Andrew Taylor - The King’s Evil

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2019

Copyright © Andrew Taylor 2019

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2020

Cover illustrations © Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/ Alamy Stock Photoand Shutterstock.com

Andrew Taylor asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Prelims show image of Clarendon House © Antiqua Print Gallery/ Alamy Stock Photo

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: 9780008119188

Ebook Edition © April 2019 ISBN: 9780008119171

Version: 2019-12-12

For Caroline

To that soft Charm , that Spell , that Magick Bough ,

That high Enchantment I betake me now:

And to that Hand (the Branch of Heavens faire Tree)

I kneele for help: O! lay that hand on me,

Adored Cesar ! and my Faith is such,

I shall be heal’d, if that my King but touch.

The Evill is not Yours: my sorrow sings,

Mine is the Evill, but the Cure, the KINGS.

Robert Herrick, ‘To the King, to cure the Evill’

( Hesperides , 1648)

‘A masterclass in writing for the genre’

Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope series

‘An absolute treat from start to finish – a hugely engaging, atmospheric historical thriller’

Antonia Hodgson, author of The Devil in the Marshalsea

‘This is a novelist of consummate skill at the absolute peak of his power’

Manda Scott, author of A Treachery of Spies

‘Taylor’s mantelpiece already groans under awards … and this latest is as striking as anything he has written’

Financial Times , Crime Books of the Year

‘Few historical novelists write with more authority and a greater sense of authenticity than Andrew Taylor’

Sunday Times

‘This is historical crime fiction at its dazzling best’

Guardian

‘Vivid and compelling’

Observer

‘A novel filled with intrigue, duplicity, scandal and betrayal, whose author now vies with another master of the genre, C. J. Sansom’

Spectator

‘Glorious’

Sunday Express

‘Another fine outing from one of the best historical novelists around’

Sunday Times

‘If you like C. J. Sansom, or Hilary Mantel, you’ll love Andrew Taylor’

Peter James

‘Effortlessly authentic … gripping … moving and believable. An excellent work’

C. J. Sansom

‘A breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era’

Financial Times

‘This is how historical crime should be written, with rich authenticity underpinning a twisting plot’

The Times

‘One of the most reliably enjoyable of historical novelists’

Sunday Times

‘Taylor brings the 17th century to life so vividly that one can almost smell it’

Guardian

‘Once again, Taylor combines his detailed research with a deviously twist-laden storyline’

Observer

‘This is terrific stuff: intelligent, engrossing and … wonderfully plausible’

Daily Telegraph

‘Thrilling … Gripping, fast-moving and credible’

Spectator

‘Finely wrought and solidly researched … The novel’s plot is fiendishly complex’

Sunday Telegraph

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Praise for The King’s Evil

Praise for Andrew Taylor

The Main Characters

The Royal Family

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Four

Chapter Fifty-Five

Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Keep Reading …

About the Author

By the same Author

About the Publisher

Infirmary Close, The Savoy

James Marwood, clerk to Joseph Williamson, and to the Board of Red Cloth

Margaret and Sam Witherdine, his servants

The Drawing Office, Henrietta Street

Simon Hakesby, surveyor and architect

‘Jane Hakesby’, his maid, formerly known as Catherine Lovett

Brennan, his draughtsman

Whitehall

King Charles II

James, Duke of York, his brother

Joseph Williamson, Undersecretary of State to Lord Arlington

William Chiffinch, Keeper of the King’s Private Closet

George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham

John Knight, the King’s Surgeon General

Clarendon House

Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, the former Lord Chancellor of England

George Milcote, a gentleman of his household