Wife to Henry V: A Novel

She was Catherine of Valois, youngest daughter of that pathetic pair, Charles the Mad of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, most beautiful, most powerful and reputedly, most wanton woman of her time. He was Henry of England, that bright, shining star flashing through the heavens as victor at Agincourt and conqueror of France. Their troth was plighted while they were leagues apart, before one had ever seen the other, but to win his bride Henry had to fight his way through the massed chivalry of the greatest military power on earth.And yet, was it Catherine he wanted, or the crown he could claim through her, so he might rule two thrones where no one man had ever ruled before? For did not his own uncle, the Bishop of Winchester, who knew Henry as did few men, say, “He has no lust for women; his whole lust is for war.”So, Catherine, with her background of poverty amidst fantastic luxury, of blood and cruelty, of masques and triumphs, of true religious faith and spiritual fervor, went to the marriage bed to find Henry had little time or inclination for a wife. Always before his eyes was England, his “rights,” his lands—and his claim to France.