Title

Cover created from the following paintings both in the public domain and made available under the Creative Commons license.

Portrait of Queen Isabella of Bourbon (1602-1644) c. 1620 by an unknown painter (Formerly attributed to Juan Pantoja de la Cruz); and Portrait of a child of the House of Redetti c. 1570 by Giovan Battista Moroni.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 International Copyright Act, without the prior written permission except in brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally.

1. American English is used throughout this book.

2. Lyon, the French spelling of the city spelled Lyons in English, is used through this book.

3. Names and titles present challenges to authors. First, royalty and nobility have many titles, all of which they use as names. Second, as they change their status, from a count to a duke for example, their titles change. To keep it simple, I generally ignore this change for minor characters. For my main characters I cannot, since it is important for the story. So when Louise changes from a countess to a duchess it is not an error, it is an important increase in her status. If you become confused, check back to the list of principal characters.

4. I provide endnotes and a glossary of terms for the words I expect to be less well known.

5. In the Afterward you will find an explanation of canonical hours and the difference between the Julian and the Gregorian dates.

Queen of France, also Duchess de Bretagne, wife of King Louis and mother of Princess Claude and Princess Renée.

Husband to Queen Anne, father of Princess Claude and Princess Renée, divorced from Jeanne de France, Formerly Duke Louis d’Orléans.

Elder daughter of above, betrothed to Duke François d’Angoulême. Becomes Duchess Claude de Bretagne, then Queen Claude.

Also known as Michelle de Saubonne, widow of Jean IV of Parthenay l’Archimbault, Baron de Soubise. Gouvernante1 to Princess Renée.

Widow of Count Charles d’Angoulême, mother of Marguerite [married to Duke Charles d’Alençon] and Duke François d’Angoulême. Becomes Duchess d’Angoulême.

Son of Countess Louise de Savoy, betrothed to Princess Claude, heir presumptive to King Louis XII of France. Becomes King Francois I

Baronne de Pagny et Mirebeau, natural daughter of Count Jean d’Angoulême, stepdaughter to Countess Louise d’Angoulême. Gouvernante to Princess Claude. Later, Countess de Bar-sur-Seine.

Françoise Rohan-Guéméné, widow of Louis III de Husson (d.1508). Gouvernante to Princess Renée.

1 Gouvernante — the Governess of the royal children, recruited from the high nobility, oversees the education of the children of the royal couple, including the Dauphin. She is sometimes assisted by deputy governors. While the girls remained attached to the Queen's House, it was customary for princes raised by female governors to "pass to men" at the age of seven (the age of reason at the time) and to be placed in the care of a governor assisted by a deputy governor.