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Book Details
The most famous necklace in the world has finally been found…
Bryher Finch’s life isn’t just a disaster, it’s a catastrophe, until a chance invitation to chart her family tree changes everything. As Bryher uncovers the ancestry she never knew about, she stumbles on the find of the century – Anne Boleyn’s ‘B’ necklace, as enigmatic as Henry VIII’s most notorious Queen herself.
But Bryher isn’t the only one who wants the necklace…
Excerpt
In this scene, Anne Boleyn discovers one of the French King François’s handkerchiefs in her sister Mary’s linen chest in France where they are both ladies-in-waiting to the French queen. She confronts Mary about it who admits that she has fallen in love with the king and has embarked upon an affair. Showing Mary the ‘B’ necklace, she reminds her sister that they are both Boleyns and that Mary must break off the affair before she falls pregnant and disgraces the family.
Anne rifles through the messy jumble of her sister’s stockings, linen shifts and nightgowns in the heavy wooden coffer at the foot of their bed. Surely Mary must have a spare coif in here somewhere. How bothersome that the servants have seen fit to take all her own underclothes to the laundry without her knowledge.
Her eyes catch a glimpse of a silk handkerchief embroidered with an unfamiliar initial. She takes it out of the chest and turns it over in her hands until the elaborate blue embroidery is upright. ‘F’.
She sits back on her heels and holds the piece of delicate white silk up to her nose. Scented. The velvety floral scent of civet musk. The king’s scent.
The door to the bedchamber opens and Mary enters, flushed and holding her pendant. ‘Anne, my necklace has come undone. Would you—what are you doing?’
Anne holds up the handkerchief. ‘Why have you the king’s handkerchief?’
Mary rushes forward and snatches the piece of silk from her sister’s hand. ‘It was a gift.’
Anne rises to her feet and brushes off the faint film of dust that clings to her silk kirtle where she has knelt. ‘How came you by this gift?’ Mary drops the pendant onto the blue wool bedcover and tucks the handkerchief into her long sleeve. ‘It is a private matter.’ She slams down the coffer’s lid. ‘Why were you looking in my coffer? Is your own not sufficiently large for all your finery from the archduchess’s court?’
‘I was searching for a coif as mine have all been taken to the laundry.’
‘You seek in the wrong location.’ Mary walks over to a smaller coffer beside the bed and removes a simple linen coif. ‘Here. Take this.’
Anne takes the coif and moves to stand before the polished metal mirror hanging upon the wall between the windows. She fits the linen cap over the plaits she has affixed across the crown of her head, then looks over at her sister.
‘Mary, do not take me for a fool. I have seen much during my year in the archduchess’s court. I am not a foolish child. You promised you would end this folly with the king.’
Mary’s eyes widen in panic and Anne raises an eyebrow.
‘The king gifted the handkerchief to me … as a keepsake,’ Mary says. ‘It means nothing.’
Anne’s eyes narrow. ‘Why would the king gift the dowager queen’s lady-in-waiting with his own handkerchief? I can think only of one reason, and I scarce dare to utter it.’
Mary rushes over to her and grabs her hands. ‘Anne, do not think badly of me. I can scarce contain my happiness.’
Anne frowns. ‘What?’
Mary giggles. ‘My heart has been pierced by Cupid’s arrow. I am in love with King François, and he assures me that I am his.’
Anne jerks her hands away. ‘Don’t be a fool. You are not the king’s. He is married to Queen Claude.’
‘Yes, but the queen is always so poorly and not likely to last another winter.’
Anne laughs. ‘Is this what he has told you? That you may be the next Queen of France?’ She stops laughing. ‘Mary, has he bedded you?’
Mary turns away from her sister.
Anne pulls at her shoulder forcing Mary to face her. ‘Has he bedded you?’
‘Yes!’
Anne stares at her sister. ‘Then you are more of a fool than I would have credited.’
‘You know nothing of it. King François loves me just as I love him.’
‘Perhaps the king does love you, or perhaps he tells you he does so that he may obtain the favours he seeks– and which you share with him so loosely. But I assure you that once you are away from his sight, you vanish from his mind.’
‘No! This is untrue.’
‘Mary, you are not important. Not to the King of France, at least. You would do well to listen to me and protect yourself. You and I are at court by the good grace of the dowager queen and our father’s efforts. We have but one master and that is our father. You must end this now before you find yourself with child.’
Anne picks up the pearl pendant from the bed. ‘We are Boleyns. Do not disgrace our good name. Our father gave you this pendant to remind you of that. Do not forget it.
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Queens-Necklace-Adrienne-Chinn/dp/0008643822/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-queens-necklace-adrienne-chinn/1146772161
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-queens-necklace/adrienne-chinn/9780008643829
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IWv50AEACAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions
https://www.whsmith.co.uk/Product/Adrienne-Chinn/The-Queens-Necklace/15620348
Author Bio
Adrienne Chinn was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, grew up in Quebec, and eventually made her way to London, England after a career as a journalist. In England she worked as a TV and film researcher before embarking on a career as an interior designer, lecturer, and writer. When not up a ladder or at the computer writing, she often can be found rummaging through flea markets or haggling in the Marrakech souk. Her debut novel, The Lost Letter, was published in 2019. Her second novel, the international bestseller, The English Wife, was published in 2020. Her third novel, Love in a Time of War, the first in a series of four books in The Three Fry Sisters series, was published in 2022. The second book in the series, The Paris Sister, was published in 2023, and the third book, In the Shadow of War, was published in March 2024. Her next book, a historical timeslip novel, The Queen’s Necklace, will be published in September 2025, followed by the fourth book in The Three Fry Sisters series, set during WWII, in 2026.
Social Media Links
https://www.adrienne-chinn.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/adriennechinnauthor
https://www.instagram.com/adriennechinn
https://twitter.com/adriennechinn/with_replies?lang=en&wptouch_preview_theme=enabled
