The Follies of the King - Plaidy Jean - Страница 50

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seemed too strong for him.

‘King of Heaven,’ he murmured, ‘grant me mercy for the King of Earth has

forsaken me.’

They reached St Thomas’s Hill outside the city of Pontefract. He saw the

block. He was aware of the watching faces avid for blood, eager to see the ignoble end of one who had not long before been the most powerful man in the land.

He turned his face to the east.

Someone cried: ‘Turn to the north, man. That’s where your friends are.’

He was roughly pushed. Now he was looking ahead to where beyond the

border was the land of the Scots.

He knelt and placed his head on the rudely constructed block.

The axe descended and Lancaster was no more.

???????

Warenne brought the news to Lancaster’s wife.

Alice de Lacy looked at him with disbelief.

‘‘Tis so,’ said Warenne. ‘He was found guilty of plotting with the Scots and that has been his undoing. He was sentenced to the traitor’s death but because of his noble birth he was not hanged drawn and quartered but taken to St Thomas’s Hill near Pontefract where they cut off his head.’

‘Pontefract,’ she murmured. ‘It was his favourite spot.’

‘Well, it is over, Alice. What now?’

‘I am free,’ she said. ‘It is what I and Ebuio have longed for. But I wish it could have come about in a different way. Poor Thomas, he was so proud? and clever in a way, but he did not understand how to treat people. It has been his downfall.’

‘There is no longer the need for you to remain in hiding.’

‘I have so much to thank you for.’

‘Lancaster was my enemy, you know. It was my pleasure to disconcert him.’

‘I think you had a certain kindness in your heart for a woman placed as I

was.’

‘It could be so,’ he answered. ‘And now?’

She answered: ‘I am going to Ebulo. We shall be married.’

‘The daughter of the Earl of Lincoln, the wife of royal Lancaster to marry a humble squire!’

‘Even the daughters and wives of earls have a right to marry for love,’ she answered.

Very shortly afterwards the nobility was astonished to learn that the

Countess of Lancaster had married Ebulo le Strange, a squire who was not only far below her social standing but who was also lame.

THE LOVERS IN THE TOWER

THE lust for power had now seized Edward. It was as though with

Lancaster’s death he himself had taken on new life. Moreover the truce with Scotland had come to an end and Robert the Bruce was celebrating this by

attacking the English towns in earnest. When he came as far south as Preston it was decided that it was time to attempt the invasion of Scotland once more.

Everyone was astonished by the change in Edward. The Londoners were

with him to a man. He had avenged the insult to Isabella and they liked him for that. The Despensers were banished. A plague on them. Now perhaps the King had outgrown his follies and was going to show them that he was a true son of Great Edward.

At one point the English crossed the border into the Lothians. They reached Holyrood House and took it. They should have been astonished by the lack of resistance of a commander like Bruce. It was too late when they realized that he had crossed the border and had come as far as Yorkshire, his object being to attack Edward’s army from the rear.

Isabella was travelling with the army and was staying outside the town of

York. She was in a pensive mood. Events were changing her outlook rapidly.

Edward was winning the confidence of the people. For him the affair at Leeds Castle had been a blessing in disguise. By avenging her, he had won general approval and particularly that of the Londoners and was enjoying a popularity which he had never known before.

Whatever happened now she did not want Edward. The plan which had been

forming in her mind for some time was not yet fully developed, but nothing Edward could do now would make her want to change it. In brief it was that Edward should be deposed and their son Edward take the crown, with his

mother beside him as Regent. But if Edward was going to reform his ways? If he was going to be a victorious king and a faithful husband, what then?

I shall never forgive him for the humiliation I have suffered at his hands, she thought.

Even as she sat brooding she heard the sound of arrivals and there was an

urgency about those sounds. She rose and went down to the great hall to see what was happening.

At the sight of her one of the men who had just come cried out: ‘My lady,

make haste. We must go from here. The King’s army is routed and the Scots are on their way to take you prisoner.’

It was the old pattern. Why had she thought for a moment that Edward

would become a successful general?

No, he had failed once more.

Never mind. That made it all the easier for her to continue with her plan.

Hastily she prepared to leave. After the gallop to Tynemouth she boarded a boat. It was a rough passage but she did not care.

It could not be long before events began to go her way.

There was despair in the north among those who had been loyal to Edward

for it was clear that he was no match for Robert the Bruce. Once again he had been put to flight and had narrowly escaped. He was not meant for battle.

England’s tragedy was that the old King had borne such a son and had himself died before he had been able to complete his task.

Edward was impatient. He wanted no more war with Scotland. He disliked

war. Only briefly had he had good fortune and that was when he had attacked Leeds Castle which was held by a woman.

There was disillusion and it was disconcerting that his supporters in the

north were now beginning to realize the futility of depending on him.

They were actually attempting to come to private terms with the Scots

because it seemed likely that the harrying of the border would continue for a very long time.

The Bishop of Durham and the monks of Bridlington sent their valuables

south and were attempting to make a treaty with Bruce, a fact which showed clearly that they had no confidence in Edward and were looking out for

themselves. Edward was deeply shocked when he heard that Andrew Harclay,

the Earl of Carlisle, had actually travelled to Dumfries and held a conference with Bruce in which he offered to recognize him as King of Scotland in return for peace between them and security from attack for his own property.

Isabella heard the news and said to herself that this man of the north showed good sense. Anyone who relied on Edward was a fool. They had at last learned the lesson. Let the whole country learn such lessons. They would be all the happier to see him go.

She had many friends to support her. The chief of these and the one in

whom she placed most reliance was Adam of Orlton. He hated the Despensers

as much as she did and had rejoiced to see them banished. Since the arrest of the Mortimers he had been in some danger, for now that Lancaster was dead and the Mortimers imprisoned people were looking to him as the most important man in the party which had stood against the Despensers. Edward hated him and had wanted him out of the way, and had even managed to bring him before a lay

tribunal— the first time this had ever happened to a Bishop. He might have been condemned to death if he had not been under the protection of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York who must naturally protect their Bishops— for they

commanded that violent hands should not be laid on a man of the Church. The King, however, insisted on the trial’s proceeding and Adam was found guilty and although he could not be condemned to death, his possessions were

confiscated. He was at this time protesting to the Pope and was living in the Tower, not exactly a prisoner but as one who would have been, but for the

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