The Virgin’s Lover

The Virgin’s Lover
Philippa Gregory

A sumptuous historical novel set in the court of Elizabeth I, from Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Philippa Gregory, the author of The Other Boleyn Girl.Now I can be the queen that my mother intended me to be . . . the queen I was born to be.1558. After years of waiting, Princess Elizabeth accedes to the throne of England.But the country is divided, the restoration of the Protestant faith ignites opposition from the church and beyond, and court remains a treacherous place.Many believe that Elizabeth must marry if she is to survive. For Robert Dudley, Elizabeth’s ascension is a glorious new dawn, and he quickly positions himself as the young queen’s favourite. Dudley is a man of powerful lineage; his father had been a kingmaker at the court of Henry VIII. But Dudley has many enemies, amongst them William Cecil, the queen’s most trusted advisor.As powerful families vie for stakes in the emerging kingdom, Elizabeth must secure her own future.

Copyright (#ue2e1e0bd-98ed-5829-812e-cb84b80c092b)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2004

This edition published by Harper 2017

Copyright © Philippa Gregory Ltd 2004

Cover design and illustration: Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

Cover image © Philip Mould Ltd, London / Bridgeman Images (portrait of Elizabeth I, c.1595, Hilliard, Nicholas (1547-1619) / Private Collection / Photo).

FRONTISPIECE: Cecil’s note of Reasons against the Earl of Leicester

(CP 155/28) reproduced by courtesy of the marques of Salisbury

Philippa Gregory 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.

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Source ISBN: 9780007147311

Ebook Edition © December 2016 ISBN: 9780007370160

Version: 2017-01-23

Dedication (#ue2e1e0bd-98ed-5829-812e-cb84b80c092b)

For Anthony

Contents

Cover (#ua3576483-51d8-5164-bdcb-e49ec62cc1ae)

Title Page (#u3c5b9d7d-2b18-540f-89fc-eaf52239c16d)

Copyright

Dedication

Frontispiece (#ud1384abc-8921-5e86-bf10-58af069609bf)

Autumn 1558

One Year Earlier: Summer 1557

Winter 1558

Summer 1558

Autumn 1558

Winter 1558–59

Spring 1559

Summer 1559

Autumn 1559

Winter 1559–60

Spring 1560

Summer 1560

Author’s Note

Discover More of Philippa Gregory’s Tudor Novels

Gardens for The Gambia

About the Author

Also by Philippa Gregory

About the Publisher

Autumn 1558 (#ue2e1e0bd-98ed-5829-812e-cb84b80c092b)

All the bells in Norfolk were ringing for Elizabeth, pounding the peal into Amy’s head, first the treble bell screaming out like a mad woman, and then the whole agonising, jangling sob till the great bell boomed a warning that the whole discordant carillon was about to shriek out again. She pulled the pillow over her head to shut out the sound, and yet still it went on, until the rooks abandoned their nests and went streaming into the skies, tossing and turning in the wind like a banner of ill omen, and the bats left the belfry like a plume of black smoke as if to say that the world was upside down now, and day should be forever night.