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First of the Tudors
Joanna Hickson
‘A great tale… the golden thread that led to the crown of England’ Conn IgguldenJasper Tudor, son of Queen Catherine and her second husband, Owen Tudor, has grown up far from the intrigue of the royal court. But after he and his brother Edmund are summoned to London, their half-brother, King Henry VI, takes a keen interest in their future.Bestowing Earldoms on them both, Henry also gives them the wardship of the young heiress Margaret Beaufort. Although she is still a child, Jasper becomes devoted to her and is devastated when Henry arranges her betrothal to Edmund.He seeks solace in his estates and in the arms of Jane Hywel, a young Welsh woman who offers him something more meaningful than a dynastic marriage. But passion turns to jeopardy for them both as the Wars of the Roses wreak havoc on the realm. Loyal brother to a fragile king and his domineering queen, Marguerite of Anjou, Jasper must draw on all his guile and courage to preserve their throne − and the Tudor destiny…
Copyright (#ulink_3ec9f37c-d86d-50ea-a1e9-f14d18ffc748)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London, SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Copyright © Joanna Hickson 2016
Cover design: Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Cover illustration © Chris Cooper-Smith / Alamy
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: 9780008139704
Ebook Edition © December 2016 ISBN: 9780008139711
Version: 2018-09-24
Dedication (#ulink_3ab8f320-1fcc-5177-a3aa-1664c7fa7395)
For my gorgeous granddaughter Lyra Joanna Second of the Ashtons Conceived, gestated and delivered Along the same timeline as First of the Tudors
Contents
Cover (#u24e18a4e-c6a5-5302-a9d0-bdd2f4609bce)
Title Page (#uf5737ffb-4bc4-5ab9-9e6f-5f0888a30667)
Copyright (#ufb9cdf40-bd2d-5ae0-9029-7961851d9372)
Dedication (#u7e65c359-437d-5f16-baf8-5540f1337c17)
Family Tree (#u13c10199-d00e-5bbe-8eb7-3a641d524db6)
Maps (#u781206c9-eee7-50e0-8484-0bcf22ed5826)
Part One: Brothers to the King (#u0a85ebac-c446-55b6-974a-0eeb26c5443f)
Chapter 1: Jasper (#u861fb4e2-2119-59cf-bb0a-3b28ca4f0c9e)
Chapter 2: Jane (#uc8ef8cd0-a11d-5ff9-b789-b4ffbac92fa9)
Chapter 3: Jasper (#u6dcee4d0-071f-5efe-81f6-7423ddebc958)
Chapter 4: Jasper (#ud5bede73-ab16-5cfe-9632-437ee6015ced)
Chapter 5: Jasper (#u6233ec04-21a6-5a88-aef1-d4e3ee94e22b)
Part Two : The Tudor Earls (#ud3958911-8752-5626-bc5b-9a6e926e2eb3)
Chapter 6: Jane (#u8a603858-bcc5-5368-982c-1abe9bf82164)
Chapter 7: Jasper (#ufcfab011-03be-5514-9659-543a682a640c)
Chapter 8: Jasper (#u0bbb8aa4-b8ae-5177-858b-9c945d5a54d5)
Chapter 9: Jasper (#u4572a4e8-7291-5813-b371-e7953e2e5681)
Chapter 10: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Three: Hostilities (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 29: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Four: Two Crowned Kings (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 30: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 31: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 32: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 33: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 34: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 35: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 36: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 37: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 38: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 39: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Five: The Return (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 40: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 41: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 42: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 43: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 44: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 45: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 46: Jane (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 47: Jasper (#litres_trial_promo)
Glossary (#litres_trial_promo)
Welsh Words and Names (#litres_trial_promo)
Author’s Notes (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
Keep Reading Tudor Trilogy (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Also by Joanna Hickson (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Family Tree (#ulink_6374fa14-e7ef-5353-adb2-1932709e9998)
Maps (#ulink_5f9a0ac9-461b-5b11-8a09-ce04d15fc11e)
PART ONE (#ulink_6a14db13-957d-547c-a420-ff3fd35fd072)
Brothers to the King (#ulink_6a14db13-957d-547c-a420-ff3fd35fd072)
1451–1453
1 (#ulink_0aead324-b225-55d1-8f7d-689895ada881)
Jasper (#ulink_0aead324-b225-55d1-8f7d-689895ada881)
Westminster Palace & London
FLASHES OF IRIDESCENCE GLEAMED like fireflies in the gloom of the small tower chamber. I stared at the river of fabric as it settled in graceful waves across the bed. It was the intense blue of a noon sky, yet it glittered with the gold of midnight stars. ‘Do you think she will like it?’ Edmund asked.
I took a deep breath, hesitating to prick my brother’s bubble. ‘Yes – and no,’ I said.
‘What do you mean?’ Indignation raised the timbre of his voice. ‘Jesu Jas, a gown fashioned of such fabric would make any female feel like a queen!’
My hackles rose. I hated Edmund calling me Jas and had told him so on numerous occasions, yet still he persisted. It was a boyhood nickname and we were no longer boys but squires in the service of the king, soon to become knights. My name was Jasper. I had stopped calling him Ed on the day we came to court.
‘But she is not a queen and there are sumptuary laws. Our sister could be royally fined for wearing a gown made from such fabric. You know its use is restricted to royalty, archbishops and the effigies of saints.’
