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780099510277

Contents

Cover

About the Book

Title

Praise for Jean Plaidy

About the Author

Available in Arrow Books by Jean Plaidy

I: In Search of a Bridegroom

II: A Journey through France

III: The Queen of England

IV: Married Bliss

V: The Mad Priest of Woodstock

VI: Birth of Edward

VII: A Newcomer to Court

VIII: A Sojourn in Provence

IX: Queenhithe

X: Ceremony at Beaulieu

XI: The Sad Little Bride

XII: The King and Simon de Montfort

XIII: The Bride from Castile

XIV: The Unhappy Queen of Scotland

XV: My Son! My Son!

XVI: Conspiracy in the Bedchamber

XVII: The Passing of a Dream

XVIII: London’s Revenge

XIX: Evesham

XX: Murder at the Altar

XXI: The Poisoned Dagger

Bibliography

Praise for Jean Plaidy

‘A vivid impression of life at the Tudor Court’

Daily Telegraph

‘One of the country’s most widely read novelists’

Sunday Times

‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama’

New York Times

‘It is hard to better Jean Plaidy … both elegant and exciting’

Daily Mirror

‘Jean Plaidy conveys the texture of various patches of the past with such rich complexity’

Guardian

‘Plaidy has brought the past to life’

Times Literary Supplement

‘One of our best historical novelists’

News Chronicle

‘An excellent story’

Irish Press

‘Spirited … Plaidy paints the truth as she sees it’

Birmingham Post

‘Sketched vividly and sympathetically … rewarding’

Scotsman

‘Among the foremost of current historical novelists’

Birmingham Mail

‘An accomplished novelist’

Glasgow Evening News

‘There can be no doubt of the author’s gift for storytelling’

Illustrated London News

The Queen from Provence

Jean Plaidy, one of the pre-eminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century, is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also known as Victoria Holt. Jean Plaidy’s novels had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide by the time of her death in 1993.

For further information about our Jean Plaidy reissues and mailing list, please visit

www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/jeanplaidy

Available in Arrow Books by Jean Plaidy

The Tudors

Uneasy Lies the Head

Katharine, the Virgin

Widow

The Shadow of the

Pomegranate

The King’s Secret Matter

Murder Most Royal

St Thomas’s Eve

The Sixth Wife

The Thistle and the Rose

Mary Queen of France

Lord Robert

Royal Road to Fotheringay

The Captive Queen of Scots

The Medici Trilogy

Madame Serpent

The Italian Woman

Queen Jezebel

The Plantagenets

The Plantagenet Prelude

The Revolt of the Eaglets

The Heart of the Lion

The Prince of Darkness

The Battle of the Queens

The Queen from Provence

The Hammer of the Scots

The Follies of the King

The French Revolution