Edgar felt swamped with more passion than he could bear. He wanted to touch her with every inch of his body, and he could tell that she felt the same. For a moment he forgot about the audience, and kissed her as if they were alone; but that made the watchers increasingly raucous, and at last he broke the kiss.

His gaze did not leave hers. He felt moved almost to weeping. Repeating the last words of the vow, he murmured: “For the rest of my days.”

He saw tears come to her eyes, and she said: “And mine, my love, and mine.”

Acknowledgments

The Dark Ages left few traces. Not much was written down, there were few pictures, and nearly all buildings were made of wood that rotted away a thousand years ago or more. This leaves room for guesswork and disagreement, more so than with the preceding period of the Roman Empire or the subsequent Middle Ages. Consequently, while thanking my historical advisers, I must add that I have not always followed their advice.

That said, I have been greatly helped by John Blair, Dave Greenhalgh, Nicholas Higham, Karen Jolly, Kevin Leahy, Michael Lewis, Henrietta Leyser, Guy Points, and Levi Roach.

As usual my researches were assisted by Dan Starer of Research for Writers in New York City.

On my research trips I was grateful for the kind help of: Raymond Armbrister at Saint Mary’s Church, Seaham; Véronique Duboc at Rouen Cathedral; Fanny Garbe and Antoine Verney at the Bayeux Museum; Diane James at Holy Trinity Minster Church, Great Paxton; Ellen Marie Naess at the Viking Ship Museum; and Ourdia Siab, Michel Jeanne, and Jean-François Campario at Fécamp Abbey.

I particularly enjoyed meeting Jenny Ashby and the English Companions.

My editors were Brian Tart, Cherise Fisher, Jeremy Trevathan, Susan Opie, and Phyllis Grann.

Family and friends who commented on drafts of the book included John Clare, Barbara Follett, Marie-Claire Follett, Chris Manners, Charlotte Quelch, Jann Turner, and Kim Turner.

About the Author

Ken Follett is one of the world's best-loved authors, selling more than 170 million copies of his thirty-two books. Follett's first bestseller was Eye of the Needle, a spy story set in the Second World War. In 1989, The Pillars of the Earth was published and has since become Follett's most popular novel. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an Oprah's Book Club pick. Its sequels, World Without End and A Column of Fire, proved equally popular, and the Kingsbridge series has sold more than forty million copies worldwide. Follett lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife, Barbara. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren, and two Labradors.

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