The Countess and the King: A Novel of the Countess of Dorchester and King James II Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Author’s Note

  READERS GUIDE

  Praise for the Novels of Susan Holloway Scott

  The Countess and the King

  “If witty Nell Gwyn was ‘the King’s Protestant whore,’ equally witty Katherine Sedley was ‘the King’s plain whore.’ In this well-researched novel of the racy Stuart court, Susan Holloway Scott introduces readers to a spirited mistress of the unfortunate James II. You will come to love Katherine, as the notoriously stubborn and hard-to-please James himself did.”

  —Margaret George, author of Helen of Troy

  “Susan Holloway Scott masterfully recounts the destiny of the Countess of Dorchester, from the joys and trials of a privileged childhood to the intrigues of the court of James II. Restoration England springs to life in this witty, utterly engaging heroine.”

  —Catherine Delors, author of For the King

  The French Mistress

  An Historical Novel Society Review Editor’s Choice

  “Delicious! . . . Ms. Scott has an incredible talent not only for re-creating . . . Restoration England, but also for bringing these historic characters, caught in a web of their own making, to life. Compulsively readable, this wonderful novel will keep you turning the pages, unable to stop, until the bittersweet end.”

  —Dish Magazine

  “Scott’s grasp of period detail is impressive and colorful. She fleshes out these well-known historical figures’ psyches so they become alive and human, and her words evoke the senses—one can feel silk and wool against skin, experience the discomfort from long hours of standing in an overheated ballroom, and witness the first shocking view of London from a Frenchwoman’s perspective. She expertly weaves the complex political events of the time into the flow of the story, which makes for a thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable, and intellectually stimulating read. Highly recommended.”

  —The Historical Novels Review

  “Scott returns to the bawdy court of Charles II to bring another of his mistresses’ lives to light, Louise de Keroualle, who caught his roving eye and rose to power. Scott follows Louise through the labyrinth of court intrigue, painting a rich portrait of Charles’ decadent reign. . . . Scott’s feminist approach to history is refreshing.”

  —Romantic Times

  The King’s Favorite

  An Historical Novel Society Review Editor’s Choice

  “This is a wild joy ride through Restoration England, with Nell firmly gripping the reins. Susan Holloway Scott is so intuitive with period language and so involved in the psyches of her characters that you are at all times there with them, seeing what they’re seeing, feeling what they’re feeling—and always, always rooting for the petite whirlwind of a heroine.”

  —Robin Maxwell, author of O, Juliette

  “This is an entertaining fictionalized memoir that brings alive from an ‘insider’s’ perspective a transformation period in English history as Cromwell is out and the Stuarts are back in. Nell comes across as intelligent and witty as she uses double entendres to get the better of hypocrites who claim to know what is morally best for others (sounds so contemporarily familiar). Genre fans will appreciate the life and times of The King’s Favorite, as the ‘Duchess’ of biographical fiction Susan Holloway Scott provides an insightful seventeenth-century tale.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “The story of the Oxford-born barmaid turned prostitute turned orange seller turned renowned actress—and, ultimately, the mistress and closest companion to Charles II—is one of legend. Scott takes this well-worn story and breathes life and spirit into it. . . . Scott does such a marvelous job of imbuing Nell with innate intelligence and a love of life that the reader just can’t help falling in love with her too. A joyous and highly recommended novel.”

  —The Historical Novels Review

  Royal Harlot

  An Historical Novels Review Editor’s Choice

  “As in her popular Duchess, Scott captures in her latest historical novel the brilliance and hard beauty of Barbara Palmer (Lady Castlemaine), the Merry Monarch’s most famous and enduring mistress. . . . Scott finds a careful balance in Barbara, not salvaging her as a sinner, but giving her something of a heart under all that reputation.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Having previously provided a fictional memoir of Sarah, first Duchess of Marlborough, Scott brings to vivid life another of the seventeenth century’s most notorious, brazen, and powerful females. If anything, Royal Harlot is an even more assured, nuanced, and colorful portrait of a woman and her age. . . . In her intriguing portrayal, Scott tempers Barbara’s rapacious sexuality while presenting a Charles who seems far less frustrated with her tempestuousness than the historical record indicates. And although the real Barbara was better known for her ambition and avarice than her maternal devotion, the novelist incorporates her motherhood to good effect. Among this novel’s many strengths are Scott’s impressive depiction of time and place, her evocation of the Restoration-era mind-set, the exuberance of the period, and her sure, succinct presentation of complex historical events. The reader can well believe that this is a memoir penned by a woman who—in reality—was clearly too busy living to ever write one!”

  —The Historical Novels Review

  “The Countess of Castlemaine, labeled the Great Harlot of Charles II, never denies or regrets her nature in this fascinating rendering of an outrageous love affair that defies convention and public outrage in Restoration England. . . . Relating the details of Barbara’s fictionalized life, the author takes into account the historical events and unusual influence of a powerful woman in the Restoration court, fleshing out the countess’s adventures with gusto, her flaws all the more glaring in the waning years of her power. All in all, this is a thorough and imaginative re-creation of Palmer’s long career and her extraordinary talent for manipulating circumstances to her own advantage, an informative and plausible treatment of the controversial life of a successful woman in a man’s world.”

  —Curled Up with a Good Book

  Duchess

  Named a Booksense Notable Book by the American Booksellers Association

  “Wonderful . . . whisks the reader into a period rife with intrigue, love, sex, war, and religious strife.”

  —The Historical Novels Review (editor’s choice pick)

  “All the trappings of supermarket tabloids: intrigue, treachery, deceit, and sexual scandals.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Susan Holloway Scott has brought to life the racy world of post-Restoration England in her richly researched and beautifully written Duchess.”

  —Karen Harper, author of Mistress Shakespeare

  “No dry dust
of history here, but a vivid portrait of an intriguing woman with all her flaws and strengths. Rich in period detail, the novel also has all the ingredients necessary for a compelling read, conflict, suspense, intrigue, and the romance between Sarah and John Churchill, one of history’s great love stories.”

  —Susan Carroll, author of Twilight of a Queen

  “Compelling; it grips the reader from the very first sentence and never lets go. Scott does a wonderful job of bringing Lady Sarah and her world to life.”

  —Jeanne Kalogridis, author of The Devil’s Queen

  ALSO BY SUSAN HOLLOWAY SCOTT

  THE KING’S FAVORITE

  A Novel of Nell Gwyn and King Charles II

  ROYAL HARLOT

  A Novel of the Countess of Castlemaine and King Charles II

  DUCHESS

  A Novel of Sarah Churchill

  THE FRENCH MISTRESS

  A Novel of the Duchess of Portsmouth and King Charles II

  NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

  Published by New American Library, a division of

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  First published by New American Library,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  First Printing, September 2010

  Copyright © Susan Holloway Scott, 2010

  REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

  Scott, Susan Holloway.

  The countess and the king: a novel of the Countess of Dorchester and King James II/

  Susan Holloway Scott.

  p. cm.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-44316-3

  1. Dorchester, Catherine Sedley, Countess of, 1657-1717—Fiction. 2. James II, King of England,

  1633-1701—Fiction. 3. Great Britain—History—James II, 1685-1688—Fiction. 4. Great Britain—Kings

  and rulers—Paramours—Fiction. 5. Mistresses—Great Britain—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3560.A549C68 2010

  813’.54—dc22 2010016683

  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.

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  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.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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  Prologue

  BUCKINGHAM HOUSE, LONDON

  June 1708

  It is true. I have committed my share of sins, both large and small, and who in this mortal world hasn’t? Yet surely the gravest of my faults was not my doing, and that was to have been born plain into a world of great beauty.

  Ah, there you see how I was likewise blessed. For if I was granted neither pleasing sweetness in my face nor languid grace in my form, I did receive a love of truth and a joyful abundance of cleverness. Indeed, those who’ve had the misfortune to feel my barbs might peevishly claim I’d been given more wit than was my rightful share. I disagree. All ladies are vulnerable amidst the prowling lions at Court. Pretty, silly fools will always have their place, but not for long. The luscious, dewy petals of the rose soon wither and fall away, yet it is the thorns that remain ever sharp.

  I’ve found no fault with my life as a thorn. I have been well loved by both a king and a commoner, one who was a most excellent and honorable man and one who was neither. I have seen one monarch hastened from his throne, and been among the first to welcome two more in his stead. I have been a mistress because it amused me, a wife because I wished it, and a countess in my own right, without the weary encumbrance of an earl to hamper me. How many ladies of mere idle ornament can claim the same?

  But then, I was always different from the others. I am different. And where, I ask you, is the sin in that?

  Chapter One

  BLOOMSBURY SQUARE, LONDON

  July 1667

  With my cloak tied beneath my chin and new yellow kidskin gloves on my hands, I was ready to join Father for our journey. The footman had taken away the traveling trunk with my belongings, and when I’d last looked down from my window, I’d seen him and a groom struggling to lash it atop Father’s own trunk on the back of our coach while my maid Danvers scolded them both. I knew I should go below now and not keep Father waiting, yet still I lingered in the center of my bedchamber, torn by anxious indecision.

  Was nine years too old an age for dolls? Danvers had assured me it was, and she’d know better. I would be ten at my next birthday, in December, which meant I’d only five more years after that before I would be considered old enough for a place at the royal Court of King Charles. I was quite sure there’d be no dolls in the palace lodgings for the maids of honor, nor, for that matter, would there likely be any among Father’s grand noble friends in Epsom now. Better I should act as the young lady I intended to be than to cling like a babe to childish playthings.

  Yet still I looked with longing at my doll Cassandra, propped against the pillow biers on my bed where Danvers had arranged her. Her tiny wood feet pointed straight from beneath her silk skirts, her hands carved like white mittens folded one over the other in her lap, her hair only a little frizzed beneath her lace cap. The sternly quizzical expression on her painted face remained as unchanging as the fashionable black patches that dotted her ever-rosy cheeks.

  I had loved Cassandra from the moment Father had brought her to me from Paris three years before, and since then she had been my constant, almost desperate, confidante. I was the lone child to bless my parents’ union, and in our grand mansion house near Lincoln’s Inn Fields, I’d neither sisters nor brothers to share my play, my secrets, my fears. I’d only Cassandra.

  I clambered across my bed and grabbed the doll, tucking her familiarly into the crook of my arm. I couldn’t bear to leave her alone, here where she’d have no company for the fortnight I’d be away with Father at Epsom. My toes had scarcely slid back to the floor when I heard footsteps behind me, and I swiftly turned about with guilty haste.

  “Ah, so Lady Cass is to travel with us after all,” Father said. “How honored I am to have two such handsome ladies in my party.”

 
; He smiled fondly, not at all perturbed by my attachment to the doll. Truth to tell, I doubted there would’ve been much I could have done that would vex him that day. He’d vowed that he’d anticipated this little junket of ours (our first such) almost as much as I, and I could scarcely wait to have his company to myself in the coach. I seldom did, for Father had much to occupy him. In addition to being a baronet with properties and estates to oversee, he also wrote poems and plays, real ones that were bound in leather in his library downstairs. More impressive, my father was a great favorite at Court, and everyone knew he was considered among the closest and dearest of friends by His Majesty himself.

  But while I was very proud of my father, I saw very little of him. He was often gone for weeks at a time when the king tired of Whitehall and moved the Court to one of his other palaces or the estate of a favorite lord. Even when Father was at home there were many nights when he’d remain at Whitehall Palace or return home so late that the first dawn had already begun to glimmer over the rooftops. I’d peek from my window to watch him, so spent that he’d need the help of two servants to climb down from his carriage and up the steps to our house. I wasn’t exactly sure what was done at Court at such an hour, but I was certain it must be important, as was everything to do with King Charles.