The King's Grace
Authors: Anne Easter Smith
LSO BY
A
NNE
E
ASTER
S
MITH
Daughter of York
A Rose for the Crown
 | Touchstone A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 |
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2009 by Anne Easter Smith
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
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Map by Paul J. Pugliese
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Easter Smith, Anne.
The king’s grace / by Anne Easter Smith.
p. cm.
“A Touchstone Book.”
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Plantagenet, Grace, 1465?–ca. 1492—Fiction. 2. Warbeck, Perkin, 1474–1499—Fiction. 3. Pretenders to the throne—Great Britain—Fiction. 4. Great Britain—History—Henry VII, 1485–1509—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3605.A84K56 2009
813'.6—dc22 2008033603
ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-5837-1
ISBN-10: 1-4391-5837-1
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For Ann Wroe
with thanks for her inspiration, insight and support
I
f I had a therapist, she would be the first I would thank, but instead I shall thank my husband, Scott, for putting up with hair-tearing and teeth-gnashing throughout the eighteen months it took me to tell Grace and Perkin’s story. Dissecting this very complicated slice of fifteenth-century history proved far more daunting than I first imagined, but if I have succeeded I must acknowledge the help of many people, not the least of whom is my always-cheerful, ever-encouraging editor, Trish Todd, who set my feet back on the right path several times after panic calls for help. And without author Ann Wroe’s help and enthusiasm for this project and her amazing book
The Perfect Prince
(Random House, 2003), I would have been lost.
I will acknowledge help during my research in geographical order. In Binche, Belgium: Etienne Piret,
echevin de culture,
who gave me copies of drawings and maps of the palace and town from the period; the ladies at the tiny Bibliothèque St. Ursmer, who went out of their way to hunt down old histories of the city; and our hosts at Les Volets Verts, who made the two aforementioned connections possible. In Lisbon, Portugal: the delightful and knowledgeable Adelino Soares de Mello, a friend of Ann Wroe’s, who insisted on sharing many, many hours of his time and wealth of knowledge of his beautiful city with us, tracking down exactly where Edward Brampton and Pero Vaz would have lived on the Serros los Amirantes. Sadly, the
way I chose to write the book meant I did not spend more time with Perkin in Adelino’s charming city. In England: my love and thanks to my friend Roxy Gundry, who trundled around Exeter with me, imagining Perkin’s attempts to attack the high city walls with his ragtag army, and who then drove me to Yorkshire (accompanied by her two impeccably behaved dogs) to research that part of the country where the York family had so many supporters. To Richard and Jenny Howarth, who own the awe-inspiring ruin of Sheriff Hutton castle, where Grace’s story begins, my thanks for welcoming us and giving us cups of tea in their charming house on the property. I would like to acknowledge Nita Napp of Grantham, Lincolnshire, for her expertise on the Welles family history, and Bill White, a curator at the Museum of London and fellow member of the Richard III Society, who spent a morning giving me an in-depth tour. The museum is a fascinating place and a mine of information for history lovers.
To be honest, it would not have occurred to me to tell Perkin Warbeck’s story had it not been for my sister, Jill Phillips. While I was on a research trip for
Daughter of York
, she arranged for me to meet some of the cast of the BBC docudrama
Princes in the Tower
at a dinner party, who were in the throes of filming the last few days of Perkin’s life, including the hanging. Everyone at the table except me was a professional actor, and the cast members—Mark Umbers (Perkin), Roger Hammond (Bishop of Cambrai), and one of my movie-star crushes from the sixties, John Castle (Dr. Argentine)—plied me with questions about Margaret of York and what I knew of the Warbeck story. I confessed “very little” then, but the germ of a book was born! As always, my love and thanks to Jill, who never stints on her hospitality while I am in England for research.
I must again acknowledge the help of Maryann Long, midwife and teacher, and nurse practitioner Claire Denenberg in matters medical. Likewise the many members of the Richard III Society who are so generous with their knowledge of the period, especially Pamela Butler, Brian Wainwright, Lorraine Pickering and Joan Szechman. My thanks, too, to Cathy Thibedeau, a former English teacher with a passion for literature, who helped ferret out appropriate quotations for the section pages of the book.
And last but never least, all love and thanks to my agent, Kirsten Manges, who never fails to answer a call or e-mail or give me a confidence boost when I need it.
York family
see genealogy chart
and
Grace Plantagenet,
illegitimate daughter of Edward IV
John of Gloucester,
illegitimate son of Richard III
Lancaster family
see genealogy chart
Miscellaneous
(asterisk indicates fictional character)
In Yorkshire
Sir John Gower of Stittenham,
constable of Sheriff Hutton castle
Lady Agnes Gower,
his wife and attendant of Elizabeth of York
Sir Robert Willoughby,
steward in Henry VII’s household
*Hugh Jones,
his squire
*Alice Gower,
wife of George Gower of Westow
*Edmund Gower,
her older son
; Rowena,
his wife
*Tom Gower,
Alice and George Gower’s younger son
*Cat Gower,
their daughter
In London
Elizabeth Woodville,
Edward IV’s queen
Lady Katherine Hastings,
widow of Lord William Hastings
*Edgar,
a groom
John Marlow,
prior of Bermondsey Abbey
*Brother Damien,
monk at Bermondsey
*Brother Oswald,
overseer of gardens at Bermondsey
*Brother Gregory,
overseer of stables at Bermondsey
*Wat,
head groom at Bermondsey
Sir Edward Brampton,
Anglo-Portuguese courtier, entrepreneur, Perkin’s employer
William Caxton,
printer
*Judith Croppe,
sister to his son-in-law
*Matty,
Grace’s first maid from Lincoln
*Enid,
Grace’s Welsh maid
John, Viscount Welles,
Cecily Plantagenet’s husband and stepuncle to King Henry
Anne and Elizabeth Welles,
their daughters
Thomas Grey, earl of Dorset,
oldest son of dowager Queen Elizabeth
John Morton, archbishop of Canterbury and later cardinal,
King Henry’s chief adviser
Robert Cleymond,
the earl of Warwick’s servant/guardian at the Tower
Thomas Astwood,
Perkin Warbeck’s servant/guardian at the Tower
Doctor Rodrigo de Puebla,
Spanish ambassador to England
John Skelton,
King Henry’s poet laureate
William Parron,
King Henry’s astrologer
In Burgundy
“Jehan LeSage,”
Margaret’s ward or “secret boy”
*Pieter Gerards,
Sir Edward Brampton’s agent
Henriette de la Baume,
Duchess Margaret’s chief attendant
Guillaume de la Baume,
her husband and Duchess Margaret’s chevalier
Henri de Berghes, bishop of Cambrai,
Duchess Margaret’s confessor
Philip, duke of Burgundy,
Duchess Margaret’s step-grandson
William Warham,
King Henry’s envoy to the court of Burgundy