The Queen and the Courtesan by Freda Lightfoot

Author:Freda Lightfoot [Lightfoot, Freda]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Historical
ISBN: 9780727880925
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

But it was not the last. When this letter elicited no response Henry wrote again, in a softer, more persuasive tone, suggesting that she may stay at the house at Fontainebleau which he had given her, if she wished.

And bring the children, whom I miss sorely, as I do their mother. I wish to carry out my intention of having them brought up with my wife’s.

‘How can I resist him when he writes such loving letters?’ Henriette cried, showing the latest missive to her sister. ‘Let us start packing at once. We can be in Fontainebleau by noon on Friday.’

Queen Marie was not pleased when she heard of the she-cat’s return. ‘I refuse to receive her,’ she told Henry, her cheeks afire with outrage.

‘You will do as I ask, as a duty to me, your husband and king.’

‘I will not! I will hold on to my pride and dignity, since nothing else is left to me.’

Henry rode off in a temper to meet with his mistress. ‘I trust that when, if, I return, you will be in a better frame of mind, wife.’

Donna Leonora was greatly alarmed by this display of reckless independence on the part of her mistress. She was happy enough to stir things politically, but if the Queen grew too quarrelsome they would all be the losers. ‘Would it not be wise to write and apologize?’ she humbly suggested.

Concini, the Italian’s equally devious husband, fearful for his own ambitions, also advised caution. ‘Your Majesty does not wish to risk losing all influence over the King,’ he warned. Being the Queen’s equerry was all well and good, but he had his sights set on higher office.

‘I have no influence. The King ignores me.’

‘But you are still his queen. For now,’ Concini shrewdly added. ‘It would be wise to remember that His Majesty has already disposed of one wife, Queen Margot, who was a trouble to him. He would not hesitate to discard another, were it politic to do so.’

Marie was shocked by this thought, which had never before occurred to her. Now she considered the possibility with a flutter of unease. Perhaps she had grown a touch strident in her jealousy, and should guard her tongue better, as she was ever telling herself. Ever since the affair of Father Hilaire she had kept a close watch on her rival, fearing further intrigue, which helped her to feel a little less powerless. For it was true, she had neither influence, nor proper support from her uncle.

The Queen found the endless stream of letters from the Grand Duke trying in the extreme, as if she were incapable of organizing her own life. She knew that Concini disliked the way the Tuscan envoy ignored him, as if her equerry’s presence in the French Court were of no account. Don Giovanni was also her uncle, as an illegitimate son of Cosimo he was the half-brother of the Grand Duke Ferdinand, but Marie disliked him with an equal intensity, finding him supercilious. When

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