The King's Dogge (30 page)

‘Do they have much support?'

‘Quite a bit in the South, I think, but we older nobility hate them for their lowly origins and grasping tendencies. We see the Woodvilles as arrogant and greedy parvenus. Not one of us would accept them ruling England through the young king if – God forbid – King Edward died shortly'

‘So that's why you fear civil war? But surely the king's council would forget their differences – if they have any – and work together for the sake of the country until the young prince is old enough to think for himself?'

Anne Neville nodded glumly.

‘In theory, at least, were King Edward to die shortly, a number of different political scenarios could emerge. Obviously the most straightforward one is that the king's council would rule in the young prince's name until he is old enough to rule himself. It would only be for a few years, after all.'

‘Is that likely to happen?'

She shook her head emphatically.

‘The council's already split into two factions. On the one side you've got the Woodvilles with the queen's eldest son Dorset leading them, and on the other side you have some of the nobles who oppose them.'

‘Who is leading the nobles?'

‘Lord Hastings together with his ally Lord Stanley – Hastings' is an old friend of the king and his chamberlain, but he and Dorset are rivals, and it is only the king that keeps that rivalry in check. Without King Edward, there would be no chance of the council cooperating together. Both parties would try to get rid of the other.'

It began to sound as if the quarrels between these two factions would indeed precipitate a slide towards civil war. Bearing in mind Anne Neville's antipathy towards the Woodvilles, I wondered whether she and Gloucester would ally with Hastings and his faction. Before I had the chance to voice this thought, she spoke again.

‘No one of course wants a return to the civil wars that were so ruinous for England,' she said quietly. ‘Notwithstanding the ambitions of the Woodvilles, we all desire peace when King Edward dies. The moderates in the country are therefore talking of Richard of Gloucester becoming protector. A protector, Francis, acts more or less as a king until the young prince is old enough to inherit the throne. A lot of nobles seem to view it as a way of avoiding civil war.'

She smiled a little sadly.

‘It is of course an ideal solution, although I'm not sure that Hastings would readily accept losing his power. And probably the Woodvilles would prefer it if they acted as the interim government.'

‘Protector!'

‘Well, why not? Richard has always been completely loyal to this brother, King Edward. Gloucester's seen as a good administrator and now he has an excellent reputation as a soldier. His rank and estates are second only to the king's and he's not allied to any faction. If you think about it, he's the obvious choice and already men are saying that it is our – that is, his – duty to step in and prevent a conflict between the nobles and the Woodvilles.'

Even to me this sounded a bit biased.

‘But he's famous after his success in the Scottish wars!' Anne Neville protested. ‘Don't forget another thing too. On that occasion everyone was very happy for him to lead the army in place of King Edward and both the Woodvilles and all the old nobility accepted Gloucester as their leader. Well, if everyone followed him in time of war, why wouldn't they in peace?'

It was hard to refute her argument and I was full of admiration for the way in which both Richard and Anne Neville put their country's interests ahead of their own, particularly as this would be an immensely difficult role for Richard. Because I knew him so well, I brooded on this unhappily. While able, Richard was not, I judged, a natural leader outside of his own familiar environment, but if called on to serve he would have to go south to take control leaving behind him familiar friends and faithful servants and that, I knew, would worry him. On top of that he would find himself working with men who he would neither know nor trust. As if all that was not sufficient at a time of crisis, everybody would be looking to him for leadership and he would doubt his own capacity to supply it. I feared that the protectorship might be too great a burden for Richard and expressed my concerns to Anne Neville.

She nodded sympathetically.

‘But in a while I will be there to help him, and, in the meantime, he will have good and faithful friends such as you to guide him.'

‘What would happen if he declined the protectorship and stayed here in the North?'

Anne Neville cocked her head as she thought.

‘Assuming that there was no civil war and the Woodvilles came to power, then that would be an even bigger worry for Richard and me. How long would the Woodvilles tolerate such a mighty magnate ruling the North? They would see us as a threat to them so they would take action against us. Gloucester would be excluded from power, gradually his offices would be taken away, and we would lose all that we have gained.'

I thought about that. Ever since she had married Richard, Anne Neville had toiled with total single-mindedness to build Richard up in the North so that she and her husband might be seen as the worthy heirs of her father and Montague. Clearly under no circumstances would she permit her work to be undone or to be ruled by the lowly Woodvilles. And why should she or Richard? The thought was totally unreasonable.

‘So to protect himself, Richard of Gloucester, needs to be protector if King Edward dies, and by doing so he will prevent civil war between the nobles and the Woodvilles.'

Anne Neville's blue eyes met mine.

‘That is correct, Francis. But are you prepared to accompany him if he is called on to serve as protector?'

I did not hesitate.

‘Of course, my lady'

‘Of course Gloucester needs us,' Ratcliffe agreed. ‘The pressure on him is mounting, despite the fact that King Edward is still alive. Do you know that when he was in London earlier this year, people were sounding Richard out about his intentions?'

‘No, I didn't.'

‘It was all done pretty discreetly; in fact, I didn't find out until later. It seems that men will support him to become protector but they all want something in return. It's not just the ones in government but the ones outside as well. Take the Duke of Buckingham, for instance.'

‘I don't know anything about him.'

‘That's hardly surprising. He's been kept out of power by King Edward since Buckingham's got royal blood too. Now admittedly, it's not the strongest of claims, but King Edward doesn't want any rivals. Consequently, Buckingham's been excluded from more or less any form of government, despite his rank and his extensive wealth. It's hardly surprising that Buckingham would support Gloucester to be protector, is it? It's the only way he'll fulfil his ambitions.'

‘How do you know what his ambitions are?'

‘His man, Persiwell, acts as the intermediary between Buckingham and Gloucester. Buckingham wants to control Wales, but, Francis, he's not the only one sending messengers. The Earl of Northumberland believes that Gloucester would make an excellent protector.'

‘So that he would have a free rein in the North, while Gloucester was in the South,' I said sourly.

Given that King Edward was still alive, all this scheming sounded faintly treacherous. My tone surprised Ratcliffe.

‘Francis, be reasonable. Men will always have ambitions and it's only been the strong hand and natural ability of King Edward that has kept order in England these past few years. But once that strong grip looks to falter, everyone will look out for themselves.'

He grinned at me.

‘Myself included. After all, if Richard of Gloucester became protector, my own prospects would look distinctly rosy'

I laughed at his honesty and was about to reply when a messenger appeared and handed a scroll to Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe's face became unusually solemn as he studied the contents.

‘Now it has begun,' he announced gravely. Ä report has reached York that the king is dead.'

In fact the report of King Edward's death was premature, but we had no way of knowing it at the time. Indeed, it was not until the official notification of the monarch's death reached us nine days later that we realised what an incredible piece of luck we had been handed.

Of course, we failed to appreciate it at the time, but it meant we had extra time to prepare both ourselves and Richard of Gloucester were there to be a call for him to serve as protector.

Messengers arrived from London with considerable frequency. Some were sent by well-wishers who wanted to ingratiate themselves; others were from more reliable sources. Initially the reports were encouraging as the king's council was functioning normally and it seemed that trouble would be averted, but then a note of disquiet crept in. The council was operating but Hastings and his party were outnumbered by the Woodvilles. Indeed, Dorset and the Woodvilles were giving orders in council and Hastings was violently objecting, claiming that they were too lowly born to do so. There was a plan to bring young Prince Edward to London, where the prince would be crowned immediately. The queen would act as Regent until he reached sixteen, meaning there was no need for a protector. The young Prince would be escorted to London by an army. Hastings seemed at the point of declaring civil war.

‘So Lord Hastings has sent a message to Gloucester saying that the late king left everything to his brother?' I asked Ratcliffe.

‘So it appears. Apparently King Edward bequeathed everything to Richard of Gloucester's protection: the realm, its goods and its heir. Hastings advises Richard to secure the prince and bring him to London.'

I frowned.

‘But if King Edward's will says that Richard should be protector, why didn't the late king tell everyone while he was still alive? If he'd made his wishes known then – not least to Gloucester – all this quarrelling and these threats of civil war could have been avoided.'

Ratcliffe grinned at me.

‘Francis, from you that's good, very good. But it doesn't really matter now; events have moved on. Now whether or not Hastings' note is truthful, it tells us one important thing'

I was confused.

‘What's that?'

‘Both Hastings and Lord Stanley know that they are losing ground to the Woodvilles. Both of them are shrewd enough and have sufficient political experience to know that they face political annihilation at the hands of the victorious Woodvilles.'

‘If not worse.'

‘True. But equally they both know that they lose a great deal of power if Richard is protector. What Hastings' message really means is that they will now support Gloucester if he wishes to be protector. They probably see him as the lesser of two evils.'

‘Mm… so what happens now? Do we move to secure the prince as Hastings suggests?'

‘Not quite yet. She's instructed me to write to the council in Gloucester's name, before he rushes into anything. I am to state that Richard was always loyal to the late king and only desires that the new government is established according to law and to point out that his brother's will names him as protector.'