Joanna Hickson - The Lady of the Ravens

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First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2020

Copyright © Joanna Hickson 2020

Jacket design by Holly Macdonald © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2021

Cover illustrations © Shutterstock.com

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: 9780008305611

Ebook Edition © February 2021 ISBN: 9780008305598

Version: 2020-11-09

‘For my ever-supportive husband Ian, who calms me down when I’m up, lifts me up when I’m down and always has a bottle of champagne in the fridge on publication day!’

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Family Tree

Map

Dramatis Personae

Part One

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

Part Two

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

Chapter 28

Part Three

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Part Four

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Glossary

Author’s Notes

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

About the Author

By the Same Author

About the Publisher

Royal Family:

Henry Tudor – King Henry VII

Lady Margaret Beaufort – ‘My Lady the King’s Mother’

Elizabeth of York – Queen Elizabeth

Princess Cecily of York – the queen’s sister & 1st Chief Lady-in-Waiting

Princess Anne of York – the queen’s sister & 2nd Chief Lady-in-Waiting

Dowager Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) – the queen’s mother

Arthur, Prince of Wales – born 20th September 1486, the Tudor heir

Margaret Plantagenet/Pole – the queen’s disinherited York cousin

Edward, Earl of Warwick – Margaret Plantagenet’s younger brother

John, Earl of Lincoln – son & heir of the queen’s paternal aunt Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk

Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy – the queen’s other paternal aunt & a focus of Yorkist conspiracy

Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford – King Henry’s paternal uncle

John, Viscount Welles – the king’s maternal half-uncle

Princess Margaret Tudor – born 28th November 1489, eldest daughter of the king

Prince Henry, Duke of York (Harry) – born 28th June 1491, the king’s 2nd son

Princess Elizabeth Tudor – born 2nd July 1492, 2nd daughter of the king

Princess Mary Tudor – born 18th March 1496, 3rd daughter of the king

Prince Edmund, Duke of Somerset – born 21st February 1499, 3rd son of the king

Lady Meg Poyntz – queen’s illegitimate cousin by Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers (see English citizens & Deceased characters)

Royal Households:

King Henry:

PC= Privy Councillor

KG= Knight of the Garter

Sir Richard Guildford – Master of Ordnance & Armaments & PC Later KG

Nicholas Gainsford – Usher of the King’s Chamber

Lord Thomas Stanley – Earl of Derby, High Constable of England & PC Husband of the king’s mother

Sir William Stanley – Earl of Derby’s brother, 2nd Lord Chamberlain, PC & KG

John Morton – Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor & later Cardinal

John de Vere, Earl of Oxford – 1st Lord Chamberlain, PC, KG & Arthur’s Godfather

Sir Henry Wyatt – Master of the King’s Jewels & Comptroller of the Mint

Giles, Lord Daubeney – succeeded Sir William Stanley as Lord Chamberlain, PC & KG

Queen Elizabeth:

Joan Vaux – former ward of Lady Margaret, later Lady Guildford

Katherine Pennyson/Lady Vaux – Joan’s mother, known as Mother Vaux

Lady Mary Rivers – widow of the queen’s uncle Anthony, Earl Rivers & former ward of Lady Margaret Beaufort

Eleanor Verney – Lady-in-Waiting, married to Sir Ralph Verney, sister of Richard Pole

Elizabeth Jerningham – Keeper of the Queen’s Robes

Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond – Queen’s Lord Chamberlain

Lady Elizabeth Stafford – 3rd Chief Lady-in-Waiting & daughter of the Duke of Buckingham

Guildford Family:

Sir Richard Guildford of Halden, Kent – Master of Ordnance & Armaments

Sir John Guildford – Richard’s father & Comptroller of Royal Household

Richard’s children in age order:

by Anne Pympe:

Edward (Ned)

Maria

George

Philippa (Pippa)

Friedswide (Winnie) – Friedswide a popular saint in this period, also known as Winifred

Elizabeth (Lizzie)

by Joan:

Henry (Hal)

Elizabeth (Bess) Mortimer – Richard’s ward

English citizens:

Rosie – a London silkwoman

Nicholas Vaux – Joan’s brother, a landed esquire, later knighted

Beth Fitzhugh/Vaux – his Yorkist bride

Lambert Simnel – name given to the pretend Edward of Warwick

Richard Pole – Esquire (later Knight) of the King’s Body, brother of Lady Eleanor Verney & husband of Margaret Plantagenet