Simon the Coldheart: A tale of chivalry and adventure (Historical Romances)

In the early 15th century, during the middle of the Hundred Years' War, England and France were fighting for sovereignty over France. It was a time of hand-to-hand combat, the invention of the longbow, and real knights in armor. Simon Beauvallet was born in 1386, the illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Malvallet. After his mother's death in 1400, he and his half-brother, the legitimate son and heir of his father, became great friends of the Prince, fighting against France. Known for his silence and nicknamed "the Coldheart," Simon nonetheless loved children and had a complex and deep personality. After the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, he was sent to besiege Belremy, where he met the lady, Margaret, who eventually surrendered to the English and became his bride. "She makes the knightly days live again." -Boston Evening Transcript "An outstanding storyteller." -The Times Literary Supplement "When we meet Simon of Beauvallet he is a 14 year old boy, the year is 1400, and the 100 year war is raging. Simon is the bastard son of Geoffrey of Malvallet and as such must make his own way in the world without the status and advantage his father’s station might have conferred. By sheer strength of will Simon manages to join a rival house’s army and through courage and strength rises up the ranks until he knighted by the King himself for his bravery. Through his travels and adventures he meets and becomes fast friends with his half brother, gains lands, but never finds love. Indeed his seeming disinterest in the many women of England who would be his lady gains him the moniker “Simon the Heartless.” But that changes when he lays siege to and takes the French castle in Belremy. There he falls in love with the lady Margaret. But Margaret hates the English invader and Simon, it would seem, has met his match." -- From publisher's description Simon was born in 1386, the illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Malvallet. He and his half-brother became great friends of the Prince, fighting against France. Simon, valiant and strong, with a keen mind and fair visage, had defied his ignoble birth to become a page, then a squire, and at last a lord of the land. Friend of kings and princes, gentle and just with his people, and known for his silence Simon seemed to lack only one emotion -- the ability to love. For this they called him Simon the Coldheart. Until he came upon Margaret, a French Lady. After the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, he was sent to besiege Belremy, where he met the heartless beauty whose courage and strength of will were more than a match for this knight in gilded armor. Simon Beauvallet works his way from poverty to knighthood in early fifteenth-century England, becoming a confidante to the future King Henry V while engaging in a battle of wits and words with the lovely Lady Margaret