To Wed an Heiress (24 page)

Author’s Note

O
ne day, while reading William of Malmesbury’s account of the Norman Conquest, I paused at the part where Duke William promises his daughter to Harold Godwinson in exchange for the kingship of England. A strange thought occurred to me—what if this story was transported across the centuries as the inspiration for a Regency romance? The Middle Ages and the British Regency have always been my two main periods of historical interest. Could I combine the iron-willed characters of the Conquest narrative with the fairy-tale world of a Georgette Heyer novel?

In the historical tales of the Norman Conquest, the death of the childless monarch Edward the Confessor produces a crisis of succession. Harold Godwinson and Duke William of Normandy both claim the crown, and Harold, with the support of the English lords takes the throne.

William objects to this, asserting that a few years prior, on a trip to Normandy, Harold had promised the crown to
him
! The medieval chronicles vary on whether such a trip and such a promise actually did occur. William of Malmesbury acknowledges both but also says: “Harold, once crowned, did not spare a thought for the agreement between himself and William, declaring himself released from his oath because William’s daughter, to whom he had been betrothed, had died….”

As Duke William prepares an invasion fleet to take the crown by force, Harold makes his own preparations to defend England. He is obliged to put aside his concubine Edith Swan-Neck in order to make a more expedient political alliance. He is also obliged to defend England from another claimant, Harald Hardrada. A giant of a man from Norway, Hardrada invades shortly before William does, dying at the Battle of Stamford Bridge and receiving “six feet of English ground, or perhaps more seeing that he is taller than most men.”

The Norman fleet lands at Pevensey, and Duke William’s army advances to the field at Hastings. When Harold’s tired English troops arrive, they make a valiant stand but lose the day. Harold perishes in the battle, pierced through the eye by an arrow (a detail considered apocryphal by many historians). His body is later identified by Edith Swan-Neck and given Christian burial.

For many students of history, the results of this battle are dismaying. William the Conqueror is frequently seen as an oppressive monarch who rode roughshod over the persons and property of the defeated English. But despite any personal distaste for William, it is impossible to deny his organizational genius (his census in the Domesday Book was an astonishing feat for that day) and the impact his invasion would have on the history of England.

This novel of romantic suspense does not purport to be an accurate retelling of the Norman Conquest—the fact that William Hastings does
not
gain the estate of the Earl of Anglesford is proof enough of that. It is simply a light-hearted recasting of the characters from the Conquest period in the world of the British Regency. If it does inspire you to learn more about Harold Godwinson and the Conquest itself, I recommend
The Godwins: The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty
by Frank Barlow, the full-color reproduction of the
Bayeux Tapestry
edited by David M. Wilson, or
1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry
by Andrew Bridgeford.