The Importance of Pawns
(Chronicles of the House of Valois)
By Keira J. Morgan
(Chronicles of the House of Valois)
By Keira J. Morgan
Based on historical events and characters in sixteenth-century France, this timeless tale pits envy, power and intrigue against loyalty and the strength of women’s friendships.
Although the French court dazzles on the surface, beneath its glitter, danger lurks for the three women trapped in its coils as power shifts from one regime to the next. The story begins as Queen Anne lies dying and King Louis’s health declines. Their two daughters, Claude and young Renée, heiresses to the rich duchy of Brittany, become pawns in the game of control.
Countess Louise d’Angoulême is named guardian to both girls. For years she has envied the dying Queen Anne, the girls’ mother. Because of her family’s dire financial problems, she schemes to marry wealthy Claude to her son. This unexpected guardianship presents a golden opportunity, but only if she can remove their protectress Baronne Michelle, who loves the princesses and safeguards their interests.
As political tensions rise, the futures of Princess Renée and Baronne hang in the balance, threatened by Countess Louise’s plots.
Will timid Claude untangle the treacherous intrigues Countess Louise is weaving? Will Baronne Michelle and Claude outflank the wily countess to protect young Princess Renée? And can Claude find the courage to defend those she loves?
Praise for The Importance of Pawns:
"Love, revenge, deceit, valour, struggle and bravery. These are the keystones of Keira Morgan’s fascinating new novel, The Importance of Pawns. Historical fiction at its best."
Publication Date: 10th March 2021
Publisher: French Historical Fiction/ Fiction de la renaissance Française
Page Length: 380 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Excerpt
4 January 1514, Early afternoon
Château de Blois
Countess Louise d’Angoulême
..
Agnez snuffled through her nose. Hands gripping the mug, she said, “You be not angry, be you, Mme. Louise?”
“Not with you, girl. You have been useful and the more you tell me, the better I will reward you.” That should open her lips. Hopefully, it did not encourage her to embellish her tale.
“You’ll not like it, Mme. Louise.”
Louise’s gray eyes snapped. “I do not blame you for the words of others, girl.”
Agnez pushed wisps of greasy hair back under her cap. She spoke in a singsong as if quoting: “The queen said, ‘The Countess d’Angoulême is no more pleased about the marriage than me. She don’t like my daughter and agrees to it only to please the king since he’s pow’rful and rich… ‘cause she’s greedy. Let ‘er find out that Brittany won’t go to Claude and see how fast she ends the ‘trothal.’” Agnez slowed to a stop.
Louise did not doubt that Agnez had repeated the queen’s words. Though Louise’s face burned, she controlled herself. “Was there more?”
The girl shook her mob-capped head.
Louise stood. “You have done me good service, Agnez.
Continue, and there will be more like this.” She tossed her a bag of small coins.
Catching it, Agnez scrambled into a curtsey. “Thank ‘ee Mme.
Louise.” She almost ran from the room.
Louise paced the parquet floor for some time before regaining her temper. That the queen was correct about her opinion of Claude and the marriage was irrelevant. That the Queen called Louise avaricious was insulting but unimportant — another example of a rich woman despising a clever one for her lesser means and greater talents. That the queen planned to disinherit Claude de Bretagne was unacceptable.
As Louise moved about her rooms, she stopped to caress the soft Flemish tapestries, the glowing frames on the paintings by Botticelli and Raphael, and the tooled leather covers on the books she had taken from the great library. Was Claude worth marrying without Brittany? Her dowry also included Milan — the single richest state in the West. She was the best dowered heiress in Europe. But King Louis had lost Milan, and who knew if he would recover it — or be able to hold it. So, what was it worth? Yet her son valued it more than all Claude’s other domains and was determined to regain her birthright. It was an obsession of his. To Louise it was a chimera, but she would do anything for her son. What made men so eager to fight, to become storied warriors, wasting their wealth and risking maiming and death?
Louise shook her head to rid it of these unwelcome thoughts. As she passed Botticelli’s painting again, she paused to gaze at it. Venus floated to shore on a scallop shell while three Graces danced on the grass nearby. Its perfection usually restored her sense of order. Today it did not work its magic. Why could not the actual world be so orderly? Brittany was too great a prize to permit the queen to bequeath it away from Princess Claude.
Keira J. Morgan
She also maintains a non-fiction website, All About French Renaissance Women, [https://www.keiramorgan.com] where she writes about the lives of Frenchwomen during the era. She plans to collect their biographies into a book.
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Thank you so much for hosting my book on your blog. I hope your readers enjoyed the excerpt. I am always delighted to answer questions about the book. My characters are as real as most people to me, especially after this long pandemic cooped up with myself and them.
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