As you all well know, I’m very tired of Melusina Granger and her novel The Wicked Mistress, which is supposed to be about my life as King John’s time-travelling mistress but bears about as much resemblance to it as Little House on the Prairie does. Less, actually.
So I was delighted to learn that Little Princess are bringing a new Lady Moppet novel to publication. The title is King of My Heart, the author is Melissa McBride, and Melissa has been kind enough to send me a review copy. And, yes – I enjoyed reading it. While my story has been adapted for the romance genre, John and I are portrayed with respect, if a good deal of imagination. I’ll share a few quotes to show you what I mean. But not before warning you that there is some adult content in what follows…
Prince John and Lady Moppet’s first meeting:
John lowered his head for a moment of peace before the onslaught of emotion that was sure to accompany his mother’s arrival for the holiday. He knew how it would be. She would lavish attention on Richard of course, speak politely to Geoffrey, argue heatedly with Father, and barely acknowledge his own presence. This was easy enough to accept after so many years. He had the security of his father’s love and favor, and that had seen him through many a time of worry. He was not truly unhappy, but he was aware that something—some vital part of him—was missing. In just a few moments, he would know what that was.
The queen swept into the hall with a regal silence that spoke volumes. Her ladies-in-waiting kept their heads down, in awe of their mistress. Eleanor had no need of fanfare to accompany her arrival. She caused a stir all on her own.
Uninterested in the ceremonial aspects of his dam’s arrival, John instead studied the ladies-in-waiting. Mostly the same as last year. Suddenly a pair of eyes met his, stealing the breath from his chest. She was new. And he vowed then and there that she would be his, no matter her name, no matter her station…she would belong to him.
“So, Moppet is it? How long have you been with mother?”
“Not long, my lord prince.”
“Yet it seems she depends on you a great deal.”
“Perhaps she knows she can trust me.”
“And could I trust you?”
“You might, if you would let yourself.” Moppet turned and stared out the window. She couldn’t be developing feelings for Prince John. Losing one’s heart to a prince of this court would be dangerous indeed.
“Moppet, come and help dress my hair, will you? None of the others can do it properly.” Eleanor swept into the room. Halting she took in the set of Moppet’s shoulders and the slightly frustrated look on John’s face. “My son, haven’t you somewhere to be? Plotting to kill your brothers or some such?”
John barely refrained from glaring at her. How did she know about that? “Goodnight Madam.” He stalked from the room, wishing he could have invented a reason to stay. But soon he would find a way to get Moppet alone. Then she would have to admit that she found him appealing. And he would show her that he could be downright irresistible when he chose. “Soon, my precious Moppet.” He whispered. “Soon.”
Lady Moppet and Prince John have an intimate encounter:
She moved away from him until she hit the bedpost. It wasn’t that she was frightened, truly. But she couldn’t afford the distraction. She had work to do, and John was complicating matters. He refused to take “I’m washing my hair” for an answer. As small drops of water dripped onto the coverlet from her unbound mane, the prince took a step closer and blew out the flames issuing from the candelabra’s trio of candles. Only the fire illuminated them now.
“We both want this, Moppet. Why do you insist on fighting it? Surrender to passion, to love, to me.”
“It isn’t in me to admit defeat, my lord.” He was so near, reaching for his shirt. Her heart beat deafeningly loud. In a moment she would be confronted with his bare chest. How would her pulse react to that sight? Surely it could not trip any faster.
“John,” he breathed. The shirt lifted over his head and was discarded somewhere behind them.
Stunned by his masculine beauty, she whispered back. “John.” Suddenly his arms were around her and his lips assailed hers. He was strong and warm, and everything she needed at this moment. To hell with her mission, it could wait until later.
He tasted sweet wine on her tongue and drank deeply of the pleasure she offered. Pulling her yet more snugly against him, he groaned as her softness connected with the granite wall of his chest. This was what he’d been missing all this time. This was what he needed. This was Moppet.
She lifted her arms to twine around his neck and held on for fear of melting into nothingness. She knew her knees would fail her should he release her now. She tilted her head to the side, allowing him greater access, desperate to maintain the contact. A low moan escaped her when his hands slid downward and rocked her hips against the burning length of his royal manhood.
He pulled away for a moment and was stunned by the depth of desire shining in her eyes. She looked at him as a cat looks at a pan of cream. He had thought himself the aggressor, the pursuer, but as she pulled him down to the bed he realized that her needs were as great as his own. She’d fought valiantly, but passion could not be denied forever.
He sought to prolong every touch, every kiss, every lick, but she would have none of that. The persistent aching need building inside her would give no quarter. She pleasured him expertly, her instincts greater than the skills of the most accomplished courtesans. Clothing was quickly removed, underclothing rent completely in their haste to join.
John shuddered with the exertion of fighting to maintain control of his body. Part of him wanted to release himself to her care completely, but another, darker part insisted that he should lead her to blinding ecstasy first. Flipping her backward he thrust manfully into her sweetness. She shivered and clung to him tightly, glorying in their joining. Gentleness was gone, replaced by burning, consuming need. He lavished her woman’s pillows with hungry attention, sucking the rosy peaks of femininity until she groaned his name. She in turn caressed and nipped at every inch of his skin within her reach. A storm of passion rocked them. The outside world mattered naught. Kings and queens and petty jealousies were nothing to the bond being forged. Together they climbed the heights of pleasure, and rode a crest of satisfaction that left them both breathless with wonder and completion.
Holding tight to his lover, John looked on her face with awe. She had fallen asleep in his arms, and the flickering firelight played on her skin, lending a golden glow to her succulent body. A gentle smile rested on her lips. John’s heart turned over in his well-muscled chest and he understood with perfect clarity that Moppet was a woman like no other…a woman who could break through the walls he’d built around his heart. He kissed her brow gently and vowed never to let her learn of the power she had over him—if she did, all would be lost.
Does John really feel this way about me? He won’t say and I’ll never know. But whatever the truth, a bond was forged that night, and it has yet to be broken (although if he puts me in a dungeon one more time, that might do it).
Lady Moppet, her mission complete, says farewell to her prince:
“What do you mean you’re leaving? I forbid it!” He took Moppet by the shoulders and his eyes bored into hers, a deep, stormy grey that she wished she could drown in. If only things were different. But they weren’t.
“I told you I must go. I don’t belong here, John, you know that.”
He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms about her waist. “You could belong here. If you wanted it badly enough you could.”
Fighting tears she pushed him away. “Don’t you see that I’d stay if I could? But this isn’t my world.”
“Is it father? Richard? If he’s done something to upset you, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
“Don’t be childish John. It’s neither of them, and I don’t want blood shed over me! Last night…”
“Yes. How can you go after last night? You said I was the greatest lover on the face of the earth! Do you think you can live without me?”
“I shall have to try. Trust me John. It’s for the best.” His face fell and she almost relented. His expression was one of wounded heartsickness. “You will find others to console you.”
He reached for her hand. “Never one like you, Moppet.”
“It grows late. I must depart.” She made to leave, but he tugged her back.
“Not until you’ve bid me a proper farewell.” He tilted her chin with a finger, worshipping her countenance with his eyes, then slowly, oh so slowly leaned down to touch his lips to hers. It was the merest whisper of a kiss, and not nearly enough. Heat sparked through Moppet and as he pulled away he saw the longing in her eyes. Dipping his head again he poured all of his raging emotion into the kiss: the pain, the passion, the need, and the power. Her mind reeled as she turned to retrieve her few belongings and walked toward the door. She hadn’t the strength to look back, even when she heard his voice.
“You’ll come back to me someday Moppet.” He called. “You’ll come back.”
Reading this makes me wish John and I had said goodbye like this, rather than the reality of waking alone to discover that he had stolen my underwear (which, incidentally, I never got back).
This is the way things should have been.
Not only was I happy to endorse the novel, I got back in touch with Melissa to ask what had inspired her to turn me into a romantic heroine.
Q&A with Melissa McBride
What inspired you to write about Lady Moppet and how relevant do you think she is for women today?
I love obscure historical figures. And Lady Moppet was obscure until recently. With the debut of “The Wicked Mistress” by Mel Granger, the public has suddenly become curious about the woman who held the key to John of England’s heart. I felt this was an excellent opportunity to satisfy my own interest as well as that of the public.
To answer the second part of your question: I find Lady Moppet to be extremely relevant for today’s woman. She was strong and capable. She matched wits on a regular basis with one of her time’s most powerful men. As any scholar will tell you, John was not an easy man to deal with, imagine how much more difficult it was to love him. Many a woman today faces similar challenges in relationships, and with break-up rates what they are people are looking to the past for the key to a lasting partnership.
You haven’t followed those historians who claim Moppet met John in a brothel – why is that?
The simple reason I haven’t followed historians who claim that John and Moppet met in a brothel is because of the lack of evidence supporting such a theory. That camp points to a document called Historia Moppetae to substantiate those claims, but my extensive research has turned up no evidence whatsoever that such a chronicle even exists.
King of My Heart shows the softer side to King John. Do you think he has been maligned by history, or was he a very different man in his private life?
Oh there’s no question in my mind that history has been unkind to King John. In fact many eminent historians agree on that point. The fact of his more tender side, while not much in evidence in chronicles that deal more with ruling than feelings, is indisputable. With all the pressures he faced, of course he had to present a strong front to the world. But I believe in his most private moments, he was just as human as any other man. And I’ve tried to capture that lesser-known side of him in King of my Heart.
The historical record shows that King John ordered Lady Moppet imprisoned on more than one occasion. Melusina Granger has put this in the context of their adventurous sex life. What’s your interpretation?
The imprisonments actually are an excellent indicator of the depth of King John’s feelings for Lady Moppet. He loved her so much that it frightened him. Here was a woman who had accomplished what no other had or would: she captured the king’s heart. That put her in a position of immense power, whether she knew it or not. Clearly John had to make it clear that he was still in control. Plus we all know he had a quick temper. It’s not unreasonable to assume that he would have thrown her in the slammer for a slight, real or imagined. But the fact that he let her back out speaks volumes.
Lady Moppet accumulated lands and wealth and her personal jewel collection seems to have mysteriously survived the loss of John’s treasure in the Wash. Can we be sure she loved John for himself alone?
There will be those who speculate along those lines, of course. But when you’ve researched Moppet as thoroughly as I have, you see the matter differently. Of course King John gave her lands, as he did with all of those who pleased him. For a king to give someone wealth back then would be like sending someone a greeting card these days. No big deal for a man who owned England and parts of France.
You do make an interesting point about the Moppet Jewels. And I find this information key in answering the question you’ve posed about Moppet’s true feelings for the king. Why hold on to the jewels? I mean she could have sold them, or traded them for others. But these jewels held a value beyond the monetary for her. Lady Moppet had a unique allure for men of the 12th century. And doubtless there were others who gifted her with glittering baubles, but only the ones from the king remain in the collection. What happened to the other jewels? But more importantly why keep John’s unless she considered them symbols of the love they’d shared? The fact that the Moppet Jewels remain intact is testament not only to John and Moppet’s initial devotion to each other, but the importance their romance carried for successive generations. Only a true love like theirs could inspire cash-strapped descendants to avoid selling off valuable mementos. I consider King John and Lady Moppet’s story one of the greatest of all time.
Lady Moppet is best known to history through her son by John, the powerful baron Oscar Fitzroy, who saved the English crown for the Plantagenets when he abruptly switched sides during the Second Barons’ War. How far do you think Lady Moppet’s parenting was responsible for his success?
Ah, an excellent and thought-provoking question. In Oscar Fitzroy we see a great deal of both mother and father. A less-well known fact is that, interestingly, he had a surprisingly close relationship with his grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. A few surviving letters indicate that Oscar was actually her favorite grandchild. But back to your question. Oscar’s success overall is easily and correctly attributable to Lady Moppet’s steadying influence. He was kind of a live wire in his youth, and I believe without his mother’s guiding hand, he might have headed for ruin. Though I do have to say that his momentous decision in the Second Baron’s War was all John. Certainly he inherited a great deal of intelligence from both his parents, and so he would have been able to analyze the situation and predict the outcome with greater accuracy than most. But impulsively turning on his allies at the last minute? Classic Plantagenet.
In closing I would like to thank you for having me. It’s been an absolute pleasure. And don’t forget “King of my Heart” goes on sale in December. Ciao.
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Many thanks to Love History of Historical Fiction Online, who made this post possible!
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Tags: king of my heart, lady moppet of yorkshire, melissa mcbride, melusina granger, the wicked mistress
This sounds much better than the Granger book. At least there’s no weeping vulvas and volcanos of honey.
Well, well, well.
This is all getting very self-referential.
Moppet reads a new romance about herself (had she nothing better to do?) and then interviews the author and asks questions about herself.
I think Moppet needs to get out more, and not stay in, reading about herself.
Sadly, as the winter nights draw in I feel the latter is more likely than the former.
And you know what? It doesn’t bother me one bit. No matter how many other writers try to rip me off with their sugary, sanitised versions of Lady Moppet, there will remain one book which dares to tell the truth about her.
THE WICKED MISTRESS by MELUSINA GRANGER.
Available wherever good books are sold.
“Available wherever good books are sold.”
Yes. Way, way in the back.
Never mind the real Moppet, this is far more like the real me.
I’m not one to brag, but the parts where Moppet appreciates my masculine beauty, and praises my sexual prowess, are very true to life.
She’s never been able to keep her hands off me and my royal sceptre – that’s why she keeps coming back for more.
That last sentence leaves me with a feeling of foreboding – sequels are sure to follow! Coming back for more of the “royal sceptre” – I can’t type anymore, as my eyes are blurred with too much laughing!
Now, Melissa, that’s great literature! Lovely painting too. You can guess John’s wall-of-granite torso.
Melissa is gratified by your kind words.
What an excellent book! I cannot put it down for fear of stopping. I am quite impressed by your skills, Ms. McBride. As it is, you have asked me about whether there was some love story in my past. Having seen your faithfulness and accuracy, I feel I can do no harm to my reputation by telling you that indeed, there were several. Amogn other things, I had to defend my sisters from false accusations and would-be-lovers, which caused much turmoil and intrigue, especially when in retaliation, they felt the need to protect me from she who would become my lady wife. The situation was made even more complicated by dual loyalties had among everyone, and the women of the house wanting to spend time in both England, Wales and France, disregardign any warfare that might have been going on. I still remember the time my future wife fled from my sisters, and the frantic chase which ensued, until we managed to come on her just before she was attacked by french brigands. Ah, the days of youth….
Wow, Meneldur. Sounds like your family could provide a series, at the very least a trilogy, of romance novels. I’ll pass that info along to Melissa. I’m sure she’ll be very interested in learning more about the mysterious Lord Meneldur.
Brilliant! I am laughing and crying at the same time…thank you for this, Moppet…:)