Courtesan
DIANE DE POITIERSs:
Her fear hidden behind her radiant beauty, Diane walked regally into the court where the King of France and his noblemen were gathered. After five years of exile, she had returned to face the whispers about her past. She never expected still to be the object of the King's desire. . . and she never would have guessed that her destiny lay with his handsome, hotheaded son. When she had last seen young Henri, he had been just a boy. Now, as his strong hand clasped her slender fingers, he was undeniably a man. . . whose touch told her that, as wrong as it was, their hearts were joined by fire and fate.
HENRI DE VALOIS:
Rage against a lifetime of his father's indifference lay like a shadow across his rugged face. Second to the throne, he had been forced to betroth a foreign princess when there was only one woman he desired--Diane de Poitiers, the lovely blonde widow whose blue eyes gazed into his troubled soul, and whose kiss aroused his first sweet taste of ecstasy. Her embrace was all he wanted in the world.
But the rising tides of fortune were sweeping Henri toward the crown and leaving Diane with a perilous choice. . .to forget he powerful man she would give her life for, or risk everything for a magnificent, incandescent love.