When I was offered the opportunity to take part in this blog tour I leapt at the chance. Had time permitted, I would have loved to have read this book and brought you a book review.
However, my diary was pretty full at the time but I could not resist being part of the blog tour in some way. So, I am delighted to be bringing you an excerpt today of The Dartington Bride by Rosemary Griggs.
First though, a bit about the book...
The Blurb
1571, and the beautiful, headstrong daughter of a French Count marries the son of the Vice Admiral of the Fleet of the West in Queen Elizabeth’s chapel at Greenwich. It sounds like a marriage made in heaven...
Roberda’s father, the Count of Montgomery, is a prominent Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion. When her formidable mother follows him into battle, she takes all her children with her.
After a traumatic childhood in war-torn France, Roberda arrives in England full of hope for her wedding. But her ambitious bridegroom, Gawen, has little interest in taking a wife.
Received with suspicion by the servants at her new home, Dartington Hall in Devon, Roberda works hard to prove herself as mistress of the household and to be a good wife. But there are some who will never accept her as a true daughter of Devon.
After the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Gawen’s father welcomes Roberda’s family to Dartington as refugees. Compassionate Roberda is determined to help other French women left destitute by the wars. But her husband does not approve. Their differences will set them on an extraordinary path...
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The Excerpt
Chapter Eleven - Mistress of Dartington Hall
Spring 1572
My mouth fell open and I froze on the threshold, letting my eyes drink in the splendour of Dartington Hall. A soaring forest of carved oak beams supported the huge span of the roof high above my head. I slowly let out my breath as I watched the banners fluttering gently from the beams and took in the stone corbels, each with an angel bearing the arms of some great knight on a painted shield. Wispy tendrils of smoke rose from a fire smouldering in a fireplace even larger than the one Papa had at Ducey and long tables stretched the length of the hall, enough space to seat a multitude. I could see why Sir Arthur was so proud of this place. It was as splendid as the queen’s Great Hall at the Palace of Westminster.
Lost in wonder, at first I did not notice Gawen. My husband was well built and tall. He looked over the heads of most men. But he faded to insignificance in the grandeur of that lofty hall. He had almost reached me before I realised he was there, a sharp-featured little man hovering at his elbow.
I thought I caught a momentary flicker of recognition, even of welcome, in Gawen’s steel-grey eyes when he paused in front of me. But if I did it was gone as soon as it came. His fingers felt cold as he took my hand, as courtesy demanded, but he turned quickly away so I could no longer see his eyes.
‘My wife is tired from her journey,’ he announced in a lordly voice. ‘Rist, will you see my lady to her chamber. Father, we must speak. There is news from France.’ Undeterred, I put my hand on his arm.
‘Is there news of my family? I have heard nothing since they left me in London months ago. Did you bring letters from my mother?’ He shook my hand away as a horse shakes to rid itself of a fly and rapped out a short reply.
‘I did not. Go with Rist, if you please. I must speak with my father.’
Such a curt dismissal quenched all my hopes, all the joy I might have taken in my new home, as surely as if he had thrown a pail of water over me. My head dropped and I came within a hair’s breadth of meek obedience before a vision of my mother rose up in my mind; Isabeau, Countess of Montgomery, mistress of her household, imperious and commanding. I’m her daughter. I’m mistress of this household now. I’ll not be told when I’m tired and sent to my room!
I threw back my head, drew myself up in imitation of Maman at her formidable best, forced my lips into a smile and whirled around. ‘How kind and considerate you are, husband,’ I said, honey- sweet, but firm. ‘But I am not at all tired and would see more of this household which is now mine to manage. Master Rist, is it?’ I favoured the rodent-faced servant with a withering stare. ‘If you please, conduct me to the kitchens and the storerooms. I take it they lie beyond the passage?’ I’ll swear I heard Sir Arthur stifle a chuckle, or perhaps it was Bess. Rist looked questioningly at Gawen.
‘As you wish,’ my husband ground the words through clenched teeth, then recovered himself a little. ‘Yes, Rist, off course, you must do as your mistress orders. Bess, will you go with them?’
‘Oh yes, brother, I wouldn’t miss this for anything,’ she chortled as we passed through the opening.
‘Do the gardens lie that way?’ I asked brightly, pointing to a door that stood ajar. Rist grunted in reply. As I stepped forward I felt a rush of wings over my head. A swallow was making a nest high on the wall just within the door lintel. ‘Well, well. I see others are making a new home under this roof,’ I laughed. ‘Be sure not to close this door, Master Rist. Some say birds in a house bring bad luck, but I deem it an honour to share my home with this pretty fellow.’ Bess gave me another encouraging smile, but Rist looked at me as though he thought me mad.
I stepped outside and found myself in a second courtyard to the rear of the hall. Mellow grey stone walls enclosed a pretty knot garden with beds planted with flowers. The far range of buildings looked neglected, but the effect was rather charming. To the left of the door an area had been left unplanted, save for an apple tree. Away to the right, past the hall, I could just see a church tower rising up in the shadow of an enormous yew tree.
I walked a few paces enjoying the sweet, lemon-tinged fragrance of early apple blossom. Out of nowhere, two boys came hurtling along the path, giggling and laughing, egging each other on to run faster. They veered sharply into the doorway and nearly knocked Rist off his feet.
‘Scurvy little imps!’ he growled, as they ducked under his flailing arm.
‘Now, Rist,’ said Sir Arthur, who had ignored Gawen and come to stand beside us. He watched the boys’ retreating figures as they burst out through the other door and raced across the courtyard. ‘Let ’em be. Boys will be boys! They’re the cook’s lads, aren’t they? As likely a pair as you’ll ever find! Good for them to let off steam a bit. They already practise at the butts every Sunday. Soon they’ll be put to work or to fighting for the queen.’
Rist grunted and Sir Arthur gave me a searching look.
‘It would do my heart good to see another Champernowne youngster running through these gardens,’ he said with a sigh. I felt my cheeks flaming and suddenly found the flagstone path beneath my feet fascinating.
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ISBN: 978 1805142997
Publisher: Troubador Publishing
Formats: e-book, audio and paperback
No. of Pages: 288 (paperback)
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About the Author:
Author and speaker Rosemary Griggs has been researching Devon’s sixteenth-century history for years. She has discovered a cast of fascinating characters and an intriguing network of families whose influence stretched far beyond the West Country and loves telling the stories of the forgotten women of history – the women beyond the royal court; wives, sisters, daughters and mothers who played their part during those tumultuous Tudor years: the Daughters of Devon.
Her novel A Woman of Noble Wit tells the story of Katherine Champernowne, Sir Walter Raleigh’s mother, and features many of the county’s well-loved places.Rosemary creates and wears sixteenth-century clothing, a passion which complements her love for bringing the past to life through a unique blend of theatre, history and re-enactment. Her appearances and talks for museums and community groups all over the West Country draw on her extensive research into sixteenth-century Devon, Tudor life and Tudor dress, particularly Elizabethan.
Out of costume, Rosemary leads heritage tours of the gardens at Dartington Hall, a fourteenth-century manor house and now a visitor destination and charity supporting learning in arts, ecology and social justice.
