Текст книги "The Sun in Splendour"

Автор книги: Jean Plaidy

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'It is true that your uncle was the choice of the Queen but your father was growing anxious about the domination of her family and intended to make changes.'

Edward wanted to shout at this uncle: 'I don't believe it. I love them all. They love me. My half-brother Richard and my uncle Anthony are my best friends. As for you, my lord Gloucester, I don't know you. I don't like you. And I want my uncle Anthony brought back.'

But there was something stem and fierce about Uncle Richard of Gloucester. Edward quailed before him, and was afraid of him. He looked as though he rarely laughed. Uncle Anthony laughed a great deal, although he was a very religious man and sometimes wore a hair shirt under his fine garments. Surely that was a sign of holiness? But Uncle Anthony was fun to be with. So was his half-brother. He wanted to command Uncle Gloucester to send Lord Rivers back to him but he did not know how to do it.

'My lord,' said Gloucester gently, 'your father left instructions that I, his brother, who was closer to him than any other, should be Protector of the Realm and of your person. Do you give your consent that your father's wishes be carried out?'

Edward looked helplessly about him. He wanted to protest. He looked to Lord Richard Grey but his half-brother knew that there was nothing to be done against Gloucester, for it was true that the late King had named him Protector.

'Y . . yes,' stammered the King. 'I agree that my father's commands shall be carried out.'

Then, my lord, we shall return to Northampton,' said Gloucester.

To Northampton! But my mother is waiting for us in London.'

'I must first of all ascertain that it is safe for you to go there.'

'But my mother. . . .'

'Your mother could not protect you as I shall. We are returning without delay to Northampton and very soon I am sure my friends in London will let me know what is happening there and as soon as it is safe we shall return and you shall be crowned King of England. We shall leave this place in an hour.'

He left the inn and sitting on his horse he addressed the soldiers.

'Your task is done,' he said. 'The King is safely in my hands which is where his father wished him to be. As soon as I have news from London that it is safe for him to go there I shall accompany him to the capital. I trust, my friends, that ere long our King will be attending his coronation. Now there is no need for your good services. Disperse and go back to your homes. You will be told if and when you are needed.'

There was a slight hesitation and murmuring among them then they turned away and did as they were bid.

Gloucester went back into the inn.

'Where are Lord Richard Grey and Thomas Vaughan?' he asked.

'They are with the King, my lord.'

'As soon as they leave him, arrest them. Let them be sent with Rivers to Sheriff Hutton.'

JANE SHORE

The Queen with her son, the Marquess of Dorset, was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the young King with his uncle Rivers.

She could not understand the delay for she knew that Anthony was at Stony Stratford. That was the last place from which the messengers had come.

Tf we are to be all prepared for the coronation on the fourth there is little time left to us,' she declared.

'We will get it done in time, never fear.'

Elizabeth looked with faint exasperation and a great deal of affection at this handsome eldest son of hers. He was like his father who had been an extremely handsome man. She had certainly managed to attract good-looking men, she thought ruefully. Edward had of course been incomparable and royal at that, but her first husband had been a most outstandingly handsome man and Thomas took after him. Thomas of course was not the most steady of men; he was impulsive and she had to confess a little arrogant and quite vain. His stepfather had spoilt him, taking him about with him. Now Thomas was known as one of the biggest rakes in the kingdom.

At first she had been annoyed when he and Edward had gone off adventuring together and then she had thought it was not such a bad thing. Far better that the King should be with Thomas rather than Hastings. Thomas and Hastings did not like each other and she had heard that they were both contenders for Jane Shore now that the King was dead.

What an attraction that woman appeared to have! The King had been devoted to her until his last days. She must have great physical gifts; but there must have been something more than that to hold Edward to her for so long. Hastings, it seemed, was

really in love with her—or so rumour went, but she would have none of him. The same rumour had it that she had succumbed to Dorset now that Edward was dead.

Poor Jane! Although he was her son and she was devoted to him, Elizabeth rather pitied the woman who relied too much on him. He was a rake of a different kind from Edward and Hastings. Edward had been a romanric at heart and Hastings most certainly was. There was nothing of that about Thomas. Thomas knew exactly what he wanted and that was the grarificarion of his sexual appetites which were as voracious as those of the late King—or almost as voracious—for surely none could compare with Edward in that respect.

She was deliberately trying not to think of what might be happening at Stony Stratford because she very much feared something had gone wrong. She had given instructions that couriers were to come in a continuous stream, so anxious was she to be ready when her son arrived.

It had been hours now and there were none. Anthony should be almost in sight of London now.

At last, the messenger had arrived. Something was definitely wrong. The Queen commanded that he be brought to her without a second's delay. He was breathless and stammered out the news.

She could not believe it. Gloucester had the King! He was at Northampton with him! Anthony and Richard arrested!

'Oh God preserve us,' she cried, 'this is disaster.'

She looked at Dorset. He was never at his best in a crisis.

'Gloucester has defeated us,' he cried. 'A thousand curses on Gloucester. A pox on the man!'

'But what are we to do?' demanded Elizabeth. 'He has arrested your brother and your uncle. What do you think will happen to us when he comes to London?'

'We must get away . . .' cried Dorset. 'But where can we go?'

Elizabeth was ready. It had happened before. She said: 'We must go into Sanctuary.'

She looked about her at all the rich possessions which she so loved. Leave them ... go to Sanctuary. How long would she remain there? And yet she must. How could she know what Gloucester would do when he brought the King to London?

'We must prepare to go at once. I will take all the children with me. He cannot harm us in Sanctuary. I lived there before when

the King was in exile. I shall do it again. But this hme I shall take with me . . . some of my possessions. 1 shall not go empty-handed as I did before.'

Then let us start at once to collect what you will take with you. There is little hme to be lost.'

Elizabeth frantically called to her servants and began directing them as to what must be packed. Others must go and prepare the children. She thanked God that young Richard was with them. He and the five girls must be prepared at once to leave and as soon as her precious possessions were crated they would sail up the river to the Sanctuary.

Meanwhile Hastings had received the news that the King was in Gloucester's hands. The city was crowded with the nobles from all over the country who had come for the King's coronation and it occurred to Hastings that he should inform Thomas Rotherham Archbishop of York, who was also Chancellor and who by good fortune happened to be in London at this time, that all was well.

The old Archbishop who was sixty years of age was startled from his sleep by the news.

Hastings' words intended to reassure him did nothing of the sort. 'All will be well,' Hastings' message ended.

The old man pondered it. He was a supporter of the Queen and he did not like this. 'All will be well,' he muttered. 'But it will never be as good as it has been.'

No, it was a great disaster that Edward should have died so young before they were prepared for his death and thus to leave this innocent child to carry on the responsibilities of the crown. He hastily dressed and as he did so it was brought home to him more and more what this meant. The Queen's family was too powerful to stand aside and let Gloucester take over what they had decided was theirs.

He must warn the Queen without delay. He set out at once for Westminster Palace. There he found a most extraordinary scene. The Queen was seated on the rushes, her expression blank and despairing; all about her were servants packing crates, taking down tapestries from the walls and putting valuable ornaments into boxes.

'My lady,' cried the Chancellor, 'you must not despair. 1 have had word from my Lord Hastings. "All will be well", he says.'

'Hastings!' cried the Queen in fury. 'If ever a man was my

enemy that man is. He is determined to destroy me and my family. What he calls good is bad for me, my lord.'

The Chancellor was horrified.

'Oh my lady, my lady/ he cried, 'what shall we do?'

'You will stand by me, my lord? I shall have some friends.'

'My lady, you may rely on me to defend your cause.' He took the Great Seal and placed it in her hands.

Elizabeth took it gratefully and bade the Archbishop go back to his palace. Ere long she, with her family, would be leaving for Sanctuary.

The goods she was taking with her were packed. She sent for her children and they came, bewildered. They had never known the uneasy days. Their lives had all been guarded by their great indulgent all-powerful father. There was lovely Elizabeth, sixteen years old now and who should have been Dauphine of France at this time but for the treachery of Louis, the shock of whose deception had doubtless hastened Edward's death. Cecily, fourteen years old. And Anne eight, Catherine four and little Bridget three. Seeing them together thus the Queen thought of poor Mary and the great sorrow her death had brought them. Elizabeth and Edward had often congratulated themselves that they had been more lucky than most families because although they had lost three children—Margaret, George and now Mary—they had kept the rest and out of ten they had seven left to them and that was a very good number. The Queen embraced them all tenderly. She kept young Richard close to her. He as the boy was very precious. He was ten years old now and he was always asking queshons about his brother and wanting to see him. She had often considered sending him to Ludlow, but she had been unable to resist the temptation to keep him with her.

Now she was glad.

'My dear children,' she said to them, 'something dreadful has happened. Your wicked uncle Gloucester has taken the King from my lord Rivers and now holds him. I am afraid of what he will do when he brings him to London and for that reason we are all going into Sanctuary until we know what is happening.'

'Are we taking all these things with us?' asked Richard.

'Yes, my son, we are not leaving them behind for your uncle to have.'

'Will he kill Edward?'

'No, no. Nobody is going to kill anybody. He wouldn't dare. But he wants to rule through Edward and we are not going to allow that to happen.'

'Are we going to fight him. . . .'

'We are powerful enough to stop him.'

'The Woodvilles will be able to/ said Elizabeth. 'They are the most powerful family in the country.'

'That is so and rightly,' said the Queen. 'Remember, my dears, that you are Woodvilles too. Now Elizabeth and you Cecily, take care of the little ones. We should be leaving at once. The sooner we are in Sanctuary the more relieved I shall be.'

They went out into the barge and soon arrived at the Sanctuary beside the Abbey.

'I was here once before,' said young Elizabeth.

'Yes,' murmured the Queen, 'and I never thought this could ever befall us again.'

'Well, we are together,' Elizabeth reminded her.

'Not all of us,' piped up Richard. 'Edward isn't.'

'We shall soon have the King with us,' said the Queen firmly.

Waiting in Northampton Gloucester received Hashngs' message.

The Woodvilles had clearly realized they were beaten. The Queen had fled with her children into Sanctuary. Rotherham, the foolish old man, had lost his head and given the Great Seal back to the Queen though no sooner had he committed this act of folly than he had attempted to retrieve it. He had been too late however; the Queen had gone and when it was realized what he had done he had naturally been deprived of his office.

It would be fitting now for Gloucester to bring the King to London.

So all was going according to plan. Gloucester could be sure that if Edward could look down from Heaven he would approve of what had been done. He had decided that it would be unwise to send Rivers, Grey and Vaughan to the same place of imprisonment and far safer to keep them separately confined. Rivers should go to Sheriff Hutton as originally intended, Richard Grey to Middleham and Vaughan to Pontefract.

He was now prepared to march on London. The King was a

little sullen; he showed clearly that he did not like his Uncle Gloucester and deeply resented that the uncle of whom he was very fond should with his half-brother be taken away from him.

Gloucester tried to talk to the boy of his father and how friendly they had been as brothers. Gloucester reminded the young King of his motto Loyaulte me lie which he had always adhered to and on which the late King had always been able to rely. Gloucester implied that he would now transfer that loyalty to the new King.

'Why, Edward/ he said, 'you are your father's son, my own nephew. To whom should I owe my loyalty but to you?'

Edward listened politely but there was a sullen line to his mouth.

'Perhaps,' he said, 'you could bring my uncle Lord Rivers to me for I do not know of what he can possibly be accused.'

'He will have a fair trial and then you will understand.'

T do not need a trial to tell me that he is innocent of all wrong doing,' said the King.

'You are loyal to those you believe to be your friends and that is admirable,' was all Gloucester said.

He was eager to show the King that he wanted to take nothing from him. All he wanted to do was set him on the throne and help him to govern wisely.

On the fourth of May—the day the Woodvilles had selected for his coronation—Edward the Fifth rode into London.

He was attired in blue velvet which became him well and his fair hair falling to his shoulders made of him a pretty sight. The people cheered him, though they had had their fill of Kings who were minors and knew that good rarely came of them. What England needed was a strong king—a man such as this boy's father had been.

Beside the King rode the Duke of Gloucester; he was sombrely clad in black, a contrast to the King's rich garments. And on the other side of the King was Buckingham, clad like Gloucester in black.

Solemnly they rode. The people cheered so wildly that Elizabeth with her children in the Sanctuary of Westminster heard them and she was exultant. It would not be long she promised herself and her family. Soon they would be out of this place and with the King.

The people looked at the Duke of Gloucester, pale, serious and sombre. His brother had relied on him, trusted him.

We have a young King, they thought; but we shall have a wise Protector. Edward in his wisdom has left us well provided for.

News of what was happening outside was brought into the Sanctuary. Elizabeth was desolate. The people accepted Richard; they saw in him a wise ruler, a man who had remained loyal to his brother and had had his confidence. He was serious-minded and had shown that he was a wise administrator by the order he had kept in the North of England. They loved their little King. He was good-looking and youth was always appealing providing there were those who could guide it.

The country unanimously agreed that Richard of Gloucester should be the Lord Protector, and Defender of the Realm.

He was against the Woodvilles but then so was the country. They had watched the avaricious Queen push her family into all the most important houses in the country. Well, that was going to be over now and the Protector had acted promptly and with good sense when he had arrested Rivers and Richard Grey and made Dorset realize that the only place where he would be safe was in Sanctuary.

Dorset was restive. He could not bear being confined in Sanctuary. How could he possibly pursue the kind of life which he had found so necessary to him in such a place? He missed Jane. He laughed slyly to think that she was his mistress. It had happened as soon as the King died—as he had known it would. He had long had his eyes on Jane and he would not have waited for the death of the King. She was the one who insisted on that. Jane was different from other women he had known; Edward had always said she was and he was right. She was not a natural harlot; she was warm-hearted and amorous by nature, bom to it, as Edward had said; and yet there was no question of buying her favours. It is not easy to give Jane anything, the King had said wonderingly. Dorset was cynical; at first he had thought she was just exceptionally clever as his own sister was in her way. But there could not be another woman living less like Elizabeth.

He derived great satisfaction from his affair with Jane for a number of reasons. In the first place she was beautiful and desirable; and for another, and this gave him special pleasure, Hastings had wanted her right from the time when the King had

first discovered her. Indeed Dorset was not sure whether Hastings had not discovered her first. Edward had come along and jostled poor William out of the way and of course he dared not anger the King over her and Edward would have been furious in the case of Jane though with any other woman he might have been ready to enter into a kind of tournament with his friend.

Not Jane though. There was something special about Jane. Hastings was gnashing his teeth because Dorset had been the one she had gone to on the King's death.

Dear weak Jane, she had found him irresistible, although she was no fool. She knew his faults. She knew him for the cynical, selfish sybarite he was. She would have no faith in his fidelity; he lacked the kindliness of the late King; that desire in Edward never to hurt people's feelings if he could help it and always to seek a way of smoothing over unpleasantness was no part of Dorset's nature. Dorset cared nothing for others; he did not consider them except in their ability to supply his needs. Jane knew this and it was a double triumph therefore that she had come to him. The truth was he was possessed of extraordinary physical attraction. So many women, hating him for what he was, yet found him irresistible; and that Jane, who had basked in the King's affection and returned it undemandingly for all the years they had been together, should now turn to Dorset was a great triumph– particularly when Hastings was standing by ready to give her the same devotion that she had enjoyed so long from Edward.

To be confined in Sanctuary was unbearable. Yet what would happen if he ventured out? He would immediately be imprisoned for Gloucester would regard him as one of the leaders of the Woodville party.

What a wretched state of affairs to have fallen into so suddenly—and all because one king had died and his brother was determined to rule the country.

'A plague on Gloucester!' he cried. But what was the use of words? He had to find a way out of this miserable situation.

He could see only one way of doing it, and that was to escape.

He began to plan. It would be easy enough to slip out of Sanctuary at dark of night, but where would he go then? There were many houses of ill fame in the city and he was known to them. The point was how far could they be trusted? When he was free, son of the Queen, companion of the King, rich, influential, he had been surrounded by friends. It would be different now.

Or would it? He was the sort of man people would be afraid to offend for the fortunes of war and politics changed quickly and he was of a vengeful nature.

He knew of one house where the lady in charge was particularly fond of him. He had great confidence in his power to charm. Should he sound her? No. That would be unwise. What if a message went astray? What if instead of the loving arms of the lady he found Gloucester's men waiting for him? He would find himself in worse state than he was now.

Nevertheless he must attempt it. He would slip out. He would find his way to the tavern and ask to be hidden there until he could get abroad or away to the North. It should not be difficult. It would be some time before his absence was discovered. His mother would make sure of that.

She listened eagerly when he told her of his plans. She was as weary of this confinement as he was and sure that they could rouse men to follow them. After all was she not the King's mother? And if Anthony could be freed and Richard with him they could immediately begin to rouse the country against Gloucester.

Yes, he must go. So one dark night Dorset left Sanctuary. He made his way through the narrow streets over the familiar cobbles, wrapped in an all-concealing cloak so that his idenrity was completely hidden. He knocked; he was let in; he asked for the lady of the house.

She came to him, and when he threw off his cloak she expressed her joy. The old magic had not deserted him. She was as enamoured as ever and clearly flattered that he had come to her.

T need to remain here for a night or two . . . perhaps a week,' he told her. 'Could you hide me?'

Indeed she could and it should be her pleasure.

He kissed her warmly on the lips in his own inimitable way. Old Edward himself could not have done better.

Her response was warm. He knew he could trust her.

Jane Shore was very uneasy. Life had changed so drastically for her within the last weeks that she was quite bewildered. Deeply she regretted the death of the King. Theirs had been a most

satisfying relationship. That he was really fond of her there was no doubt and their liaison had been of such duration that some might have said it was habit. That may have been but it was a very satisfying, comforting habit.

Jane had been faithful to the King even though Dorset had often tempted her to stray. She could not explain to herself the terrible fascination Dorset had for her. It was as though he had laid a spell on her. When he was near her that compelling attraction was so irresistible that she had to succumb to it knowing full well that there was evil in it—evil in him.