Henry Esmond, a supposed bastard raised at Castlewood Hall, tells his own story in the manner of the early eighteenth century: his devotion to the gentle Lady Castlewood, his hopeless love for her dazzling daughter Beatrix, his service under Marlborough, and his part in a plot to bring the Stuart Pretender to the throne.
Thackeray considered it his best work, a historical novel written in convincing Queen Anne English. Download the free EPUB.