Nicola Cornick: The Forgotten Sister

‘A fascinating tale with intriguing twists which kept me reading late into the night.’

Barbara Erskine

‘Atmospheric and compelling, I was gripped from beginning to end.’

Sarah Morgan

‘Nicola Cornick is the mistress of keeping you up way beyond lights out because you just can’t put it down. Brilliant!’

Katie Fforde

‘A gorgeous novel, so fresh and original. And the tension! I was on the edge of my seat.’

Jenny Ashcroft

‘With its intriguing premise and engaging characters, this fresh take on the time-slip novel completely won me over.’

Kate Riordan

‘A lively, entertaining read… the story kept me turning the pages right to the very end.’

Katherine Webb

‘I was hooked from the first pages… I can’t remember when I last read a book so fast, just to find out what happens next. A twisty and deceptively clever book… [with] a wonderfully satisfying conclusion.’

Gill Paul

‘A rising star.’

Publishers Weekly

‘A sumptuous, spell-binding story full of mystery, secrets, heartbreak and magic that will keep you guessing.’

Sara Manning, Red Online

NICOLA CORNICKis an international bestselling and award-winning novelist who has written over thirty historical novels in a career spanning twenty years. Her books sell in over twenty-five countries, have been translated into many languages and been published in multiple formats.

Nicola studied History at the University of London and at Ruskin College Oxford, and worked in academia for a number of years, before becoming a full-time author. She volunteers as a guide and researcher for the National Trust at the 17th century Ashdown House and gives talks and seminars on a number of historical and writing related topics. She has spoken at the London Book Fair and at literary festivals including Oxford and Sharjah. She is a former Wiltshire Libraries Writer in Residence and trustee of Wantage Literary Festival. In her spare time, she is a guide dog puppy walker.

The Woman in the Golden Dress

The Phantom Tree

House of Shadows

Nicola Cornick

ONE PLACE. MANY STORIES

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2020

Copyright © Nicola Cornick 2020

Nicola Cornick 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, downloaded, 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.

Ebook Edition © April 2020 ISBN: 9780008278502

Version 2020-04-12

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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008278496

This book is dedicated to my grandmother,

Doris Clark, whose shelf of Tudor-set

historical novels started me on my journey.

Present Day:

Lizzie Kingdom, b.1993

Annie Kingdom née Bowling, Lizzie’s late mother (1965–1998)

Harry Kingdom, Lizzie’s father, now living in California

Dudley Lester, Lizzie’s best friend, married Amelia Robsart in 2010, b.1992

Arthur Robsart, son of Terry Robsart and Layla El Ansari, b.1988

Amelia Robsart, daughter of Terry Robsart and Jessica Scott, b.1993

Anna Robsart, daughter of Terry Robsart and Jessica Scott, b.1997

Johnny Robsart, son of Terry Robsart and Jessica Scott, b.2003

Kat Ashley, Lizzie’s PA/godmother

Avery Basing, Lizzie’s grandmother’s oldest friend, b.1935

Bill Cecil, Lizzie’s agent

Juliet Carey, Lizzie’s cousin

Tudor Story:

Elizabeth Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (7 September 1533–24 March 1603)

Edward Tudor, King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour (12 October 1537–6 July 1553)

Mary Tudor, Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, married to Philip II of Spain (18 February 1516–17 November 1558)

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (24 June 1532–4 Sept 1588)

Amy Robsart, his wife (7 June 1532–6 Sept 1560)

Arthur Robsart, Amy’s half-brother (c.1523–1590)

Sir John Robsart, Amy and Arthur’s father (c.1500–1554)

Elizabeth, Lady Robsart, previously Appleyard, née Scott, mother of Amy and Anna (c.1504–1557)

Anna Appleyard, Amy’s half-sister (c.1525–1565)

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504–1553), father of Robert Dudley and of:

John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, who married Anne Seymour, daughter of Duke of Somerset (1527–21 Oct 1554)

Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick (1528–21 Feb 1589)

Henry Dudley (c.1531–10 Aug 1557)

Guildford Dudley, married Lady Jane Grey, who became Queen 10 July 1553 (1535–12 Feb 1554)

‘O, call back yesterday, bid time return.’

SHAKESPEARE, RICHARD II

Cover

Praise

About the Author

Also by Nicola Cornick

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

Cast of Key Characters

Epigraph

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Extract

About the Publisher

Amy Robsart, Cumnor Village

They came for me one night in the winter of 1752 when the ice was on the pond and the trees bowed under the weight of the hoar frost. There were nine priests out of Oxford, garbed all in white with tapers in hand. Some looked fearful, others burned with a righteous fervour because they thought they were doing the Lord’s work. All of them looked cold, huddled within their cassocks, the one out ahead gripping the golden crucifix as though it were all that stood between him and the devil himself.