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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
