Queen Elizabeth's Daughter: A Novel of Elizabeth I

From Anne Barnhill the author of At the Mercy of the Queencomes the gripping tale of Mary Shelton Elizabeth Is young cousin and ward set against the glittering backdrop of the Elizabethan court. Mistress Mary Shelton is Queen Elizabeths favorite ward enjoying every privilege the position affords. The British queen loves Mary like a daughter and like any good mother she wants her to make a powerful match. The most likely prospect: Edward de Vere Earl of Oxford. But while Oxford seems to be everything the queen admires: clever polished and wealthy Mary knows him to be lecherous cruel and full of treachery. No matter how hard the queen tries to push her into his arms Mary refuses.. Instead Mary falls in love with a man who is completely unsuitable. Sir John Skydemore is a minor knight with little money a widower with five children. Worst of all hes a Catholic at a time when Catholic plots against Elizabeth are rampant in England. The queen forbids Mary to wed the man she loves. When the young woman who is the queens own flesh and blood defies her the couple finds their very lives in danger as Elizabeths wrath knows no bounds.