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DEVIL’S CONSORT
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THE FORBIDDEN QUEEN
THE SCANDALOUS DUCHESS
THE KING’S SISTER
THE QUEEN’S CHOICE
THE SHADOW QUEEN
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Anne O’Brien 2018
Anne O’Brien 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 © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008225445
Version: 2019-03-13
‘A cracking historical novel’
Good Housekeeping
‘O’Brien cleverly intertwines the personal and political in this enjoyable, gripping tale’
The Times
‘O’Brien is a terrific storyteller’
Daily Telegraph
‘A gripping story of love, heartache and political intrigue’
Woman & Home
‘There are historical novels and then there are the works of Anne O’Brien – and this is another hit’
The Sun
‘The characters are larger than life…and the author a compulsive storyteller’
Sunday Express
‘This book has everything – royalty, scandal, fascinating historical politics’
Cosmopolitan
‘A gripping historical drama’
Bella
For George, who almost lost his status as the only hero in my life to Harry Hotspur. George retains his supremacy, and always will.
Lady Kate:
In faith, I’ll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
Hotspur:
Away,
Away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world
To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses and crack’d crowns . . .
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: HENRY IV PART 1 (ELIZABETH IS SHAKESPEARE’S LADY KATE)
Lady Percy:
He was the mark and glass, copy and book,
That fashion’d others. And him, O wondrous him!
O miracle of men!
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: HENRY IV PART 2
Whereas of our special grace we have granted to our cousin, Elizabeth, who was the wife of Henry de Percy, knight, the head and quarters of the same Henry to be buried. We command you that the head aforesaid placed by our command upon the gate of the city (of York) aforesaid you shall deliver to the same Elizabeth to be buried . . .
E. B. DE FONTBLANQUE: ANNALS OF THE HOUSE OF PERCY
Contents
