title: The Regicide's Widow: Lady Alice Lisle and the Bloody Assize
author:  Antony Whitaker 
description: Rebellion, persecution and injustice in Restoration England are the themes of this colourful and passionate book about the last woman to be beheaded in England. Lady Alice Lisle was the last remaining link with the hated regicides, the men who signed Charles I's death warrant, and when she gave shelter to a clergyman who had been involved in the popular uprising known as Monmouth's Rebellion, Judge Jeffreys, the 'Hanging Judge', showed no mercy. "The Regicide's Widow" recreates a disturbing period of British history through the characters of Lady Alice Lisle and Judge Jeffreys, a period when fairness, justice and truth were cast aside in the interests of political power and conformity. It is a truly Machiavellian story of statecraft, with government and judiciary involved in a ruthless display of might. In the end this display worked against them, for while it did not lead to direct revolt, the effects were so harsh and memories so vivid that the people of the West were among the most energetic supporters of the Glorious Revolution which three years after the Bloody Assize brought James' rule to an end.
zlib_text: J ULIANNE M AC L EAN
  
  Portrait of a Lover
  
  
  
  
  
  Contents
  
  [Prologue](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  Annabelle Lawson tipped her head back upon the rough bark
  
  [The Train](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  [Chapter 1](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  That shawl is entirely too young for her, Aunt Millicent
  
  [Chapter 2](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  Magnus Wallis sat across from Miss Annabelle Lawson on the
  
  [Chapter 3](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  Struggling to banish such painful memories of her unforgettable first
  
  [Paintings](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  [Chapter 4](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  The crumpled up note Annabelle had placed in Mr. Edwardss hand
  
  [Chapter 5](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  You didnt keep me waiting this time, Annabelle said as
  
  [Chapter 6](Portrait_of_A_Lover_split_000.html#filepos109)
  
  The following Sunday, Annabelle arri