This is the reissue of the second novel in the Wideacre Trilogy; a compulsive drama set in the eighteenth century. The Wideacre estate is bankrupt, the villagers are living in poverty and Wideacre Hall is a smoke-blackened ruin. But, in the Dower House, two children are being raised in protected innocence. Equal claimants to the inheritance of Wideacre, rivals for the love of the village, they are tied by a secret childhood betrothal but forbidden to marry. Only one can be the favoured child. Only one can inherit the magical understanding between the land and the Lacey family that can make the Sussex village grow green again. Only one can be Beatrice Lacey's true heir. Sweeping, passionate, unique The Favoured Child is the second novel in Philippa Gregory's bestselling trilogy which began with Wideacre and concluded with Meridon.