The Harlot's Daughter

by Blythe Gifford

• ISBN13: 9780373294701
• ISBN10: 0373294700
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-10-01
• Publisher: Harlequin

Excerpts

Windsor Castle, Yuletide, 1386The shameless doxy dragged the rings right off his fingers before the King's body was cold.They used to whisper that and then look sideways at her, thinking that a ten-year-old was too young to understand they slandered her mother.Joan had understood even then. It was all too clear the night the old King died and her mother, his mistress of thirteen years, gathered their two daughters and fled into the darkness.Now, ten years after her father's death, Joan stood poised to be announced at the court of a new King. Her mother hoped Joan might find a place there, even a husband.Foolish dreams of an ageing woman.Waiting to be announced, she peeked into the Great Hall, surprised she did not look more outdated wearing her mother's made-over dress. It was the men's garb, colourful and garish, that looked unfamiliar. Decked in blues and reds, gold chains and furs, they looked gaudy as flapping tournament flags.Except for one.Standing to the left of the throne turned away from her, he wore a simple, deep blue tunic. She could not see his face fully, but the set of his jaw and the hollow edge of his cheek said one thing: unyielding.For a moment, she envied that strength. This was a man whose daily bread did not depend on pleasing people.Hers did. And so did her mother's and sister's.She pulled her gaze away and smoothed her velvet skirt. Please the King she must, or there would be no food in the larder by Eastertide.As the herald entered the Hall to announce her, she heard the rustling skirts of the ladies lining the room. They whispered still.Here she comes. The harlot's daughter. No more shame than her mother had.She lifted her head. It was time.Amid the whispers, Lady Joan, twenty summers, illegitimate daughter of the late King and his notorious mistress and the most unmarriageable woman in England, stepped forward to be presented to King Richard II.Lord Justin Lamont avoided Richard's court whenever possible. He had braved the crowded throne room only because he had urgent news for the Duke of Gloucester.Last month, Parliament had compelled the reckless young King to accept the oversight of a Council headed by his uncle, Gloucester. Since then, Justin had been enmeshed in the business of government. He was only beginning to uncover the mess young Richard and his intimates had made of the Treasury.Thrust upon the throne as a boy when his grandfather died, Richard had inherited the old King's good looks without his strength, judgement or sense. Instead of spending taxes to fight the French, he'd drained the royal purse with grants for his favourites.When he demanded more tax money, Parliament had finally balked, installing the Council to gainsay the King's outrageous spending.Now, the King had put forth another of his endless lists of favours for his friends, expecting the new Council's unquestioning approval.He would not get it. 'Your Grace,'Justin said to Gloucester, 'the King has a new list of gifts he wants to announce on Christmas Day. The Council cannot possibly approve this.'Distracted, the Duke motioned to the door. 'Here she comes. The doxy's daughter.'Justin gritted his teeth, refusing to turn. The mother's meddling had near ruined the realm before Parliament had stepped in to save a senile King from his own foolishness. This new King needed no more misguidance. He was getting that aplenty from his current favourites. 'What do they call her?''Lady Joan ofWeston,'Gloucester answered. 'Joan the Elder.' Calling her a Weston was a pleasant fiction, though the old King's mistress had passed herself off as Sir William's wife while she bore the King's children. 'The Elder?'Gloucester sm