The Uncrowned Queen

by Posie Graeme-Evans

  The wedding feast of Anne de Bohun and Leif Molnar went long into the night, but finally it came time to put the bride to bed—the villagers would not be cheated of the high point of the evening.

  Leif, however, was dizzy with panic and unwatered wine. He knew he looked the part of the bridegroom, for he was dressed as finely as a man could be for his wedding feast in a long black gown of best English broadcloth with sweeping sleeves of figured gold damask, a wedding gift from the Cuttifers, topped by a padded hat the size of a wheel, fashioned from red velvet. But now the time had come to more than act the part of husband, and all his confidence fled.

  Mathew smiled. Somehow it had come to him to coach both the bride and groom through the complexity of this ordeal. Sitting in the place of honor to Leif’s right at the high table, he made it his business to inject some propriety into the increasingly rowdy proceedings and rose to his feet.

  “Dear friends all, yes, it is time.”

  Much hooting and pandemonium rolled around the hall from the delighted, tipsy guests.

  “No, my friends. A little quiet is called for, if you please.”

  The groom earnestly studied each one of his fingers in turn, and Anne, eyes modestly lowered, tried hard to smile calmly, though her head rang with the noise.

  “It seems our bride and groom are bashful, as is proper…” Laughter rippled around the hall as Leif Molnar blushed. “So we must help them to their task! A toast!”

  This was the signal they’d been waiting for. All the guests scrambled to their feet, beakers in hand, yelling, “A toast! Yes, a toast!”

  “To Master Leif Molnar and his bride, the Lady Anne. Long life, and many children!”

  “Master Molnar, Lady Anne! Long life, many children!”

  “Why not start tonight!” Ralph of Dunster surprised them all, bellowing from the back of the hall, but his voice certainly carried and soon the chant became unstoppable. “Start tonight, start tonight, start tonight!”

  Leif’s hand stole across the stretched white linen of the festive board and found Anne’s. Her eyes were closed and for a moment her hand lay slack in his. But then her fingers twined with his own and he felt their strength.

  “Yes, it is time, my husband.” Anne took Leif’s face between both of her hands and kissed him sweetly, to the raucous delight of the crowd. Leif closed his eyes to savor the moment and only Deborah saw tears like jewels spike Anne’s lashes.

  Hand in hand, the bride and groom ascended to the upstairs room, the room with three doors, but when they turned at the top of the stairs it was the bride who spoke first, on her new husband’s prompting, and this change in custom was remembered long, long after their wedding day.

  “My dear husband and I, and my nephew, Edward…” She waved to the little boy who was standing on one of the tables so he could see, with Deborah trying to hold on to him, and her words were lost in the cheering. “We thank you all for this wonderful day. This is our home and, as long as we live, you are welcome inside our doors.” She felt Leif’s arm encircle her waist and all the tension, the anxiety, drained away; for a moment she leaned against his body, resting there, gathering strength.

  He tightened his grip discreetly and, though Leif rarely spoke in public, tonight he found an uncommonly loud voice. “But now, if you’ve eaten and drunk your fill, my wife and I would be just as happy to be left in peace!”

  Good-natured laughter swept the Hall like a warm wind. “No, no, no!”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” The groom cut through the din, his voice suddenly self-assured. He turned to Anne. “Are you ready, wife?”

  She found the words as she smiled at him, her eyes bright with more than tears. “Truly ready, husband.”

  “Very well, then. From this day, no more sorrow for you or for me.” Bending down, he swept her up as if she weighed no more than a lamb or a small calf, and kicked open the door to the bed chamber, calling out over his shoulder, “And now, good night!”

  And that closed door began their life together. They had earned their peace.

  EPILOGUE

  On the night of Anne and Leif’s marriage feast, something remarkable happened in the skies over Herrard Great Hall. Meggan saw them first as she and Will wandered back toward the village, well fed and content, with the rest of the people from Wincanton the Less. A pair of sea eagles was riding the warm air as it rose from the chimneys crowning the Hall.

  “Since when do eagles fly at night?”

  They all stopped and looked upward as the birds crossed and recrossed the radiant face of the Advent moon.

  Will shook his head. “Never seen that before, dame.” He crossed himself. “What do you think it means?”

  Meggan turned back and looked at the Hall. High up, one light still shone out into the night. Then it blinked out.

  Above them, the eagles called to each other and a moment later they were gone, heading toward the coast and the empty, silver sea. “Good times. And happiness. That’s what it means.”

  They trudged away into the night, singing.

  And Anne, lying awake beside her now sleeping husband, heard them as they went. She turned to look at Leif’s face in the moonlight slanting through the casements; moonlight had always been lucky for her.

  And then Leif moved and the light touched his face in an odd way. For that moment he was a stranger, a man she’d never seen before; but then he turned again and reached out, searching for something in his sleep. For someone.

  Her.

  The fingers of Leif Molnar’s great hand found those of his wife, Anne de Bohun, and he sighed contentedly.

  Anne curled up against the body of the giant in her bed. His warmth comforted her. As he did. Yes. They would be happy. She would see to that.

  This time, it would be a good winter.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Having lived with Anne de Bohun and Edward Plantagenet in my head for quite a few years, I would dearly like to thank all the kind friends who have helped me so much as I’ve written their story in The Innocent, The Exiled, and now, the last book in the trilogy, The Uncrowned Queen.

  Judith Curr, executive vice-president and publisher of Atria books, and Jon Attenborough, publisher and managing director of Simon & Schuster, Australia. You have both believed in these books from the beginning. Thank you for your patience, interest, and un-tiring support. I hope the trilogy repays your trust. It has been a privilege and a great pleasure getting to know you both.

  Carolyn Caughey, Hodder and Stoughton, London. Many thanks to you, Lucy Hale, and everyone at Hodder also, for your enthusiasm about the Anne trilogy. It’s a real thrill that these books are being published in the United Kingdom. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the champagne and the lunches “around the corner.”

  To Nicola O’Shea, Australian editor of The Uncrowned Queen; Kim Swivel, Australian editor of The Innocent and The Exiled, and to Suzanne O’Neill, U.S. editor of all three books. I’ve so appreciated working with each one of you. You can have no idea how encouraging it is to have such kind, experienced, and professional people to learn from and work with. It makes my job so much easier. Thanks, too, to Jody Lee and Clare Wallace, who were at Simon & Schuster, Australia, when it all began.

  Many thanks also to Julia Collingwood, managing editor; Camilla Dorsch, marketing manager; and Glenda Downing, senior editor, again at Simon & Schuster, Australia. You must constantly be driven mad by distracted authors who just can’t resist meddling with the work of experts. Thank you all so much for humoring me and holding my hand when I got anxious (which has been often!).

  To Susan and Phaedon Vass. Three books later and I still owe you the most enormous debt for introducing my first book to Judith. I’m blessed to have such lovely friends.

  Another friend, and important influence in my early life, is Emeritus Professor Ralph Elliott, AM, world-renowned expert on medieval literature and the kind of teacher that every callow student should meet just once in their lives. Dear Ralph, your brilliant lectures helped me f
all in love with medieval England—and sometimes it feels as if I’ve never left!

  Carol Gerrard, Julie Redlich, and the Richard III Society of Australia. I’m enormously grateful for your encouragement and your interest in these books. Your hero is the brother of mine—so we’re sisters under the skin. Carol, many thanks, particularly, for agreeing to read The Exiled and The Uncrowned Queen and for giving me the benefit of your expert knowledge and opinion.

  Debbie McInnes (Australia), Angela Stamnes and Justin Loeber (New York), and Lucy Hale (London). The oxygen for books is publicity. Thanks so much for all the work you have done to encourage coverage of my work. I’m very grateful.

  To that most cheerful and witty equestrienne (and agent)—Rachel Skinner. You’ve stuck with this trilogy for years and years and years and I’m just so thankful for your support and friendship.

  Finally, I’d like to thank some very important people in my life. My mother, the novelist Eleanor Graeme-Evans; my children, Emma MacKellar, Emma Blaxland, and Julian Blaxland, and Hayden MacKellar, our dear son-in-law (and Emma and Hayden’s sons, Rohan and Toby). You must all feel that these books have been going on forever and ever in our joint lives. I hope you enjoy reading The Uncrowned Queen.

  And Andrew Blaxland. Dear friend, husband, and creative partner in all senses and all enterprises. Thank you, in particular, for putting up with my distracted state when I’m writing. I’m very much afraid there’s more to come!

  My love to you all.

  ABOUT POSIE GRAEME-EVANS

  A writer, director, and producer for more than thirty years, Posie is one of Australia’s preeminent television creator/producers. Variety magazine named her one of “100 Significant Women in Film and Television” in December 2002 for her body of work, the same month and year her first novel, The Innocent, was published and the Screen Producers Association of Australia awarded her the inaugural honor of being Australian Independent Producer of the Year. Posie used to say (famously, in Australia) that she wrote her first four books on Sundays, while she produced eight seasons of her self-created, much awarded and long-running hit television drama series McLeod’s Daughters (among a number of other projects) during the rest of the week. Commencing in 1999, another of her major television credits was as cocreator (and coproducer for the first two seasons) of Hi-5, which was nominated for three Daytime Emmys. Posie sold out her interest in 2008, which enabled her to write full-time; Hi-5 is still running after fourteen seasons. Also in 2002, Posie became Director of Dramafor the Nine Network Australia, and held that position until she resigned in late 2005 to take up a new writing contract with her publisher, Simon & Schuster, and to continue producing McLeod’s.

  Posie is the lyricist on three bestselling albums of “Songs from the Series” of McLeod’s Daughters and the author of five novels. The Innocent, The Exiled, and The Uncrowned Queen, the Anne trilogy, set during the period of England’s Wars of the Roses, were published internationally to great success between 2002 and 2006. In 2010, The Dressmaker, set in Victorian England, was again published internationally to considerable success and acclaim, and in 2012 The Island House will follow.

  A long-standing board member of the Australian Film Television and Radio School, Posie is also a board member of Screen Tasmania. And she is delighted to say that she is a proud member of the Huonville Arts and Heritage committee in Southern Tasmania.

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