The Tudor Bride

The Tudor Bride
Joanna Hickson

The thrilling story of the French princess who became an English queen, from the best-selling author of The Agincourt Bride. Perfect for fans of The White Queen.Even the greatest of queens have rules – to break them would cost her dearly…King Henry V’s new French Queen, Catherine, dazzles the crowds in England but life at court is full of intrigue and her loyal companion, Mette, suspects that the beautiful Eleanor Cobham, protégée of the Duke of Gloucester, is spying for him.Catherine believes herself invincible as she gives birth to an heir, then tragically King Henry is struck down by fever. Unable to outwit those who seek to remove the new king from her care, Catherine retires from court, comforted by the King’s Harper, Owen Tudor.At the secluded manor of Hadham a smouldering ember bursts into flame and Catherine and Owen Tudor become lovers. But their love cannot remain a secret forever, and when a grab for power is made by Gloucester, Catherine – and those dearest to her – face mortal danger…

JOANNA HICKSON

The Tudor Bride

Copyright (#ulink_96646a5f-26d9-589d-a17e-e0df58ebc001)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014

Copyright © Joanna Hickson 2014

Cover photographs © Richard Jenkins (main image); Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com) (patterns). Cover lettering © Stephen Raw

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2013

Joanna Hickson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007446995

Ebook Edition © January 2014 ISBN: 9780007447008

Version: 2016-09-29

For Katie and young Hugo

who are my Catherine and young King Henry.

Contents

Cover (#ufeefc8a0-d100-5447-99ce-efb0cb9b7857)

Title Page (#u88366ed2-050c-5f9b-b844-0c8b6a6b31a0)

Copyright (#u063f2d9c-e1a8-53f7-bcdf-e0ce9a0ac414)

Dedication (#uc727de10-eeed-55fa-8b79-656f6bbb856b)

Family Trees (#u9727b938-65c5-53a8-a059-63dba576afe0)

Map (#u00ecdae5-4244-561f-93bd-385e398b980b)

Narrator’s Note (#ua6f64f32-4364-5a6b-a07a-adbee485dfc9)

Part One: Queen of England (1421–1422) (#u3614dbc8-d56f-5eae-b19e-90fb06dea73d)

Chapter 1 (#u9746173f-494d-587f-bcd6-c8f64481576e)

Chapter 2 (#u5c63fe56-3ea1-576f-a857-acd56b3eb13f)

Chapter 3 (#u8a7c62ca-e8b5-567f-ad04-fa349b54c15c)

Chapter 4 (#u47e64979-7e49-530e-8a27-90941c37a2e1)

Chapter 5 (#ucc4d1afc-a5e6-5cb0-b0a2-a592930b7a97)

Chapter 6 (#u2ec7e273-c12e-5bf0-8a77-08858a47b3ba)

Chapter 7 (#u5ef6454c-bb12-5b6b-a755-7a5a35d7644c)

Chapter 8 (#u5567c152-ac00-52bc-96e0-7e5251eef329)

Chapter 9 (#u791d7469-c328-5919-98f7-4f166a99f700)

Chapter 10 (#ub50ea5fe-7ecd-5f2a-8254-065cdd9f014f)

Chapter 11 (#uef048a48-38f4-5ec0-8bee-bb699bb7fcb3)

Chapter 12 (#ud7d3b4cf-59e1-5129-973e-aa528cfe492b)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Two: The Secret Years (1427–1435) (#litres_trial_promo)