Lady Catherine S Necklace

When an accident brings Priscilla and her brother Ralph to Lady Catherine's residence, a chain of events is set in train which includes a brush with death with the lower orders, and the discovery of a skeleton in the cupboard of her late husband.

Joan Aiken, one of Jane Austen's most sparkling successors, takes up Austen's pen yet again, this time continuing where Pride and Prejudice left off in Lady Catherine's Necklace. In Austen's classic novel, the arrogant Lady Catherine de Bourgh tried vehemently to prevent the betrothal of her nephew Mr. Darcy, whom she had intended for her daughter Anne, to the less socially connected Elizabeth Bennet. Defeated, she retreats to her grand estate-- Rosings Park. This enchanting sequel tells the story of what happens one balmy April day when a sudden blizzard disrupts the weather, causes a carriage accident, and affects the lives of all those involved in a most amazing way. From out of the blizzard emerge the Delaval siblings. Miss Delaval, having twisted her ankle in the carriage accident, accepts Lady Catherine's gracious hospitality while she recovers. But the Delavals' presence proves disturbing to the entire household-- first causing the removal of two artists from their cottage home on the de Bourgh property, then meddling in Miss Anne's marriage plans. Suddenly, Lady Catherine is kidnapped, revealing some members of the household to be not at all what they seemed.

England July 1540: it is one of the hottest summers on record and the court of Henry VIII is embroiled, once again, in political scandal. Anne Cleves is out. Thomas Cromwell is to be executed and, in the countryside, an aristocratic teenager named Catherine Howard prepares to become fifth wife to the increasingly unpredictable monarch... In the five centuries since her death, Catherine Howard has been dismissed as 'a wanton', 'inconsequential' or a naive victim of her ambitious family, but the story of her rise and fall offers not only a terrifying and compelling story of an attractive, vivacious young woman thrown onto the shores of history thanks to a king's infatuation, but an intense portrait of Tudor monarchy in microcosm: how royal favour was won, granted, exercised, displayed, celebrated and, at last, betrayed and lost. The story of Catherine Howard is both a very dark fairy tale and a gripping political scandal.

Queens of Poland are conspicuously absent from the study of European queenship—an absence which, together with early modern Poland’s marginal place in the historiography, results in a picture of European royal culture that can only be lopsided and incomplete. Katarzyna Kosior cuts through persistent stereotypes of an East-West dichotomy and a culturally isolated early modern Poland to offer a groundbreaking comparative study of royal ceremony in Poland and France. The ceremonies of becoming a Jagiellonian or Valois queen, analysed in their larger European context, illuminate the connections that bound together monarchical Europe. These ceremonies are a gateway to a fuller understanding of European royal culture, demonstrating that it is impossible to make claims about European queenship without considering eastern Europe.

A catalogue of over 2,700 etchings, which form an important pictorial chronicle of seventeenth-century England.

Joan Aiken picks up the pen of her forerunner, Jane Austen, in this charming sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy have finally found matrimonial bliss, and now our attention turns to Rosings Park, the estate of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh. When an unfortunate carriage accident means that siblings Ralph and Priscilla Delaval must reside with Lady Catherine, the stage is set for a scandal. Life in the sleepy Kent village is turned upside down by a series of unexpected events, and dark family secrets are finally brought to light . . . Featuring a cast of characters from Austen’s classic, including Anne de Bourgh, Elizabeth's friend Charlotte Collins (née Lucas), Colonel Fitzwilliam and, of course, the redoubtable Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Henry VIII used his wardrobe, and that of his family and household, as a way of expressing his wealth and magnificence. This book encompasses the first detailed study of male and female dress worn at the court of Henry VIII (1509-47) and covers the dress of the king and his immediate family, the royal household and the broader court circle. Henry VIII's wardrobe is set in context by a study of Henry VII's clothes, court and household. ~ ~ As none of Henry VIII's clothes survive, evidence is drawn primarily from the great wardrobe accounts, wardrobe warrants, and inventories, and is interpreted using evidence from narrative sources, paintings, drawings and a small selection of contemporary garments, mainly from European collections. ~ ~ Key areas for consideration include the king's personal wardrobe, how Henry VIII's queens used their clothes to define their status, the textiles provided for the pattern of royal coronations, marriages and funerals and the role of the great wardrobe, wardrobe of the robes and laundry. In addition there is information on the cut and construction of garments, materials and colours, dr given as gifts, the function of livery and the hierarchy of dress within the royal household, and the network of craftsmen working for the court. The text is accompanied by full transcripts of James Worsley's wardrobe books of 1516 and 1521 which provide a brief glimpse of the king's clothes.

The Key to the Ivory Tower is a stylish, sweeping and erotic periodic- novel that tells the story of Catherine Acton. Catherine is the only survivor of a noble family after a mysterious fire broke out in the mansion in the middle of the night claimed the lives of her parents. Fifteen years later, Catherine returns to the estate where she finds love and discovers her femininity. However, the ghosts of the past return to settle scores long thought forgotten. This novel will take you on a page-turning story in a fascinating environment of the 19th century. From France to England with a taste of Scotland, you will discover since then that not much has changed.