The Queen's Mistake

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

Praise for the Historical Novels of Diane Haeger

“In Haeger’s impressive Restoration romance, King Charles II and his mistress . . . leap off the page. . . . Charles and Nell are marvelously complex—jealous and petty, devoted yet fallible. Haeger perfectly balances the history with the trystery.”—
Publishers Weekly

 

“Engagingly deep romantic historical fiction.”—
Midwest Book Review

 

“Romantic . . . filled with intrigue and danger.”—
The Indianapolis Star

 

“Set against the vivid descriptive detail of Rome and Trastevere, Haeger’s tale of how the ring came to be obscured in the Raphael masterpiece resonates with the grandeur and intimacy of epic love stories. . . . This romance is first to be savored as the wonderful historical tale that it is.”

—
BookPage

 

“Lush . . . [a] rich yet fast-paced story.”—
Historical Novels Review

 

“Spectacular. . . . Haeger explores the fascinating, rich, exciting, and tragic life of Henry II’s beloved. . . . Lush in characterization and rich in historical detail,
Courtesan
will sweep readers up into its pages and carry them away.”—
Romantic Times

 

“With her wealth of detail cleverly interwoven into a fabulous plot, Diane Haeger has written a triumphant tale that will provide much delight to fans of historical fiction and Regency romance.”—
Affaire de Coeur

NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY NOVELS BY DIANE HAEGER

The Secret Bride

NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
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First published by New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, October 2009

Copyright © Diane Haeger, 2009 Readers Guide copyright © Penguin Group (USA), Inc., 2009

All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Haeger, Diane.
The queen’s mistake/Diane Haeger.
p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-14538-8

1. Catharine Howard, Queen, consort of Henry VIII, King of England, d. 1542—Fiction.
2. Great Britain—History—Henry VIII, 1509-1547—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3558.A32125Q44 2009
813’.54—dc22 2009021043

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Prologue

 

 

“I swear by God, I have
never
abused my sovereign’s bed!”

Wept pleadingly, the words were lost on the wind, one that blew over a nation that cared nothing for the young queen, nor the grim fate she steadily neared. Yet, horror-stricken, she spoke them still, a silent testimony to the truth no one wished to hear. “In the name of God and all his holy angels, and on the salvation of my soul, I am innocent of the crimes for which I am condemned!”

Pale and weakened by her three-month ordeal, Catherine Howard leaned for support against the railing as the barge swayed and bobbed on the water of the Thames, returning her to London. It slowly approached the forbidding Tower, the very place where six years earlier her cousin Anne Boleyn had lost her head over the very same accusation: infidelity against the king. Oh, how little she had dreamed in those long-ago days that she would follow in her cousin’s footsteps and also marry King Henry VIII . . . and be condemned by him.

Surrounded by stone-faced Yeomen of the Guard, their swords drawn to keep her from bolting, Catherine gazed out across the
thick, green tide of the Thames to the shoreline. She felt the breeze on her face.
Alive
. . . she was still alive. She was still free from the Tower, if only for a few moments more.