The Lady of the Rivers

The novel is the third in Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series and follows Jacquetta of Luxembourg from girlhood in 15th-century France through the early Wars of the Roses in England.

In the summer of 1430, young Jacquetta lives at Beaurevoir Castle with her uncle, John of Luxembourg, and her great-aunt, the Demoiselle of Luxembourg. The household keeps a famous prisoner: Joan of Arc, who crowned the French Dauphin, the heir to the throne, and led his army against the English. The Demoiselle insists Joan be unchained, and Joan joins the women of the household. When Jacquetta handles her great-aunt's painted playing cards, le Pendu (the Hanged Man) falls between them. Joan sees the Wheel of Fortune card and teaches Jacquetta a gesture, a circle drawn in the air, signifying that everything rises and falls. Jacquetta confides that she sometimes hears singing foretelling a family death: the voice of Melusina, a water goddess who, according to legend, married the first Duke of Luxembourg and returns to mourn each descendant.

Before departing south, the Demoiselle teaches Jacquetta the story of Melusina, tells her some women of their house inherit foresight, and gives her a gold charm bracelet for divination. She dies in Avignon, and that night Jacquetta hears Melusina's singing. Joan leaps headfirst from the castle tower in the pose of the Hanged Man but survives. Without the Demoiselle's protection, Joan is transferred to an English-controlled court at Rouen, where the Duke of Bedford demands her burning. Jacquetta witnesses the execution, forced to stand as a model of obedient womanhood.

Two years later, Jacquetta's parents announce her betrothal to John, Duke of Bedford, the English regent in France and a man more than twice her age. At the wedding, she notices Bedford's squire, Richard Woodville, and feels an immediate attraction. On the wedding night, Bedford confesses he is impotent. He married Jacquetta because the Demoiselle revealed she has the gift of Sight, and he needs a virgin of Melusina's line to assist his alchemists in their search for the philosopher's stone, a substance said to transmute base metals into gold. He cuts his wrist to stain the sheets and orders her to lie about the consummation.

In Paris, Bedford's alchemists seat Jacquetta before a scrying mirror, a large mirror used for divination. She sees a vision of Joan and faints. Woodville lies to Bedford about what Jacquetta said, protecting her. Subsequent sessions produce fragmentary visions, including a battle in snow and a queen with horseshoes on backwards. Bedford gives Jacquetta a gray mare she names Mercury, nicknamed Merry, and Woodville teaches her to ride during daily excursions along the river. Their companionship deepens into unspoken affection.

At the English court, Jacquetta meets the young King Henry VI and is struck by his fragility. Bedford's brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, makes advances toward Jacquetta; Woodville rescues her. Bedford warns her to watch Humphrey and his wife, Eleanor Cobham. At Bedford's English estate, the herbalist Margery Jourdemayne teaches Jacquetta to prepare fertility herbs and other tinctures. Bedford's health deteriorates as France crumbles. Dying at Rouen, he asks Jacquetta to stand in the sunset so he can see her as a figure transmuted to gold. He dies that night, having never loved her as a woman.

Woodville confesses his love. They become lovers, and Jacquetta deliberately takes a fertility drink to conceive, forcing the question of marriage. They wed secretly at Grafton, Richard's family home. During the ceremony, Jacquetta has a vision of her daughter marrying in this same chapel with a crown before her. She draws the Queen of Cups card for the unborn child, signifying a beloved queen, and names the baby Elizabeth.

The secret marriage is revealed. The couple is fined a thousand pounds and banished from court. They settle at Grafton, where Elizabeth is born, followed by many more children. Richard is eventually pardoned and made Baron Rivers. Eleanor Cobham's associates, including Jourdemayne and the scholar Roger Bolingbroke, are arrested for allegedly making a wax image of the king to cause his death. Jacquetta is horrified because Bedford had her work with Bolingbroke, and she herself consulted Jourdemayne for herbs. Jourdemayne is burned at Smithfield; Eleanor does public penance barefoot through London and is imprisoned for life. Jacquetta resolves to hide her gifts.

Richard and Jacquetta escort 15-year-old Margaret of Anjou to England for her marriage to King Henry. Margaret insists Jacquetta draw a card for her future; it is the Wheel of Fortune, indicating dramatic rises and falls. Henry proves an inadequate husband. Margaret grows dependent on two favorites: William de la Pole, elevated to Duke of Suffolk, and Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Richard, Duke of York, the king's closest royal cousin, is excluded from council. England's position in France collapses, and de la Pole is blamed, captured at sea, and beheaded. Margaret confides to Jacquetta that she loves Beaufort. Jacquetta draws the Falling Tower card for the relationship, signifying catastrophe.

Margaret becomes pregnant, hinting that the conception involved a secret she does not want examined. In the summer of 1453, Beaufort embraces the weeping queen on her bed after news of a military disaster; the king walks in and sees them. Jacquetta instinctively tells him not to look. He presses her hands over his eyes, repeats her words, and leaves. That night he falls into a catatonic sleep lasting 18 months. Jacquetta fears her words cursed him. The queen gives birth to Prince Edward. Richard, Duke of York, is appointed Lord Protector, temporary ruler during the king's incapacity.

The king wakes at Christmas 1454, confused and childlike, calling the prince a child of the Holy Spirit. The queen frees Beaufort and strips York of his offices. At the Battle of St. Albans, York's forces attack; Beaufort is killed and the king wounded. Jacquetta tells the devastated queen that Beaufort is dead. Margaret transforms into a militant leader, ruling through the weakened king. Elizabeth marries Sir John Grey of Groby, a match Jacquetta arranged. When Jacquetta reads cards for Elizabeth's future with Grey, she draws three blank cards, signifying no future, but says nothing.

War escalates. The queen watches the Battle of Blore Heath from a church tower with Jacquetta; their forces lose. Margaret flees on a horse with shoes nailed on backwards, fulfilling Jacquetta's old vision. Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick and a leading York commander, raids Sandwich with his men, capturing Richard, Jacquetta, and their son Anthony. At Calais, the York lords publicly insult Richard as baseborn. Released to London, Jacquetta cannot persuade the city to admit the queen's army; trust collapses after Margaret sends raiders to Westminster. London opens its gates instead to young Edward of March, proclaimed King Edward IV.

At the Battle of Towton, fought in a blinding snowstorm on Palm Sunday 1461, the Lancastrian forces loyal to King Henry are destroyed. Elizabeth's husband is killed. Richard and Anthony surrender to Edward IV and swear fealty to the House of York, the new king's dynastic faction. The family retreats to Grafton. Elizabeth returns as a penniless widow with two small sons. Jacquetta drops charms from her bracelet into the river; one shaped like a crown breaks free on its own. On a spring day, Elizabeth petitions the young king about her dower lands as he rides past. She returns walking beside him, her sons perched in his saddle. Jacquetta opens the door, sees the king's smile and Elizabeth's blush, and prepares a jug of ale dosed with three drops of a love potion.