Rebellion (24 page)

Then she dropped down on one knee before him
and caught both his hands in hers as he made a small movement away.

‘Henry,' she said. ‘If only you knew how I
have longed and prayed for this – how I think of you every day. You are my first thought
in the morning and my last at night. You are everything to me. I would not have us
separated for the world – you do know that, don't you?'

She gazed up at him but her eyes were full
of tears so that she could hardly see him. Even so she thought that his expression had
changed and was full of trouble.

But that wasn't right – she hadn't wanted to
grieve him. She dashed a hand across her eyes and said, ‘Never mind that – I can see you
are happy here – you have everything, and you have learned so much –'

She stopped again, then on impulse said,
‘But if you are not happy, Henry – if you need anything – anything at all – you can send
to me – whatever it is – and I will always help you, Henry. If you call me, I will
come.'

She looked to see that he had understood her
and saw that he had. Still she remained kneeling, reluctant to let him go. Then slowly
he withdrew one of his hands and lifted it to her face. He touched her cheek with one
finger, then moved it to her lips,
tentatively tracing the outline of
her mouth. She did not try to stop him, she remained very still. Then as his finger
stopped moving she pulled him to her in a fierce hug. And after a long moment she felt
his arms move carefully round her in return.

The next day, leaving, she leaned out of her
carriage to look for him and he stepped forward a little, raising one hand then using it
to shade his eyes.

Her husband said all the usual things to
comfort her as they pulled away: that he was doing so well, she could not wish for him
to be in a better place. And he would be well provided for in Herbert's will.

She said yes to that faintly and remained
leaning forward, looking towards her son and smiling, for she would not have him see her
sad.

And that was the image she took away with
her, to add to her small store of memories, of a boy standing forward with one hand
shading his eyes from the sun.

That year were many men appeached of
treason, both of the city and other towns … Thomas Cook, knight and alderman,
and John Plummer, knight and alderman … and a man of Lord Wenlock's John Hawby
[were] hanged at Tyburn or beheaded for the same matter and many more of the city
…

Gregory's Chronicle

In the sixth year of King Edward's
reign Lord Hungerford was taken and beheaded for high treason at Salisbury and
Humphrey Hayward and other men arrested and treason surmized upon them whereof they
were acquitted but they lost great goods to the king …

Warkworth's Chronicle

In England they have but two rulers,
M. de Warwick and another whose name I have forgotten.

Letter from the governor of Abbeville to King Louis of France

Once, in conversation with the king, Warwick
had mentioned the fact that he would like to secure his daughters' futures. They were
still young; Isabel not yet sixteen and Anne eleven. He himself was healthy enough and
not yet forty, but who knew what fortune had in store? He had only to encounter a bad
storm on one of the many voyages he undertook for the king and – well, he would like to
know that his daughters' marriages were arranged.

‘That's understandable,' said the king.

He did not enlarge on this, but neither did
he change the subject, so Warwick persisted.

He had no sons, he said, just as his majesty
had no legitimate sons, only daughters. But his daughters were the greatest heiresses in
England, and he, Warwick, would like to know that his fortune and estates would be
passed on safely to suitable men.

If he had thought to establish a bond
between himself and the king by drawing attention to his lack of an heir, he was
mistaken. The king's face darkened, and Warwick passed swiftly on.

It was a difficult thing,
he said, to know whom one could trust with the management of such titles and estates.
And who could bring them comparable equity? So many of the noble families and their
heirs had been lost in the wars.

By now the king had understood where this
conversation was going. He treated Warwick to a sharp sideways look. ‘You will find
someone,' he said. ‘Perhaps not of comparable status. But you can raise them up, train
them well, and they will be more fully yours, eh?'

He laid a large hand on Warwick's shoulder
in that way he had that Warwick found so irritating, emphasizing as it did the
difference in their statures.

‘Has your majesty any suggestions as to whom
I should train?' he said evenly.

The king replied that he'd had other things
on his mind. But now that Warwick had brought it up, he would give the matter his full
attention.

Warwick nodded. The king was clearly not
going to pick up this thread. However, all he said was, ‘Of course, you must have many
things on your mind. You must be considering the marriage of your brother to the heiress
of Charolais.'

The king's face darkened again to an actual
scowl. He did not want to consider the proposed marriage between his brother and the
heiress of Charolais, because it would mean the Duke of Clarence might one day be Duke
of Burgundy, if Charolais had no further children himself.

‘That matter – has not been decided yet,' he
said.

Warwick smiled.

This was the matter on which he thought – he
hoped –
the whole question of alliance with Burgundy would founder. Because
it was a nonsensical alliance. To secure friendship with that country the king had
already suspended all statutes restricting Burgundian trade in England, even though Duke
Philip had not lifted the embargo on English cloth. Also the king was willing
to renounce all the benefits of peace and alliance with his most
powerful neighbour, France, towards which he, Warwick, had worked so assiduously. He had
arranged a two-year truce, the terms of which prevented King Louis from offering any
help to Margaret of Anjou and the Lancastrians, while Edward in return had promised not
to help Burgundy or Brittany or any of the enemies of France. But the king had broken
the terms of that truce almost immediately by arranging a treaty of friendship with
Burgundy.

And even more ominously, from Warwick's
point of view, he was considering marrying his sister, Margaret of York, to Duke
Philip's heir, Charles of Charolais, whose wife had recently and inconveniently died.
Warwick had been negotiating a match between Margaret of York and King Louis' own
brother-in-law, on terms far more favourable to England.

He had been made to look a fool once, over
the king's own marriage; he did not intend to let it happen again. He could only hope
that the king's resistance to the proposed marriage of his brother to Mary of Burgundy
would cause him to rethink the rest of his policy.

‘It is a difficult matter,' he agreed. ‘Not
unlike the difficulty of arranging marriages for one's own daughters.'

There it was again; that cunning, sideways
look.

‘There are fewer lords than there were,'
continued Warwick. ‘And so many of them have already been spoken for by her majesty's
family.'

Now he was treading on dangerous ground.
Everyone knew of his opposition to the Woodville marriages.

‘And so there is almost no one left for my
daughters,' he said. ‘Except, of course, for your own brothers.'

To his surprise, the king laughed. ‘Ah,
Warwick,' he said. ‘What would I do without you directing my affairs?'

But Warwick had gone too far to be warned
off now. ‘It's not a joke, your majesty,' he said. ‘It is the soundest common
sense.'

And he went on to expound
the virtues of this proposition. Was he not the king's cousin? No one else was of
comparable status. And his daughters and the king's brothers had grown up together
since, after the death of the king's father, Warwick had taken both George and Richard
into his custody. So there was already an affection between them. And they were of an
age, though that was hardly the primary consideration.

It was obvious, he went on, even though he
could read and perfectly interpret the king's expression, that such a match would bind
together in solid unity the leading dynasties of the nation, while enabling the king to
circumnavigate any difficulties regarding foreign dukes and their heiresses, any
complications caused by his brothers being rulers of foreign countries.

It was a flawless plan. There was almost no
need to outline its many advantages. But he outlined them nonetheless, and the king
appeared to be listening. Then, when Warwick had finished, he said, ‘But you see,
cousin, your loyalty is not in question, I hope.'

‘Of course not,' said Warwick,
surprised.

‘I can always count on it. I do not need to
take any steps to secure it further.'

‘No –'

‘Therefore, my two brothers can be more
usefully deployed, in helping me to secure alliances that are not yet certain – with
other nations.

‘What I desire,' he said, as Warwick started
to speak, ‘is to raise the status of this nation in the eyes of other nations. That is
what is important now – how others see us, eh? This new dynasty – this House of
York.'

For a long moment Warwick did not speak.
Then he said, ‘Yet you reject every overture made by the king of France.'

And they were back on the old track again,
with all the old arguments.

The French king had been more than generous
in his quest for an alliance with England. He had offered a commercial share in
the Burgundian Netherlands, and even a reappraisal of England's
ancient claim to Normandy and Aquitaine. Such was his eagerness to conclude a marriage
treaty between Margaret of York and his brother-in-law that he had offered to pay the
dowry himself, along with a pension of 8,000 marks a year to Edward.

Edward said that he appreciated such
munificence from the French king – nevertheless he felt obliged to do everything he
could to preserve the independence of Burgundy and Brittany, which was where Louis'
ambitions lay as they both knew. He could not allow Louis to dominate the Channel
coast.

It was dangerous, Warwick said, to reject
such generous offers from France. What more could Louis do to persuade Edward into an
alliance? Whatever he wanted he should name it now – Warwick was sure that King Louis
would make an offer.

‘And you?' the king said pleasantly. ‘What
has he offered you?'

The directness of this almost took Warwick's
breath away, but he recovered swiftly.

‘I was sent to win King Louis' favour,' he
said. ‘That was the task you gave me. Do not blame me now if I have done it well.'

The king laughed again and sighed. ‘Ah,
Warwick,' he said. ‘Why are we talking of blame? There is no blame,' he said. It is just
that you see things one way and I another. And I must act according to the way I see
things – must I not?'

‘Even if it brings you to war?' Warwick
said, and when Edward did not reply he said, ‘I do not understand it, I confess I am
quite stumped. Why would your majesty make an enemy of your most powerful
neighbour?'

‘Why?' said the king. ‘Because I would not
have him grow more powerful than he is. I would not have any one power grow supreme,
anywhere.'

And Warwick knew they were no longer talking
about France.

The conversation was over then, the king
made it clear. But it stayed with Warwick through the coming months while the king
pursued his ruinous foreign policy, making treaties with several
countries including Burgundy and Brittany, so that King Louis could not help but feel
himself surrounded by his enemies. And against all Warwick's advice he arranged the
marriage between his sister and Charles of Charolais.

It was while Warwick was in Normandy that
the blow fell. Duke Philip's natural son Antoine, Bastard of Burgundy, arrived in
England, ostensibly to compete with the queen's brother, Anthony Woodville, in the
lists, since both were renowned jousters. But actually his mission had a different
purpose: to arrange the marriage of Margaret of York. He had attended the opening of
parliament, and Warwick's brother, George Neville, who was Lord Chancellor and
Archbishop of York, had absented himself from it, sending his servant to say he was ill.
And King Edward had turned up in person at the archbishop's house and dismissed him from
his post as Chancellor.

Warwick had returned from France with an
embassy of French lords, to the news that his brother had been demoted, and the
Burgundian embassy had been and gone during his absence, departing suddenly because Duke
Philip had died. So now Charles of Charolais was Duke of Burgundy, and the marriage
between him and the king's sister had already been arranged.