The Darling Strumpet
From her beginnings as a humble oyster seller, Nell Gwynn’s dazzling rise to fame has gone down in history. Step into the tumultuous world of Restoration England, and join Nell on her journey from courtesan, to famed actress, to King’s mistress in a novel that is as captivating as Nelly herself.Growing up in the bawdy atmosphere of 17th Century Covent Garden, Nell Gwynn is little more than a girl when she enters the world of the courtesan. But Nell learns the hard way that to be at the mercy of unscrupulous men is no life at all.With London’s theatres flourishing, Nell seizes an opportunity to change her luck and takes a job selling oranges at ‘The King’s Playhouse’ in Drury Lane.It isn’t long before Nell takes centre-stage herself and her saucy wit and ambitious temperament soon catch the eye of the young King Charles II. But can she keep him enthralled when the country’s finest Ladies are vying for his attentions at court?Nell Gwynn was a darling of the people and the most famous courtesan of her age. She is brought to life for readers alongside a cast of well-known characters whose stories play out amidst a turbulent Restoration London that stays with you long after you finish this memorable tale.
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The Darling Strumpet
Gillian Bagwell
AVON
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 77–85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
First published in the U.S.A. by Berkley Publishing Group, an imprint of Penguin Group (U.S.A.) Inc., New York, NY, 2011
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2011
Copyright © Gillian Bagwell 2011
Gillian Bagwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9781847562500
Ebook Edition © JUNE 2011 ISBN: 9780007443307 Version: 2014-07-23
This book is dedicated to my family:
My sisters Rachel Hope Crossman and Jennifer Juliet Walker My father Richard Herbold Bagwell And the memory of my mother Elizabeth Rosaria Loverde
She’s now the darling strumpet of the crowd,
Forgets her state, and talks to them aloud,
Lays by her greatness and descends to prate
With those ’bove whom she’s rais’d by wond’rous fate.
From “A Panegyrick Upon Nelly”
Anonymous, 1681
Contents
Copyright
Cast of Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Acknowledgments
Notes On Facts, Truth, And Artistic Licence
About the Author
About the Publisher
CAST OF CHARACTERS
NELL’S FAMILY
Eleanor Gwynn – Nell’s mother.
Rose Gwynn – Nell’s older sister.
Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford and Duke of St. Albans, referred to as Charlie – Nell’s first son.
James, Lord Beauclerk, referred to as Jemmy – Nell’s second son.
John Cassells – Rose’s first husband.
Guy Foster – Rose’s second husband.
Lily – Rose’s baby girl.
MADAM ROSS’S
Madam Ross – keeper of a brothel in Lewkenor’s Lane.
Jack – Madam Ross’s lover and bouncer at the brothel.
Jane – one of Madam Ross’s girls.
Ned – barman in the taproom.
Robbie Duncan – a regular client of Nell.
Jimmy Cade – an early regular client of Nell.
THE THEATRE
Charles Hart – leading actor, shareholder, and one of the managers of The King’s Company. Nell’s mentor and teacher.
John Lacy – leading actor, shareholder, and one of the managers of The King’s Company. Nell’s mentor and teacher.
Michael Mohun – leading actor, shareholder, and one of the managers of The King’s Company.
Walter Clun, also known as Wat – leading actor and shareholder in the King’s Comp any, specializing in character roles. Agrees to teach Nell to act.
Thomas Killigrew – founder and patent-holder of The King’s Company and a supporter and intimate of King Charles.
Betsy Knepp – actress in the King’s company. A friend of Nell and of Samuel Pepys.
Katherine Mitchell Corey, also referred to as Kate – actress in the King’s Company, specialising in character roles.
Dicky One-Shank – old sailor and scenekeeper at the Theatre Royal.
Harry Killigrew – son of Thomas Killigrew and lover of Rose Gwynn.
Aphra Behn – playwright with the Duke’s Company and friend of Nell.
Anne Marshall – actress in the King’s Company. Probably the first English woman to appear on the professional stage.
Rebecca Marshall, also referred to as Beck – actress in the King’s Company.
Moll Davis – actress in the Duke’s Company. Mistress of King Charles, and a rival of Nell’s.
Mary Meggs, known as Orange Moll – holder of the concession to sell oranges and sweetmeats at the Theatre Royal.
Margaret Hughes, also referred to as Peg – actress in the King’s Company and friend of Nell.
Edward Kynaston, also referred to as Ned – actor in the King’s Company.
Elizabeth Barry, also referred to as Betty – actress with the Duke’s Company and mistress of the Earl of Rochester.
Marmaduke Watson – young actor in the King’s Company.
Theophilus Bird, referred to as Theo – young actor in the King’s Company, son of an actor by the same name.
Nicholas Burt – old actor in the King’s Company.
William Cartwright – old actor in the King’s Company.
