Lady in Waiting: A Novel

by Susan Meissner

  Yours respectfully,

  Andrew Bolling

  December 2, 1715

  From Tinley and Harper Booksellers

  High Street

  Oxford

  Dear Mr. Bolling:

  You will be pleased to know that a Mrs. Charlotte Meade has purchased the prayer book and rosary along with many other titles from your mother’s library. She was quite moved when I told her the previous owner, a Protestant, had died childless of Plague, with a rosary in her possession.

  If we may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know.

  Yours most sincerely,

  Henry Tinley

  To Chester Hadley, Locksmith

  Cornmarket Street

  Oxford

  March 22, 1754

  Dear Mr. Hadley:

  I am sending to you this copper box that belonged to my mother, Charlotte Meade. I have searched her house from top to bottom and cannot find the key. I plan to settle her estate the day after tomorrow and shall return thence to Leeds. If you could perchance work the lock open I would be much obliged. I do not know what she has placed in the box.

  I shall come by your shop before I leave. If I should miss you, you may send the box to me at Park Row, No. 12, Leeds, Yorkshire.

  Respectfully,

  John R. Meade

  To John Meade

  Park Row, Number 12

  Leeds, Yorkshire

  March 26, 1754

  Dear Mr. Meade:

  Please be advised, good sir, that my establishment was looted two nights ago following a dreadful fire and the box that belonged to your mother was most likely stolen.

  Since the lock had not yet been opened, I do not know the contents of the box, nor do you, so I am sending you five shillings for your loss.

  Respectfully,

  Chester Hadley

  From Priscilla Colley

  Charlton Kings

  Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

  June 14, 1801

  To Esther Waddington

  Marshes

  Chipping Norton

  Oxfordshire

  Dearest Mum:

  Albert and I are settled into the cottage. It is small but since it is just us two—for now!—we can make do. We found no small amount of rubbish when we moved in. Indeed one whole room upstairs was filled with boxes and crates and spider webs. Most of it we burned in the yard. But there were a few trinkets worth keeping. We found a metal box that is locked. It is green and blackened with age and soot and smells strange but Albert is going to try to open it anyway, though I told him not to bother. We should just burn it with the rest.

  We also found a cradle! It was full of old newspapers and horseshoes. Can you imagine?

  Must be off now. Love to Papa,

  Yours affectionately,

  Priscilla

  From Isabell Colley Manning

  New Bridge House

  Kings Street

  Gloucester

  June 14, 1862

  To Sarah Manning Swift

  West Halifax Street

  Baltimore, Maryland

  My lovely Sarah:

  I received your letter, dearest Sarah, and am grateful to almighty God that Robert survived the battle at Shiloh. I so long to see you and the children, and I worry so for you, but I fear this War of the States will outlast me, my dear daughter. I am selling the house and the furnishings and moving in with Aunt Josephine. I am afraid I am not well enough to attend to the attic. I have all my parents’ belongings there from when they moved from Chipping Norton to live here with me. My mother refused to part with anything after your grandfather died. I do not want you to have the burden of sifting through it all, dear Sarah, on some future day. I am having the lot sold at auction. I shall send to you the locket you had as a child and the doll Papa made for you. I pray I see you soon. Please be safe, my dearest.

  With love always,

  Mother

  To Aubrey Templeton

  Rosewood Manor

  Chapel Gate

  Cirencester, Gloucestershire

  August 16, 1862

  Dear Mr. Templeton:

  I am writing on the matter of the lot you purchased at the estate sale of Mrs. Isabell Manning. The steamer chest has been deposited, as you requested, to your carriage house at Holywell House in Bristol.

  Jeremy Stokes

  To Mrs. Annabelle Templeton Ashley

  Bridge Street, No. 12

  Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales

  January 17, 1901

  Dear Mrs. Ashley:

  It has been some time since I wrote you to tell you your father’s things are still in storage at the carriage house at Holywell in Bristol. There are a number of boxes of books, chests, and letters. Would you please be so kind as to direct me as to where they shall be sent? I hasten to remind you that the new owners of Holywell House are anxious to get on with the repairs.

  Simon Cardwell, Solicitor

  From Dora Ashley Hughes

  Summer House

  Swansea, Wales

  August 21, 1940

  To Mrs. Annabelle Templeton Ashley

  Bridge Street, No. 12

  Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales

  Dear Mum:

  I got your letter yesterday. I shall try my utmost to come for you at the end of the month if the Germans haven’t bombed the whole of Britain to kingdom come. Don’t toss anything out. I don’t care what Leo says about your father’s junk. We may need all that old rubbish to live off of. Don’t toss anything out! Must run. Martin’s awake and hungry.

  Affectionately,

  Dora

  NOTICE OF SALE

  The Estate of Martin Hughes

  February 6, 2010

  Swansea Auction House

  Sale starts at 8 AM

  Many unique items

  Stored boxes sold by the case

  ALL SALES FINAL

  From Swansea Auction House

  To Mr. Edgar Brownton

  13 Collier Close

  Cardiff, Wales

  February 14, 2010

  Dear Mr. Brownton:

  As per your correspondence of February 8, the conditions of the lots were made clear on the bill of sale. All sales are final. I am sorry you have been unable to open the little lockbox you found in one of the boxes you purchased. We are in possession of no key, nor do we know the contents of the lockbox. As you were told at the sale, the boxes have been in unheated storage for forty years. Like as not, there is not much inside the box but dust.

  Samuel Llewellyn

  Swansea Auction House

  From the desk of

  Emma Downing

  Janie:

  I am sending you the letter from the man who sold me the boxes at the jumble sale, Mr. Edgar Brownton. He wrote to the auction house after he first bought them and asked about a key for that lockbox where you found the ring, but as you can see, that search went nowhere.

  No one knew about the ring, love. No one has known about it for a long time.

  You were meant to find it, I think. You know I am right. And you were meant to keep it.

  Glad to hear you are sleeping well for a change. And enjoying a bit of canoeing. You should come visit me this summer. We shall punt the Thames and I will show you the place where Queen Jane rode on the same water. You can wear her ring.

  Lovingly,

  Em

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  While much of the account of Lady Jane Grey’s life in Lady in Waiting is based on recorded fact, there is no evidence at all that Lady Jane Grey had been in love with anyone at the time of her death. The character of the dressmaker Lucy Day is fictional, as is the idea that Jane was given a betrothal ring. Is it possible that Lady Jane Grey was indeed in love with Edward Seymour, and is it also possible that no, she loved the man she married instead of him? Her literary remains do not give us a glimpse into that part of her heart. Lady in Waiting, then, is a book that explores the question “What if?” … one
of the lovelier aspects of fiction.

  Visit the author on the Web at www.susanmeissner.com.

  READERS GUIDE

  Did you find yourself drawn more to the story of modern-day Jane or long-ago Lady Jane? Why?

  Why do you think Jane conditioned herself to defer to others when an important decision had to be made? Can you relate?

  What have you learned about yourself or life or God when you’ve had to wait? Do you consider yourself a patient person?

  A quote by the French philosopher Diderot is mentioned in chapter 3. “What has never been doubted has never been proven.” Do you think that is true? Do you think this quote holds any significance to Jane Lindsay?

  Do you think it’s conceivable that Jane truly saw no signs that Brad was unhappy? Why or why not?

  Does Jane Lindsay’s mother have any redeeming qualities? Is there anything about her personality that makes her admirable? What about Lady Jane Grey’s mother?

  What do you think Lucy Day’s strengths were? Why do you think she gave personality traits to the dresses in Jane’s wardrobe?

  When Jane Lindsay’s mother has the clock fixed, Jane has a hard time thinking of it as the same clock. Is it the same clock? Do you approve of what her mother did? Would you have had the clock fixed? Why or why not? Why do you think some people are drawn to antiques?

  In the end, Jane decides to stand by Brad during his crisis. What do you think of her decision?

  If you had lived during the sixteenth century, would you have wanted to be a commoner, a noble, or a royal? Why?

  Professor Claire Abbot tells Jane Lindsay that Lady Jane Grey was not entirely without choice; had she chosen to, she could’ve refused the crown and escaped to the North with the man she loved. What do you think of this suggestion? If Jane Grey had done something like this, how would it alter your opinion of her?

  Where do you see Jane and Brad Lindsay in ten years? What do you think Jane Lindsay does with the ring?

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I am grateful beyond words to:

  the incredibly gifted editorial team at WaterBrook Multnomah, especially Shannon Marchese, Jessica Barnes, and Laura Wright. I’m also grateful to Jennifer Peterson and Lissa Halls Johnson. Their collective insight and refining fire were invaluable to me.

  my agent, Chip MacGregor, for affirmation, encouragement, and candor.

  colleagues James Scott Bell and Vasthi Acosta for helping me see, feel, and breathe Manhattan, and marriage and family counselor Jeff Sumpolec for helping me visualize what a crumbling marriage might feel like.

  my husband and best friend, Bob, who has gallantly denied me the experience of knowing what a crumbling marriage might feel like.

  Judy Horning, proficient proofreader, first reader of anything I write, and mother extraordinaire.

  Pam Ingold, Kimlee Harper, and my book club gals for holding me up when down was easier.

  God, who is patience personified, genteel beyond measurement, and the kindest of kings.

  LADY IN WAITING

  PUBLISHED BY WATERBROOK PRESS

  12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200

  Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

  Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.

  Apart from well-known real people and real events associated with the life of Lady Jane Grey, the characters and events in this book are fictional and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2010 by Susan Meissner

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published in the United States byWaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

  WATERBROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Meissner, Susan, 1961–

  Lady in waiting : a novel / by Susan Meissner. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-45884-1

  1. Self-actualization (Psychology) in women—Fiction. 2. Grey, Jane, Lady, 1537–1554—

  Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3613.E435L33 2010

  813′.6—dc22

  2010009570

  v3.0