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Maria wishes to be a dutiful wife, a task which should prove easy. She's eloped with Phillip Rendell, the knight about whom minstrels sing, and who saved the life of Edward II's half-brother, Richard of Sussex, at the Battle of Bannockburn.

But Phillip will not happily settle as husband and lord of Fordwich Castle, and Maria fears he bears the mark of Cain, always seeking something more, something just beyond his reach.

And while Maria still desperately loves her restless husband, she is also drawn to the powerful man he saved, and he to her.

Following the return of the Black Death, Margery Watson nurses Golden Knight Matthew Hart back from his war wounds.

A bond deepening between them, Matthew, who refuses to marry so his younger brother may inherit all, begs Margery to openly live with him. Margery agrees. Like her grandmother before her, she will risk all for love.

But betrayal leaves Margery the wife of a wealthy goldsmith, who trades on her family name, ranked among England's oldest, while Margery and Matthew foolishly believe that time, distance and heartbreak will be enough to keep them forever apart.

His belief in the Perfection of Knighthood challenged by battlefield atrocities, Matthew Hart returns to London, wishing to reunite with his first love, Margery Watson.

Her cruel husband now dead, Margery is a wealthy widow with no intention of returning to the bonds of marriage. But she cannot turn away her once Golden Knight, no matter the depth of innocent blood he spilled in the name of honor and duty.

As Matthew forces himself to fulfill feudal obligations, and Margery's unrest turns treasonous, the forces of king and kingdom may prove the lovers' ultimate undoing.

With a child king upon the throne and England’s lucrative martial victories a faded memory, Knight Matthew Hart wants only to reunite with his long-time lover, Margery Watson, and their son, to live out his days far away from the royal court.

But Margery's loyalties are torn. To settle down with the knight she’s loved since childhood or commit treason and side with the commoners overburdened with servitude and taxes.

When revolt sparks among the masses, thousands march on London, vowing to overthrow all those in power.

Now Margery must choose between her place in society with a knight she loves and her true beliefs about freedom, justice and equality.

Medieval England from the Aftermath of 1381 Peasants’ Revolt to the Deposition and Murder of Richard II on 14 Feb 1400

As the former boy king, Richard II, approaches his third decade, Matthew Hart and England’s other great lords struggle to deflect his more destructive impulses, which increasingly threaten the kingdom.

Amidst attempted assassinations, growing civil war and political intrigue, Matthew Hart, his beloved wife, Margery Watson, and their offspring live and love and war their way through the last years of the fourteenth century, seeing the deposition and murder of England’s most tyrannical monarch.

In the fourteenth century’s waning days, the tyrannical Richard II is knocked from his throne, and Henry IV is crowned, despite a shaky claim to the throne.

Knight Matthew Hart, now in his sixties, believes he can retire to a quiet life in the wilds of Cumbria while Lancelot and Janey’s love remains more the stuff of Romances than reality.

Yet, all too soon, England’s lords grow restless, betrayal is in the air, and Matthew and his family must again ride into battle on behalf of their endangered king.

The fates of all the characters who grace the Knights of England series, spanning a century—including some of the most vivid battles, events and historical characters in medieval history—are resolved.

A Breathtaking Medieval Saga of Love, Duty, Loyalty, Failure and Triumph in the First Three Volumes of The Knights of England by Mary Ellen Johnson

BOOK 1: The Lion and the Leopard - Maria Rendell wants to be a dutiful wife to husband Phillip, but can't deny her attraction to their liege lord, Richard of Sussex. Loving Philip should be easy. She has married the knight of whom minstrels sing; the knight who saved Richard's life. But when Phillip abandons Maria to indulge his wanderlust, she turns to Richard, sparking a passionate affair amidst the crumbling kingdom of Edward II. Meanwhile, Edward II's barons are rebelling, executing his favorites, and across the channel in France, Isabella, Edward II's wife—the She-Wolf of France—plans to invade England. Then King Edward is captured as Richard and Maria prepare to flee to safety, and Phillip returns. Now the day of reckoning is at hand—not only for Maria, Richard, and Phillip, but for that most unfortunate of Plantagenet kings, Edward II.

BOOK 2: A Knight There Was - Following his return from battle with a life-threatening sickness, Margery Watson nurses Golden Knight Matthew Hart back to health. A bond deepening between them, Matthew--who refuses to marry so his younger brother may inherit all--begs Margery to openly live with him. Margery agrees. Like her grandmother before her, she will risk all for love. But a scheming adversary concocts a deception in Matthew's absence that leaves Margery the unwitting wife of a wealthy goldsmith--who seeks only to trade on her family name--while believing she was betrayed by Matthew. When Matthew returns from London to find Margery wedded and bedded, he accuses her of betraying HIM. Now, both Margery and Matthew foolishly believe that time, distance and heartbreak will be enough to keep them forever apart.

BOOK 3: Within A Forest Dark - With his belief in the Perfection of Knighthood challenged by battlefield atrocities, Matthew Hart returns to London, wishing to reunite with his first love, Margery Watson. Margery's cruel husband is now dead. As a wealthy widow, she has no intention of returning to the bonds of marriage. But she cannot turn away her handsome knight, no matter the depth of innocent blood he spilled in the name of honor and duty. As Matthew forces himself to fulfill feudal obligations, and Margery's unrest turns treasonous, the forces of king and kingdom may prove the lovers' ultimate undoing or their best hope.