The Scandalous Duchess

To Helen Bowden and all at Orphans Press, without whom my website would not exist and who create professional masterpieces out of the rough drafts of genealogy and maps I push in their direction.

‘…he [John, Duke of Lancaster] was blinded by desire, fearing neither God nor shame amongst men.’

Knighton’s Chronicle 1337-1396

‘…a she-devil and enchantress…’

The Anonimalle Chronicle 1333-1381

‘…an unspeakable concubine…’

Thomas Walsingham’s Chronicon Angliae

Table of Contents

Cover (#ud6df554c-8f02-5a09-a775-35cab8bab2b7)

Praise (#uf2282948-eece-5b6c-b44e-b225a43daaa1)

Also by ANNE O’BRIEN (#ubfaf13e0-de49-5849-92da-bb4984f88f6a)

Title Page (#u3467648f-2c08-5d7b-abb8-c3975bc22a0a)

Copyright (#ue9d665da-bab9-582a-86f4-9d73eda3a119)

Dedication (#u0048337f-a6f6-5cc8-92a5-d30862e4e6d8)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#u2e1f1dd3-d6bd-5934-9ac7-ddddcb2c4975)

Epigraph (#ud1222f39-d75a-5405-8dfc-894da05b84e8)

Prologue (#u5820207d-fb66-5f0b-b96c-98edf75038b6)

Chapter One (#u30b97c9a-79a2-5ee3-9c0f-8ed89897c0d5)

Chapter Two (#uc9c065b2-31f2-5efc-830c-34b713798dea)

Chapter Three (#u18653bc2-9f76-5697-b9de-5986dc0cd98a)

Chapter Four (#ub04dd0ac-65bf-502d-9378-5b1ed1174494)

Chapter Five (#u1275fd44-1fe1-5550-973a-6c43fef7e595)

Chapter Six (#u1feadc22-4bd1-5ae7-9a5b-174e3ae95323)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

AUTHOR NOTE (#litres_trial_promo)

Read all about it… (#litres_trial_promo)

MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Prologue (#ulink_911dcedd-28df-5e64-87d2-ed10d47be9fc)

January 1372: The Manor of Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire

The water that had swamped the courtyard overnight, thanks to a sudden storm, soaked into my shoes. And then my stockings. I hitched my skirts, scowling at the floating debris around me. Even the chickens, isolated on a pile of wood in the corner, looked morose.

‘Who left that harness out?’ I demanded, seeing the coils of leather black and dripping on the hook beside the stable door. My servants, few as they were, had gone to ground, and since nothing could be done until the rain actually stopped, I squelched under cover again.

Kettlethorpe. My young son’s inheritance, and a poor one at that. The burden of it, since my husband’s recent death and the administration of the estate not yet settled, fell on my shoulders. I flexed them, my sodden, mud-daubed cloak lying unpleasantly around my throat. The shadow of a lively rodent caught my eye as it vanished behind the buttery screen.