A Cruel Courtship
Authors: Candace Robb
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Historical, #Mystery & Detective, #Crime
Scotland, 1297.
Passionate, brave and fiercely loyal, Margaret Kerr - a young woman estranged from her husband - is determined to play her part in saving Scotland from the hammer of Edward Longshanks - King of England and would-be King of the Scots. And so she travels to Stirling to discover why the informer upon whom the Scottish rebels depend has become unreliable.
It is an important and difficult mission, for he who holds Stirling Castle holds Scotland, and with fresh English recruits marching forth, a bloody battle for the castle is imminent. As the Scots prepare to cast off the English yoke once and for all, Margaret soon realises she can trust no one, not even her closest friends. Is she prepared to give her life for her country?
Acclaim for Candace Robb
‘Thirteenth-century Edinburgh comes off the page cold and convincing, from the smoke and noise of the tavern kitchen to Holyrood Abbey under a treacherous abbot. Most enjoyable’
The LIst
‘Brilliant … Robb presents a fiesty new heroine who proves to be no fool’
Woman & Home
‘This is history as it should be told!’
Good Book Guide
CANDACE
ROBB
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781446439234
Published by Arrow Books in 2006
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Copyright © Candace Robb 2005
Candace Robb has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
Apart from references to actual historical figures, all other characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental
First published in the United Kingdom in 2005 by William Heinemann
Arrow Books
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 09 941013 3 (from Jan 2007)
ISBN 0 09 941013 3
ONTENTS
In Memory of
Hilde Bial Neurath
‘Thirteenth-century Edinburgh comes off the page cold and convincing, from the smoke and noise of the tavern kitchen to Holyrood Abbey under a treacherous abbot’
The List
‘Meticulously researched, authentic and gripping’
Yorkshire Post
‘Ellis Peters has a cohort of pretenders snapping at her heels … most impressive of the bunch in Candace Robb’
Time Out
‘A rich and satisfying novel’
Publishers Weekly
‘It’s … the Machiavellian intrigue that makes this such an enjoyable read. When the iron curtain came down people said the spy-thriller genre was dead. They were wrong. This is as full of intrigue as a Deighton or a Le Carré’
Guardian
‘Intrigue abounds … Robb’s captivating blend of history and mystery vividly evokes medieval Scotland’
Booklist
Candace Robb studied for a Ph.D. in Medieval and Anglo-Saxon Literature and has continued to read and research medieval history and literature ever since. The Owen Archer series grew out of a fascination with the city of York and the tumultuous fourteenth century; the first in the series,
The Apothecary Rose
, was published in 1994, at which point she began to write full time. In addition to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and America, her novels are published in France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Italy and Holland, and she is also available in the UK on audiobook and in large print.
She is also the author of the Margaret Kerr Mystery series, set in Scotland at the time of Robert the Bruce. The first,
A Trust Betrayed
, was published in November 2000 to great acclaim, followed by
The Fire in the Flint. A Cruel Courtship
is the third in the series.
THE OWEN ARCHER MYSTERIES
The Apothecary Rose
The Lady Chapel
The Nun’s Tale
The King’s Bishop
The Riddle of St Leonard’s
A Gift of Sanctuary
A Spy for the Redeemer
The Cross-Legged Knight
THE MARGARET KERR MYSTERIES
A Trust Betrayed
The Fire in the Flint
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank Elizabeth Ewan for sharing with me her research in Scottish women and Scottish history, as well as for reading and critiquing a draft of this book; Kimm Perkins for her research in medieval Scottish nunneries; David Bowler of the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust for pointing me towards detailed maps of Stirling; Kate Elton, Joyce Gibb, Georgina Hawtrey-Woore and Evan Marshall for careful readings and critiques of the manuscript; and Charlie Robb for photos, maps, and tender loving care on our travels and at home.
Last but certainly not least, I want to thank Peter Neurath for inspiring some aspects of Peter Fitzsimon – his physique, his good looks, and the idea that he posed to me that a great warrior might have fear as the sole motivation for honing his
fighting skills. Peter donated a generous sum of money to the Washington State Alzheimer’s Association to appear in one of my books and what do I do, I make him an unsavoury character! But he’d given me carte blanche with good humour. Peter’s generous gift to this non-profit organisation, which provides much-needed support for those caring for Alzheimer victims, was in memory of his mother, Hilde Bial Neurath, and I in turn dedicate this book to her. In her willingness to open her house to Margaret at a dangerous time, Ada is a kindred spirit to Hilde, whom Peter described as loving to match people with the perfect house, being a terrific hostess, and enjoying good conversation.
LOSSARY
barded
adj. caparisoned, protected with armour
carse
n. marsh
cockered
adj. pampered
cruisie
n. an oil lamp with a rush wick
gey
adv. very
Holy Rude
n. ‘rude’ is dialect for ‘rood’, or cross; the name of the kirk (not to be confused with Holyrood Abbey in Canongate) is still spelled this way
pows
n. marshy area south of the Forth River, named for all the streams, or pols (becoming ‘pows’), that drain it
spital
n. hospital
