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Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Author’s Note
  5. Prologue
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
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  55. Epilogue
  56. Afterword
  57. Acknowledgements
  58. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

My gratitude always to Chris Cleave for his invaluable advice on the application of WD40 to my writing engine, and to Maggie Gee. Between the two of them, they got the words to flow at a critical time. A mention, too, for colleagues at Arvon: Barry Walsh, Anna Jefferson, Janette Keene Taylor, Kate Tindle and all. What a week that was.

To Joanna Laynesmith, Cecily’s biographer, and to Mathew Lewis, Richard Duke of York’s, I owe a profound debt. They have answered my questions patiently and shared their extensive knowledge as generously as only truly good people could. Thank you. I hope you’ll feel I’ve done justice to ‘your’ people.

Peter Diamond has lived up to his name in every respect. Since I met him in a creative writing class more than twenty years ago he has encouraged me to write and made me believe I could. Nothing I can say will ever be enough. And thanks to Rosemary, his outstanding wife. Together they provide a masterclass in living well.

Thanks to Joan Wasylik for being my enthusiastic tour guide in Paris and Rouen. She knows – and took me to – all the best restaurants. Also to Marilyn Miller, whose professional insight into the state of mind of several of my characters has, I hope, added depth. And to Martin White, simply for reading and having a generous heart.

It is customary at such times to thank one’s editor and agent. And I do so here, but with nothing customary about it. Their work has been in every way exemplary but, better yet, their passion for this book and the care they have taken with it have been a source of elation. Imogen Pelham of Marjacq Scripts; Katy Loftus and Vikki Moynes of Penguin Random House – thank you. Appreciative applause also to Penguin’s Olivia Mead and Georgia Taylor for inspired and inspirational work in publicity and marketing, to Julia Connolly for show-stealing cover design and to Emma Brown and Shân Morley Jones for thoughtful copy-editing.

And a final, long-overdue thank you to Keith Hill and Bob Martin, teachers of history and English respectively at the Manor School in Hartlepool way back in the 1970s. They sparked in me a love of history and language that has enriched my life immeasurably. Without them this book would never have come to life. And so, to all good teachers everywhere, keep the flame alive and please, pass it on.

Table 1: The Descendants of Edward III

Table 2: The Houses of Lancaster and Beaufort

Table 3: Richard Duke of York’s claim to the throne via the 2nd and 4th sons of Edward III

Penguin Books

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

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