Following his coronation in Scotland, Charles ll leads an army south to reclaim his throne but the dream ends in a crushing defeat at Worcester, leaving no other choice but flight. With nothing but the clothes on their backs, Ashley Peverell and Francis Langley manage to reach Paris where Ashley, known to some as The Falcon, resumes his covert and unpaid work for the King. Beautiful and street-wise, Athenais de Galzain has risen from the slums of Paris to become the Marais Theatre's leading actress.
Unfortunately, this brings her to the attention of the Marquis d'Auxerre - an influential nobleman of unsavoury reputation who is accustomed to taking what he wants. While a recurrence of the Prince's Fronde turns the city into a battle-ground, Francis is bullied by his sister, Celia, into helping her obtain a divorce from Eden Maxwell. Working as a cryptographer in the Commonwealth's intelligence service, Eden watches Oliver Cromwell creating a king-sized space for himself and begins to question the cause to which he has devoted a decade of his life.
From the first, Ashley and Athenais are drawn together with the force of two stars colliding; a force which Ashley, lacking both money and prospects and conscious of the frequency with which he is required to risk his life, cannot deny but resolves to conceal. He has only two priorities; his work for Charles ll and his determination to protect Athenais from the Marquis. Both are to test him to the limits.
The King's Falcon follows the Cavaliers' last crusade and the bitter, poverty-stricken exile that followed it, whilst also taking us back-stage at the Theatre du Marais. There is danger, intrigue and passion in this sequel to The Black Madonna and Garland of Straw.
Following his coronation in Scotland, Charles ll leads an army south to reclaim his throne but the dream ends in a crushing defeat at Worcester, leaving no other choice but flight. With nothing but the clothes on their backs, Ashley Peverell and Francis Langley manage to reach Paris where Ashley, known to some as The Falcon, resumes his covert and unpaid work for the King. Beautiful and street-wise, Athenais de Galzain has risen from the slums of Paris to become the Marais Theatre's leading actress.
Unfortunately, this brings her to the attention of the Marquis d'Auxerre - an influential nobleman of unsavoury reputation who is accustomed to taking what he wants. While a recurrence of the Prince's Fronde turns the city into a battle-ground, Francis is bullied by his sister, Celia, into helping her obtain a divorce from Eden Maxwell. Working as a cryptographer in the Commonwealth's intelligence service, Eden watches Oliver Cromwell creating a king-sized space for himself and begins to question the cause to which he has devoted a decade of his life.
From the first, Ashley and Athenais are drawn together with the force of two stars colliding; a force which Ashley, lacking both money and prospects and conscious of the frequency with which he is required to risk his life, cannot deny but resolves to conceal. He has only two priorities; his work for Charles ll and his determination to protect Athenais from the Marquis. Both are to test him to the limits.
The King's Falcon follows the Cavaliers' last crusade and the bitter, poverty-stricken exile that followed it, whilst also taking us back-stage at the Theatre du Marais. There is danger, intrigue and passion in this sequel to The Black Madonna and Garland of Straw.
