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Ursula Blanchard, a widowed young mother and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, finds herself at the center of a plot that could disgrace and threaten the life of Her Majesty. Reprint.
Longing to settle down with her third husband, Ursula Blanchard is forced to take a private assignment to save her husband's ancestral home, a job Elizabeth I requires her to use to spy on a band of rebels who would put Mary, Queen of Scots, on the English throne.
As King Philip of Spain prepares to invade England, Ursula heads to Brussels on a desperate mission in this compelling Tudor mystery. March, 1588. With England in a state of high alert as King Philip of Spain amasses a vast fleet of warships ready to invade, Queen Elizabeth and her advisors seek a possible alliance with the Duke of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands. But their plans suffer a major setback when one of their most reliable spies is found murdered in the Hertfordshire countryside, shot dead by a crossbow bolt as he was transporting secret correspondence between the queen and the duke. The queen's half-sister and occasional secret agent, Ursula Stannard, is happy not to be involved for once. But when Ursula's ward Mildred elopes with the handsome yet mysterious Berend Gomez, Ursula is forced to follow the pair to Brussels, where she finds herself plunged into a hotbed of intrigue and rumour at the Duke of Parma's court, a place where no one is to be trusted. Can Ursula rescue Mildred, effect an alliance with the duke, and stay alive in the process? The future of England depends on it.
When Ursula is kidnapped and another spy is killed, she realizes she is a pawn in a treacherous plan that may ultimately involve murdering Queen Elizabeth.
The queen's half-sister, Ursula Stannard, returns to solve another Tudor mystery in this page-turning tale of suspicious riches, murder and hidden treasures - can she find the golden cargoes? May 1589. Being the queen's half-sister and occasional secret agent can take its toll, which is why Ursula Stannard is looking forward to the simple pleasure of attending the wedding of her tenant's daughter. But on arrival, Arabella the bride-to-be is refusing to marry her intended. Ursula tries to reason with Arabella on behalf of her mother, Joan Mercer, but she senses all is not well with her betrothed, or within the Mercer household. The family have gold and jewels beyond their means, and Ursula su...
Long live the Queen! A magnificent Queen Elizabeth I reigned in the movie Shakespeare in Love, but it is the younger queen of the film Elizabeth whom we meet in Fiona Buckley's acclaimed Ursula Blanchard mystery series. It's 1562 and Catholic Spain threatens the stability of Protestant England. In France, the Protestant Huguenots also face threats from the powerful Catholics. Fearing that such pro-Catholic movements might spread to England, Elizabeth hopes to mediate a peace between the two French factions. Enter Ursula Blanchard, twenty-seven-year-old Lady of the Presence Chamber, who has a special mandate from Sir William Cecil, Secretary of State, to spy on behalf of the queen. Nearly the...
From the author of To Ruin a Queen comes a “riveting social history in an exciting mystery setting” (Booklist, starred review) featuring Ursula Blanchard, lady-in-waiting and secret agent to Queen Elizabeth. Ursula Blanchard, loyal lady of the Queen's Presence Chamber and gifted sleuth, is at home amid the glittering complexities of the royal court. Now, Ursula has a new part to play in the service of her Queen—a role that exposes her to hidden dangers in the famed university town of Cambridge. Assigned as a harbinger for the Queen's upcoming Summer Progress to Cambridge, Ursula is placed in charge of not only Her Majesty's comfort, but also her safety. For Ursula, that means undertaki...
The year is 1569. Ursula Blanchard, illegitimate half sister to Queen Elizabeth I and sometime spy on the Queen's behalf, is happily married to wealthy Hugh Stannard and living quietly in the country. Ursula's thoughts are on domestic matters as she watches her daughter, Meg, grow up. Meg will soon be fourteen, so perhaps it is time to think of a betrothal. When an invitation to visit arrives from the powerful Duke of Norfolk, Ursula and Hugh welcome the chance for Meg to meet an apparently worthy young man of the Duke's household, Edmund Dean. Is he a possible husband for Meg? It's love at first sight, at least on Meg's part. Young Dean seems to admire Meg as well, and he's even more impres...
In this compelling debut of her historical mystery series, Fiona Buckley introduces Ursula Blanchard, a widowed young mother who has become lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. Armed with a sharp eye, dangerous curiosity, and uncanny intelligence, Ursula pledges... To Shield the Queen Rumor has linked Queen Elizabeth I to her master of horse, Robin Dudley. As gossip would have it, only his ailing wife, Amy, prevents marriage between Dudley and the Queen. To quell the idle tongues at court, the Queen dispatchesUrsula Blanchard to tend to the sick woman's needs. But not even Ursula can prevent the "accident" that takes Amy's life. Did she fall or was she pushed? Was Ursula a pawn of Dudley and the Queen? Suddenly Ursula finds herself at the center of the scandal, trying to protect Elizabeth as she loses her heart to a Frenchman who may be flirting with sedition against her Queen. She can trust no one, neither her lover nor her monarch, as she sets out to find the truth in a glittering court that conceals a wellspring of blood and lies.
When Elizabethan "secret agent" Ursula Blanchard is re-united with her husband, she learns that her daughter has disappeared and investigates, uncovering a sinister plot to dethrone her queen in the process. 17,500 first printing.