The Sun in Splendour - Plaidy Jean - Страница 68

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'Uncle. . . .'hebegan.

But Uncle Anthony cried: 'Long live the King!'

'My father. . . .'stammered Edward.

His uncle had risen. He had put his arms about him and held him in a firm embrace.

'Edward, my dear dear nephew, my King, your father is dead/

'My father. . . dead!'

'Yes, dear nephew, my lord. He has been ailing this last week and now he has gone. It is a terrible blow for us all . . . for the country. But thank God we have a new King and I know he will rule wisely and well.'

'You mean . . . that / will?'

'You are our true and lawful King Edward the Fifth. We knew the day would come but we had not thought it would be so soon.'

Edward was overwhelmed. King! A boy of thirteen who had been living quietly in Ludlow Castle until this day! Everything would be different now. He had come to it not gradually but at one big blow. And his father was dead . . . that big splendid man! It was hard to believe. And his mother, what of his mother?

Anthony put an arm about his shoulders. 'You have nothing to fear,' he said. '1 shall be there beside you.'

'You will tell me what to do?'

'Indeed I will, my little King.'

'Then all will be well.'

His uncle took his hand and kissed it.

'Now we have to prepare to leave at once. We are going to Westminster where you will be crowned.'

The Queen was deeply disturbed for she realized the danger of the situation and the need for prompt action.

It would have been impossible not to be aware of the immense unpopularity of her family. The King had always been there to protect them and in a manner curb their wildest ambitions. Now that he was no longer there she knew their enemies would rise up against them. Thank God, through her foresight she had put her family into high posts. They were rich and influential as no other family was. They could therefore stand firm, and after the coronation of young Edward rule ... if they were clever, rule absolutely, because her son would be so much easier to guide than her husband had been. Indulgent he had certainly been but he had always kept her ambitions firmly in check, and she had always felt that she had been on a leading-rein and although in his indulgence he had made it fairly long, she would be quickly jerked back if she went too far. Now, if she were careful, there would be nothing to hold her.

She was closest in touch with her son, the Marquess of Dorset. He was now in his early thirties; he had been a great favourite of the King—partly because he had been his companion in vice. His chief companion perhaps. No, Hastings had held that place, but in any case Thomas had been a close runner-up.

As a wife she thought that deplorable, as an ambitious woman with a son through whom she now planned to govern, it was advantageous.

She sent for Dorset. He came with all speed realizing the urgency of the situation.

'What we must do,' she said, 'is get the Council with us. I expect trouble from Hastings. A pity we could not exclude him but I fear he was too firmly entrenched. We have the family well represented. We should watch Stanley. I think he will go to whichever side offers the best advantage to himself. We must make sure u;e do.'

'What of Gloucester?'

'He is in the North. On the Scottish border. Far far away. We must wait until the King is crowned before we allow him to be aware of what has happened.'

'It would be better so as Edward named him as the King's Protector.'

'The King already has his protectors and once a king is anointed and crowned, he is accepted as king.'

'I fear Gloucester.'

'I will deal with Gloucester,' said the Queen. 'Our first act must

be to get the King crowned. Let us call a Council meeting in the new King's name. We will show ourselves amenable and carry on as though the King was alive and then we will bring up the important matter of the King's coronation as though it were a matter of course.'

Dorset was certain that his mother would succeed. After all, had she not succeeded in everything she did; and surely only the cleverest of women could have kept a man like Edward as long as she did.

The Council was called and all went as planned unhl the matter of the King's coronation was brought up.

Dorset said: 'May the fourth would be a suitable day, I believe.'

Then the protests started. It was far too early. The Duke of Gloucester would not be at Westminster in hme. They should bear in mind that he was defending the Scottish border.

'Then, my lords,' said the Marquess, 'we must needs do without the Duke of Gloucester.'

Hastings was on his feet. 'It would seem that the terms of the King's will have been forgotten.'

'The King wished his son to be crowned at once,' said Elizabeth.

'What escort will bring him to London?'

'That,' replied the Queen, 'is for the King to decide.'

'You mean for Lord Rivers?' asked Hastings. He went on somewhat heatedly: 'The King should come to London with a moderate escort. He should not have more than two thousand men.'

Hastings clearly did not want the young King to march from Ludlow with an army. Very well, thought Elizabeth, let him have his way. Anything to get the King in London and crowned. For once he was crowned he would not need a Protector and therefore the King's instructions that his brother Gloucester should take that role need never be considered.

As soon as the Council meeting broke up, Dorset sent his message to Rivers. The King must come to London with all speed and should arrive not later than the first of May.

Hastings had already sent a messenger to Richard in the North telling him what was happening in London and urging him to come with as many men as he could muster for it might be that he would need them.

With a clatter of hoofs the messenger rode to Middleham Castle. He leaped from his steaming horse and demanded of the astonished grooms to be taken at once to their master the Duke.

It was a stroke of good fortune that Richard should at that time be at home. He had returned only a week or so before from the Scottish border and his thoughts were fully occupied by the conflict with the Scots.

It was two months since he had seen his brother and then they had gone fully into the Scottish question. He should soon be on his way north again and was for this short period enjoying a little respite with his family.

His son Edward was not strong. He knew that Anne worried continually about their son. He had inherited his mother's constitution and sometimes Richard wondered whether he would be better in a more benign climate. There was one other boy in the castle whom Richard watched with interest. The boy was several years older than Edward, and did not know it but he was Richard's own son. His name was Richard and he had been educated by the schoolmaster whom his father had brought into the castle for the purpose. Richard would have liked to acknowledge him and promised himself he would one day. He was a little embarrassed about the situation; he was so unlike his brother and had rarely indulged in sexual relations with women. Strange that this one affair of this nature had produced two children. Catherine was with her mother in London, but Richard he had brought up here in his retinue. One day, he thought, he will be told.

He wished that he and Anne could have had another. The delicate looks of his legitimate son were a source of anxiety as were Anne's own. She had been delighted to see him and heartily wished that the wretched wars could end so that they could all be together in the cosy intimacy of Middleham.

He had decided that he could indulge in a few more weeks of family life when the courier came.

He received the man at once and was astounded by the news.

'My brother . . . dead!'

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