By Loyalty Bound: The Story of the Mistress of King Richard III (31 page)

Anne lowered her head and rested it on her uncle’s arm and felt his hand, warm, on her shoulder. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that; time passed unnoticed and she didn’t look up until Martha brought in a candle and she saw that it was completely dark beyond the open door.

Night had fallen.

“Where is my son?” she asked.

“His father sent him back to Sheriff Hutton before we left Nottingham. He is safe.”

“Thank God.”

“Anne, I must go,” said Uncle James, struggling to his feet. “I dare not stay any longer. Come with me,” he said. “We can ride to Yorkshire, find John, go abroad...”

Anne shook her head.

“What will you do?”

“I will wait here for my husband. He will need me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said. “But you must go.”

Her uncle nodded and Anne helped him to put on his gauntlets and his helm and she found a cloak of Edward’s and a tabard with an eagle’s claw that he could wear as a disguise. He reached to unpin his white boar badge, with its motto
Loyaultie Me Lie,
Loyalty Binds Me, but saw that it was gone.

“I must have lost it on the field of battle,” he said.

“Stay safe,” she whispered as she kissed him, her cheek cold against the metal.

A groom brought out a fresh horse and Anne saw that he was the boy whom William Stanley had slapped the day he kidnapped Izzie.

“They say that Sir William Stanley found the king’s crown and set it on the head of Henry Tudor,” said her uncle as he gathered the reins. “He will be rich and powerful now.”

“But there is one thing he desires that he will never have,” replied Anne before she watched her uncle ride off into the moonless night, praying that God would light his way and keep him from harm.

And, as the hoof beats faded, Anne climbed the steps to her bedchamber. She sat down and stroked her hand across the fur cover and the pillow where Richard had slept so long ago.

“Let Edward be wrong,” she prayed aloud, as she twisted the silver ring on her finger. “It cannot be true that a life only half lived is gone forever.” He must be somewhere; perhaps with Anne Neville and Edward their son; perhaps in some place she could never comprehend – or perhaps he was still here with her. She turned as she caught a glimmer across the room, but all she saw was a reflection of her candle in the glass of the window.

THE END

The identity of the mistress of King Richard the Third is unknown. It is a fact that he had two illegitimate children – a son John and a daughter Katherine – but there is no record of the woman who was their mother, or indeed if they had the same mother.

It has been suggested that Richard’s mistress may have been Katherine Haute. This is based on the evidence that she had the same name as Richard’s daughter and in 1477, he granted her 100 shillings per annum for life. She was the wife of James Haute, son of William Haute and Joan Woodville, and was a cousin of Elizabeth Woodville. She lived in East Anglia, but nothing more is known about her and the reason for her annuity is not recorded.

In this novel I suggest an alternative identity for Richard’s mistress – Anne Harrington. Although this is based on speculation, there is some circumstantial evidence that she may have been the mother of his children.

Firstly, she was in the right place at the right time. Anne’s father and grandfather were killed at the Battle of Wakefield, fighting alongside Richard’s father, the Duke of York, who also lost his life. The Harrington lands and the castle at Hornby passed to her and her younger sister, Elizabeth. Their wardships were given to Thomas Stanley who then had the right to marry them to husbands of his choosing – men who would become owners of the Harrington lands. Considering this to be unfair, James Harrington took possession of his nieces and fortified Hornby Castle against the Stanleys who tried to take it by force by bringing a cannon named the Mile End from Bristol to blast the fortifications. But it seems that the Harringtons had the support of the king’s youngest brother. A warrant issued by Richard, Duke of Gloucester on 26 March 1470 was signed ‘at Hornby’. This evidence places seventeen-year-old Richard and fifteen-year-old Anne together in a castle that was under siege.

Secondly, Richard’s illegitimate son was named John – which was the name of Anne’s father. His daughter was named Katherine. This name does occur in the Harrington family. It is also worth noting that in the church of St Wilfrid at Melling near Hornby, there was a chapel that was originally dedicated to St Katherine. Is it possible that Anne named her daughter after a favourite saint?

Thirdly, John of Gloucester is sometimes referred to as John of Pomfret, seeming to indicate that he was born at Pontefract Castle, which is very close to the Yorkshire lands of the Harrington family at Brierley in Yorkshire.

James and Robert Harrington were both in the service of the Duke of Gloucester and were with Richard at Bosworth. Given the close connections between Richard and the Harrington family it is not impossible that Anne may also have had a close relationship with him. However, there is no evidence.

I also need to clarify the mentions of Melling in the novel. There are two different places named Melling that formed part of the Harrington lands – Melling in Lonsdale, which was near the castle at Hornby, and Melling in Halsall, which is now a part of Merseyside and which was in the very heart of the West Lancashire holdings of the Stanley family. To avoid confusion the story refers to just one village of Melling and I’ve used the place that was near to Hornby. In reality, Melling in Lonsdale was part of the lands inherited by Anne Harrington, and her sister Elizabeth inherited the other Melling, near Halsall.

The history of the Wars of the Roses is complex. Many of the events are open to endless speculation and debate and although I have tried to stay as close as possible to the known facts it was never my intention to write a true history of those times. Neither was it my intention to prove that Anne Harrington was the mother of the children of King Richard, just to offer her identity as a potential candidate and to tell a story about her.

If you are interested in learning more about me, my historical research and other books that I have written, please visit my website at:
www.elizabethashworth.com
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