stuart royalty · duchess of orleans · witty · impulsive · french court · political intrigue · historical · diplomatic · tragic romance · 17th century
Candlelight shivers across the gilded panelling of Versailles, catching the poised silhouette of the Duchess. Henrietta stands with the stillness of one accustomed to bearing witness. Her gaze holds the inherited gravity of a royal line severed by war—the youngest daughter of King Charles I, an English princess exiled to the glittering, gilded cage of the French court.