Anne of Geierstein

The novel is set shortly after the battle of Tewkesbury, in which the Yorkist king Edward IV had finally defeated the Lancastrian party. Two exiled Lancastrians, John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford and his son, Arthur, are travelling through Switzerland disguised as merchants and under the assumed name of Philipson. Carrying the diamond necklace of Margaret of Anjou, they are on a mission to convert Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, to the Lancastrian cause. Caught by a storm in the mountains, they find refuge in the home of Arnold Biederman, chief magistrate of Unterwalden. Biederman has relinquished his hereditary title of Count of Geierstein in favour of his brother Albert. His niece, the young Countess Anne, lives under his protection, and rescues Arthur from death when attacked by vertigo on an Alpine ledge. She and Arthur fall in love but, fearing family opposition, Anne treats him with reserve. How will this novel end? Read Anne of Geierstein in order to know the end!