by Jean Plaidy
The King was disturbed. Not that he entirely believed her, but he thought she must be feeling very weak to be in such a chastened mood. He comforted her; she made him swear that he would not let this marriage interfere with their relationship; she must have a post which would result in her seeing him frequently; but she knew that, if she lived, she would have it, for had he not promised her the post in his wife's bedchamber? She would be content with that, but she could never give him up.
“No matter,” she said, “if a hundred queens came to marry you bringing millions of bags of sugar and spices, still there would be one to love you till she died—your poor Barbara.”
And to be with Barbara, meek and submissive, was an adventure too strange and exciting to be missed.
It was early morning before he left Barbara's house, and all London took notice that the King passed the night at his mistress's house while his Queen lay lonely at Portsmouth. Outside the big houses of the city, bonfires had been lighted in honor of the Queen's coming, but it was seen that there was none outside the door of that house in which the King spent the night with Lady Castlemaine.
Also by Jean Plaidy
Copyright © 1985 by Jean Plaidy
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Plaidy, Jean, 1906–1993
Victoria victorious: the story of Queen Victoria/Jean Plaidy. —1st ed. 1. Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819–1901—Fiction. 2. Great Britain—History—Victoria, 1837–1901—Fiction. 3. Queens—Great Britain—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6015.I3V5 2005
823'.914—dc22
2004026984
eISBN: 978-0-307-49852-6
v3.0
