‘I am much too happy to be provoked again today,’ I told him with a smile.
HISTORICAL NOTE
This story is based on real events that took place in the sixteenth century. Many of the characters are also based on real historical figures. I was inspired to write it by the tale of the Lady Tower and the mystery of how Lady Elizabeth escaped from Farleigh Castle. I have been as accurate as possible with names, dates and facts, whilst allowing for the story I wanted to tell. Where research failed to provide information, I improvised freely.
Farleigh Hungerford Castle is in Wiltshire and is now a ruin. The property is owned by English Heritage and is open to the public.
Marie-Louise Jensen
2008
Marie-Louise Jensen (née Chalcraft) was born in Henley-on-Thames of an English father and a Danish mother. Her early years were plagued by teachers telling her to stop reading and stop writing stories and do long division instead. Marie-Louise studied Scandinavian and German with literature at the UEA and has lived in both Denmark and Germany. After teaching English at a German university for four years, Marie-Louise returned to England to care for her children full time. She completed an MA in Writing for Young People at the Bath Spa University in 2005.
Her first novel, Between Two Seas, was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize (2008), the Glen Dimplex New Writers Awards (2008), the Hampshire Book Award (2009), and the Branford Boase Award (2009). Her second novel, The Lady in the Tower, was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize (2009), and the Wirral Paperback of the Year (2010).
Marie-Louise lives in Bath with her two sons.
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Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
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-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE