She was Catharine of Valois, youngest daughter of that pathetic pair, Charles the Mad of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, most beautiful, most powerful and reputedly, most wanton woman of her time. He was Henry of England, that bright, shining star flashing through the heavens as victor at Agincourt and conqueror of France. Their troth was plighted while they were leagues apart, before one had ever seen the other, but to win his bride Henry had to fight his way through the massed chivalry of the greatest military power on earth.

And yet, was it Catharine he wanted, or the crown he could claim through her, so he might rule two thrones where no one man had ever ruled before? For did not his own uncle, the Bishop of Winchester, who knew Henry as did few men, say, “He has no lust for women; his whole lust is for war.”

So, Catharine, with her background of poverty amidst fantastic luxury, of blood and cruelty, of masques and triumphs, of true religious faith and spiritual fervor, went to the marriage bed to find Henry had little time or inclination for a wife. Always before his eyes was England, his “rights,” his lands—and his claim to France.

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FOREWORD:
The scene is set in England and in France. The story begins in 1413. In England Henry V has just ascended the throne. Young, untried, and of the usurping house of Lancaster, he has yet to win his people's love; the glory of Agincourt is yet to come.
In France six years have passed since Louis of Orleans was murdered by John of Burgundy. The Count of Armagnac has taken upon himself the Orleans quarrel and the old hatred springs more deadly than before. The country is torn between Armagnac and Burgundian. No man knows loyalty save to himself and perhaps to his party. The mad King Charles VI turns first to this side and then to that. The wanton Queen Isabeau, hating both parties, watches with shrewd eyes to make herself mistress of France.

Into this torn and troubled land comes the demand of Henry V first for the vast territories ceded to his great-grandfather Edward III by the Treaty of Brétigny, and then—for the crown itself.