Philippa Gregory's Tudor Court 6-Book Boxed Set (343 page)
Read Philippa Gregory's Tudor Court 6-Book Boxed Set Online
Authors: Philippa Gregory
Tags: #Fiction, #Historical, #Retail
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2004 by Philippa Gregory Limited
All rights reserved,
including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form.
This Touchstone Edition 2005
T
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and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Designed by Jaime Putorti
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Gregory, Philippa.
The virgin’s lover / Philippa Gregory.
p. cm.
“A Touchstone book.”
1. Dudley, Amy Robsart, Lady, 1532?–1560—Fiction. 2. Leicester, Robert Dudley, Earl of, 1532?–1588—Fiction. 3. Great Britain— History—Elizabeth, 1558–1603—Fiction. 4. Burghley, William Cecil, Baron, 1520–1598—Fiction. 5. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533–1603—Fiction. 6. Favorites, Royal—Fiction. 7. Murder victims— Fiction. I. Title.
PR6057.R386V574 2004 823'.914—dc22 2004056468
ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-5615-5
ISBN-10: 0-7432-5615-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-6926-1 (Pbk)
ISBN-10: 0-7432-6926-8 (Pbk)
eISBN-13: 978-0-7432-7534-7
Contents
1568, Autumn, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire: Bess
1568, Autumn, Hampton Court: George
1568, Winter, Bolton Castle: Mary
1568, Winter, Chatsworth: Bess
1568, Winter, Hampton Court: George
1568, Winter, Bolton Castle: Mary
1568, Winter, Chatsworth House: Bess
1568, Winter, Hampton Court: George
1568, Winter, Bolton Castle: Mary
1568, Winter, Bolton Castle: George
1568–9, Winter, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, January, On The Journey From Bolton Castle To Tutbury Castle: George
1569, January, On The Journey From Bolton Castle To Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, Winter, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, Winter, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, Winter, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, Spring, Tutbury Castle: George
1569, Spring, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, Spring, Tutbury Castle: George
1569, Spring, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, Spring, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, Spring, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, April, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, May, Wingfield Manor: George
1569, May, Wingfield Manor: Bess
1569, May, Wingfield Manor: Mary
1569, June, Wingfield Manor: Bess
1569, August, Wingfield Manor: Mary
1569, August, Wingfield Manor: Bess
1569, August, Wingfield Manor: Mary
1569, September, Wingfield Manor: George
1569, September, Wingfield Manor: Bess
1569, September, Wingfield Manor: George
1569, September, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, October, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, October, Tutbury Castle: George
1569, October, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, October, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, October, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, November, Tutbury Castle: George
1569, November, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, November, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, November, On The Road From Tutbury Castle: Bess
1569, November, On The Road From Tutbury Castle: Mary
1569, November, Ashby-De-La-Zouche Castle: Bess
1569, November, Ashby-De-La-Zouche Castle: George
1569, November, Coventry: Mary
1569, November, Coventry: Bess
1569, November, Coventry: George
1569, Christmas Eve, Coventry: Mary
1569, December, Coventry: Bess
1569, December, Coventry: George
1569, December, Coventry: Mary
1569, December, Coventry: George
1569, December, Coventry: Mary
1569, December, Coventry: Bess
1569, December, Coventry: George
1569, December, Coventry: Bess
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: George
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: George
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1570, January, Windsor Castle: George
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1570, January, Tutbury Castle: George
1570, February, Tutbury Castle: Bess
1570, February, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1570, April, Tutbury Castle: George
1570, May, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1570, May, On The Road To Chatsworth: Mary
1570, June, Chatsworth: George
1570, June, Chatsworth: George
1570, August, Wingfield Manor: Mary
1570, September, Chatsworth: Bess
1570, September, Chatsworth: Mary
1570, October, Chatsworth: Bess
1570, October, Chatsworth: Mary
1570, Winter, Sheffield Castle: George
1571, February, Sheffield Castle: Bess
1571, February, Sheffield Castle: Mary
1571, March, Sheffield Castle: George
1571, March, On The Road From Sheffield Castle To Tutbury: Bess
1571, April, Tutbury Castle: George
1571, August, Tutbury Castle: Mary
1571, September, Sheffield Castle: Bess
1571, September, Sheffield Castle: George
1571, October, Sheffield Castle: Bess
1571, November, Sheffield Castle: Mary
1571, December, Sheffield Castle: George
1571, December, Chatsworth: Mary
1572, January, Cold Harbor House, London: George
1572, January, Sheffield Castle: Bess
1572, January, Sheffield Castle: Mary
January 16th, 1572, Westminster Hall, London: George
1572, January, Sheffield Castle: Bess
1572, January, Sheffield Castle: Mary
1572, January, Sheffield Castle: Mary
June 1st, 1572, London: George
February 8th, 1587, Hardwick Hall: Bess
‘The Kingmaker’s Daughter’ Excerpt
For Anthony
1568, AUTUMN, CHATSWORTH HOUSE, DERBYSHIRE: BESS
E
very woman should marry for her own advantage since her husband will represent her, as visible as her front door, for the rest of his life. If she chooses a wastrel she will be avoided by all her neighbors as a poor woman; catch a duke and she will be Your Grace, and everyone will be her friend. She can be pious, she can be learned, she can be witty and wise and beautiful, but if she is married to a fool she will be “that poor Mrs. Fool” until the day he dies.
And I have good reason to respect my own opinion in the matter of husbands having had three of them, and each one, God bless him, served as stepping stone to the next until I got my fourth, my earl, and I am now “my lady Countess of Shrewsbury”: a rise greater than that of any woman I know. I am where I am today by making the most of myself, and getting the best price for what I could bring to market. I am a self-made woman—self-made, self-polished, and self-sold—and proud of it.
Indeed, no woman in England has done better than me. For though we have a queen on the throne, she is only there by the skill of her mother, and the feebleness of her father’s other stock, and not through any great gifts of her own. If you kept a Tudor for a breeder you would eat him for meat in your second winter. They are poor weak beasts, and this Tudor queen must make up her mind to wed, bed, and breed, or the country will be ruined.
If she does not give us a bonny Protestant boy then she will abandon us to disaster, for her heir is another woman: a young woman, a
vain woman, a sinful woman, an idolatrous Papist woman, God forgive her errors and save us from the destruction she will bring us. Some days you hear one story of Mary Queen of Scots, some days another. What you will never, never hear, even if you listen a hundred times, even when the story is told by her adoring admirers, is the story of a woman who consults her own interest, thinks for herself, and marries for her best advantage. But since in this life a woman is a piece of property, she does well to consider her improvement, her sale at the best price, and her future ownership. What else? Shall she let herself tumble down?