Iris Lloyd

This fascinating painting, entitled 'After Midnight Mass, Fifteenth Century', was exhibited by George Henry Boughton at the Royal Academy in 1897 and is now hidden away in a private collection.Did her creator know who she was, this lady of high birth emerging from the cathedral in the snow with her companion at her elbow? And who was the young man with yellow hair who is stepping forward from the crowd, hoping to attract her attention?Within the covers of this book, the reader will discover her story, the story of a little serf with chestnut curls and violet eyes...

Marian's hands trembled as she knelt on the scaffold to tuck Queen Anne Boleyn's long dark hair into a black cloth cap in readiness for her execution.She had not known - how could she? - when her guardian brought her to the court of Henry VIII at Greenwich Palace, that this would one day be her distressing duty.Young Marian had flourished at court, in spite of its many temptations and distractions, not least the unwelcome advances of privy councillor Lord Bathampton. However, throughout twelve turbulent years, she had never relinquished her dream of finding happiness with the only many she truly loved.