Project Gutenberg 2004-08-21 Public domain in the USA. 137 Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion) 1854 1909 Crawford, Francis Marion In the Palace of the King: A Love Story of Old Madrid Produced by Kevin Handy, John Hagerson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team "In the Palace of the King: A Love Story of Old Madrid" by F. Marion Crawford is a historical novel written during the late 19th century. Set in Madrid during the reign of King Philip II, the narrative revolves around a poignant love story involving Maria Dolores de Mendoza and Don John of Austria, the king's half-brother, who has just returned from a triumphant military campaign. The novel delves into themes of love, duty, and societal constraints within the rigid Spanish court. At the start of the story, we are introduced to two young women, Maria Dolores and her blind sister Inez, who are in the old Moorish palace preparing for Don John’s return. Maria Dolores is deeply in love with Don John, and she has poured her feelings into a letter that she intends to give him. The heightened tension escalates as their father, Mendoza, fiercely opposes their relationship, believing it will bring disgrace to their family given the political complexities of royal marriages and obligations. The opening sets the stage for a series of dramatic events, including Mendoza's harsh threats regarding a convent, highlighting the conflicting loyalties between familial duty and the passionate pursuit of love. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 76.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Madrid (Spain) -- Fiction John, of Austria, 1547-1578 -- Fiction PS Text Historical Fiction Category: Historical Novels Category: Romance 567103 2025-08-06T04:35:37.713565 text/html 545811 2024-10-28T20:11:53 text/html 294110 2025-08-06T04:35:46.221518 application/epub+zip 301863 2025-08-06T04:35:40.945500 application/epub+zip 280477 2025-08-06T04:35:39.729543 application/epub+zip 582203 2025-08-06T04:35:50.418445 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 559049 2025-08-06T04:35:45.426472 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 447789 2022-09-07T01:07:16.397338 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 552466 2025-08-06T04:35:36.944524 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 532535 2024-10-28T20:11:53 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16669 2025-08-06T04:35:50.540444 application/rdf+xml 20081 2025-08-06T04:35:40.226499 image/jpeg 4585 2025-08-06T04:35:39.976508 image/jpeg 290002 2025-08-06T04:35:37.762509 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia