Louis the Well-Beloved
Read Louis the Well-Beloved Online
Authors: Jean Plaidy
About the Book
France eagerly awaits the day the young King, Louis XV, comes of age and breaks free from the rule of his ministers. The country hopes Louis will bring back glory and prosperity to France. However, he is too preoccupied with the thrills of hunting and gambling to notice the power struggle going on in his own court. Soon, the King is introduced to the pleasures of mistresses and a succession of lovers follows. From the gentle persuasions of Madame de Mailley to her overtly ambitious sister, Madame Vintimille, France stands by and watches a King ruled by his women…
Praise for Jean Plaidy
‘One of our best historical novelists’
News Chronicle
‘Plaidy has brought the past to life’
Times Literary Supplement
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781446411926
Published by Arrow Books in 2007
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Copyright © Jean Plaidy, 1959
Initial lettering copyright © Stephen Raw, 2007
The Estate of Eleanor Hibbert has asserted its right to have Jean Plaidy identified as the author of this work.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
First published in the United Kingdom in 1959 by Robert Hale and Company Published in paperback in 1972 by Pan Books Ltd
Arrow Books
The Random House Group Limited
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099493365
Contents
Also available in Arrow by Jean Plaidy
III: Marie Leczinska – Queen of France
IV: Madame de Prie and the Duc de Bourbon
XI: Prince Charles Edward Stuart
Praise for Jean Plaidy
‘A vivid impression of life at the Tudor Court’
Daily Telegraph
‘One of the country’s most widely read novelists’
Sunday Times
‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama’
New York Times
‘It is hard to better Jean Plaidy . . . both elegant and exciting’
Daily Mirror
‘Jean Plaidy conveys the texture of various patches of the past with such rich complexity’
Guardian
‘Plaidy has brought the past to life’
Times Literary Supplement
‘One of our best historical novelists’
News Chronicle
‘An excellent story’
Irish Press
‘Spirited . . . Plaidy paints the truth as she sees it’
Birmingham Post
‘Sketched vividly and sympathetically . . . rewarding’
Scotsman
‘Among the foremost of current historical novelists’
Birmingham Mail
‘An accomplished novelist’
Glasgow Evening News
‘There can be no doubt of the author’s gift for storytelling’
Illustrated London News
‘Jean Plaidy has once again brought characters and background vividly to life’
Everywoman
‘Well up to standard . . . fascinating’
Manchester Evening News
‘Exciting and intelligent’
Truth Magazine
‘No frills and plenty of excitement’
Yorkshire Post
‘Meticulous attention to historical detail’
South Wales Argus
‘Colourful . . . imaginative and exciting’
Northern Daily Telegraph
‘Effective and readable’
Sphere
‘A vivid picture of the crude and vigorous London of those days’ Laurence Meynell
Jean Plaidy, one of the pre-eminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century, is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also known as Victoria Holt. Jean Plaidy’s novels had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide by the time of her death in 1993.
For further information about Arrow’s Jean Plaidy reissues and mailing list, please visit
www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/jeanplaidy
Further titles available in Arrow by Jean Plaidy
The Tudors
Uneasy Lies the Head
Katharine, the Virgin
Widow
The Shadow of the
Pomegranate
The King’s Secret Matter
Murder Most Royal
St Thomas’s Eve
The Sixth Wife
The Thistle and the Rose
Mary Queen of France
Gay Lord Robert
Royal Road to Fotheringay
The Captive Queen of Scots
The Medici Trilogy
Madame Serpent
The Italian Woman
Queen Jezebel
The Plantagenets
The Plantagenet Prelude
The Revolt of the Eaglets
The Heart of the Lion
The Prince of Darkness
The French Revolution
Louis the Well-Beloved
The Road to Compiègne
Flaunting, Extravagant
Queen
The Queen of Diamonds
Chapter I
THE OLD KING
T
he woman at the window was staring along the Avenue de Paris; she could survey the Grande Écurie and the Petite Écurie; and there was much coming and going. She was trembling, and anxious that the child should not notice her agitation.