Queen's Play - Dorothy Dunnett [1]
His home, however, is Scotland, where Mary Queen of Scots is a vulnerable child in a country ruled by her mother. It becomes apparent in the course of the story that Lymond, the most articulate and charismatic of men, is vulnerable too, not least because of his feeling for Scotland, and for his estranged family.
The Game of Kings was my first novel. As Lymond developed in wisdom, so did I. We introduced one another to the world of sixteenth-century Europe, and while he cannot change history, the wars and events which embroil him are real. After the last book of the six had been published, it was hard to accept that nothing more about Francis Crawford could be written, without disturbing the shape and theme of his story. But there Was, as it happened, something that could be done: a little manicuring to repair the defects of the original edition as it was rushed out on both sides of the Atlantic. And so here is Lymond returned, in a freshened text which presents him as I first envisaged him, to a different world.
CHARACTERS
These, by birth or marriage, are some of the Scots in the story:
MARY OF GUISE, Queen Mother of Scotland, and widow of King James V
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, aged seven, her daughter
FRANCIS CRAWFORD OF LYMOND, Master of Culter
RICHARD CRAWFORD, third Baron Culter, his brother
THOMAS ERSKINE, Master of Erskine, Chief Privy Councillor and Special Ambassador
MARGARET ERSKINE, née Fleming, his wife
JENNY, LADY FLEMING, mother to Margaret Erskine and illegitimate daughter of King James IV of Scotland; governess to Queen Mary
LORD FLEMING, Jenny’s son, and brother to Margaret Erskine
MARY and AGNES FLEMING, his sisters, maids of honour to Queen Mary
ARTHUR ERSKINE, one of Thomas Erskine’s brothers
SIR GEORGE DOUGLAS, brother of the Earl of Angus and uncle to Lady Lennox
SIR JAMES DOUGLAS OF DRUMLANRIG, his brother-in-law
MICHEL HÉRISSON, a Scots sculptor resident in Rouen
BRICE HARISSON, his brother, in the service of the Protector Somerset in London
These are the Irish and their adherents:
PHELIM O’LIAMROE, Prince of Barrow and feudal lord of the Slieve Bloom
THADY BOY BALLAGH, his ollave
PIEDAR DOOLY, his servant
THERESA BOYLE, an Irish widow resident at Neuvy
OONAGH O’DWYER, her niece
HÉLIE and ANNE MOÛTIER, relatives of Oonagh resident in Blois
CORMAC O’CONNOR, heir to Brian Faly O’Connor, captain of Offaly
GEORGE PARIS, an agent
These, by birth, service or adoption, are the French:
HENRI II, KING OF FRANCE
CATHERINE DE MÉDICIS, his Queen
DIANE DE POITIERS, Duchess de Valentinois, his mistress
FRANCIS, Dauphin of France, his heir, affianced to Mary Queen of Scots
ELIZABETH and CLAUDE, his young daughters
MARGUERITE OF FRANCE, his sister
ANNE DE MONTMORENCY, Marshal, Grand Master, and Constable of France
FRANÇOIS, second Duke de Guise, brother to the Queen Mother of Scotland
CHARLES DE GUISE, second Cardinal of Lorraine, his brother
CLAUDE DE GUISE, Duke d’Aumale, his brother
DUKE DE LONGUEVILLE, French-born son of Mary of Guise’s first marriage
JOHN STEWART, Lord d’Aubigny, former captain of the Royal Guard of Scottish Archers in France, and brother to the Earl of Lennox
ROBIN STEWART members of the Royal Guard of Scottish Archers
LAURENS DE GENSTAN
JACQUES D’ALBON, Marshal de St. André Courtiers
LOUIS DE BOURBON, first Prince of Condé
JEAN DE BOURBON, Sieur d’Enghien, his brother
FRANÇOIS DE VENDÔME, Vidame de Chartres
ARCHEMBAULT ABERNACI Keepers of the Royal Menageries of France
PIERRE DESTAIZ
FLORIMUND PELLAQUIN
THOMAS OUSCHART (Tosh), a funambulist MAÎTRE
GEORGES GAULTIER, a usurer of Blois
THE DAME DE DOUBTANCE, astrologer, of Blois
RAOUL DE CHÉMAULT, French Ambassador in London
JEHANNE DE CHÉMAULT, his wife
And these, by birth, marriage or adoption, are the English:
JOHN DUDLEY, Earl of Warwick, Earl Marshal of England
MATTHEW STEWART, Earl of Lennox, brother to Lord d’Aubigny
MARGARET LENNOX, née Douglas, his wife, and niece to the late King Henry VIII and to Sir George Douglas
WILLIAM PARR OF KENDALL, Marquis