The Darling Strumpet

The Darling Strumpet
Gillian Bagwell

From her beginnings as a humble oyster seller, Nell Gwynn’s dazzling rise to fame has gone down in history. Step into the tumultuous world of Restoration England, and join Nell on her journey from courtesan, to famed actress, to King’s mistress in a novel that is as captivating as Nelly herself.Growing up in the bawdy atmosphere of 17th Century Covent Garden, Nell Gwynn is little more than a girl when she enters the world of the courtesan. But Nell learns the hard way that to be at the mercy of unscrupulous men is no life at all.With London’s theatres flourishing, Nell seizes an opportunity to change her luck and takes a job selling oranges at ‘The King’s Playhouse’ in Drury Lane.It isn’t long before Nell takes centre-stage herself and her saucy wit and ambitious temperament soon catch the eye of the young King Charles II. But can she keep him enthralled when the country’s finest Ladies are vying for his attentions at court?Nell Gwynn was a darling of the people and the most famous courtesan of her age. She is brought to life for readers alongside a cast of well-known characters whose stories play out amidst a turbulent Restoration London that stays with you long after you finish this memorable tale.

The Darling Strumpet

Gillian Bagwell

Copyright (#u429363ed-ef84-5b21-8272-7b6306eb138a)

AVON

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 77–85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

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

First published in the U.S.A. by Berkley Publishing Group, an imprint of Penguin Group (U.S.A.) Inc., New York, NY, 2011

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2011

Copyright © Gillian Bagwell 2011

Gillian Bagwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for 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: 9781847562500

Ebook Edition © JUNE 2011 ISBN: 9780007443307

Version: 2014-07-23

Dedication (#u429363ed-ef84-5b21-8272-7b6306eb138a)

This book is dedicated to my family:

My sisters

Rachel Hope Crossman

and

Jennifer Juliet Walker

My father

Richard Herbold Bagwell

And the memory of my mother

Elizabeth Rosaria Loverde

Epigraph (#u429363ed-ef84-5b21-8272-7b6306eb138a)

She’s now the darling strumpet of the crowd,

Forgets her state, and talks to them aloud,

Lays by her greatness and descends to prate

With those ’bove whom she’s rais’d by wond’rous fate.

From “A Panegyrick Upon Nelly”

Anonymous, 1681

Contents

Cover (#uc7d9c867-1676-5d13-901c-3e2a80a8566f)

Title Page (#u94a1a657-a55d-5979-98d3-42498de7dbac)

Copyright

Dedication (#uaed90fe5-597f-51f0-ae50-a3e2b218cabc)

Epigraph (#u0eb9276d-d7f1-5099-8216-47a21ef13fa7)

Cast of Characters

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight