The King's Dogge (31 page)

Ratcliffe glanced at me quickly.

‘She's clever, Francis. If we do it this way, we justify our actions.'

I had no need to ask who ‘she' was.

Anne Neville's plan to secure the Protectorate of England for her husband was probably one of the best pieces of planning I have ever witnessed. I doubted whether even her father could have done better.

‘Clearly the prime objective in all of this is to separate the young prince from his Woodville escort and to secure his person,' she began. ‘Once you have possession of the prince, it will be impossible for the Woodvilles to crown him quickly and deny you, my lord, your rightful protectorate.'

‘But how do I do that?' her husband asked.

Anne Neville narrowed her eyes as she considered the question, but then her mouth twitched as if in secret merriment. She raised her hands to obscure her face.

‘Tell me, my lord, am I frowning or smiling?' she asked.

Richard looked puzzled.

‘Well, how can I tell? Your face is hidden.'

Anne Neville put her hands down on her lap.

‘And that, my lord, is precisely how you will secure possession of the young prince; but before I explain further, allow me to tell Francis his role, as he must depart immediately'

The twin furrows on the face of Lord Stanley grew even deeper as he listened to my message. When I had finished, he turned sombrely to his ally Lord Hastings.

‘Not for a moment can I see Gloucester actually pulling it off,' he said slowly.

The great leonine head of the late king's chamberlain and best friend nodded sagely.

‘I have to agree with you – Gloucester will never be able to extract the young prince from a heavily armed escort of 1,000 men. Lovell says that Gloucester is only taking a small force, mostly unarmoured, so as not to arouse suspicion, but what use is that? He'll just be brushed aside. The Woodvilles will bring the prince to London and crown him.'

He glanced at Lord Stanley.

‘You and I are finished now; Gloucester was our last chance.'

To my surprise, Lord Stanley glanced back to me.

‘Just remind me, Francis,' he murmured. ‘If – against all odds -Richard of Gloucester did manage to secure the young prince, what is it that he wants us to do?'

I repeated Anne Neville's instructions.

‘He wishes for Lord Hastings to use his considerable influence among Londoners here to ensure that the city affords Richard a favourable reception. This is essential; as soon as word gets out that Richard has gained control of the heir to the throne, fears and rumours are bound to spread. Men will question his motives and ask what his true intentions are.'

Lord Stanley looked up sharply.

‘Of course they would, but we can deal with that. Lord Hastings can reassure the mayor.'

‘If I thought that Gloucester stood a chance of getting hold of the prince, I'd personally ensure that the Mayor of London and all his aldermen were outside the city walls to greet him,' snorted Lord Hastings. ‘Sweet Christ, I would have 500 of the most prominent citizens all clad in violet standing with them to honour our future king and his protector.'

His colleague nodded.

‘If Gloucester can manage this, he need have no fear of his welcome in London. We will use all of our influence to ensure everyone understands that all he wants to do is to protect his young nephew.'

But then the twin lines of worry deepened.

‘But, for the life of me, I can't see how he's going to manage it. The Woodvilles have over 1,000 men and he has far fewer, you say?'

‘Yes. Most of them are not in armour, I believe.'

Lord Hastings groaned deeply.

‘Then Gloucester's a fool. The Woodvilles will trample over him and deal with him as they intend to deal with Lord Stanley and myself

His tawny eyes bored into mine.

‘The Woodvilles have won,' he muttered dejectedly.

They were laying leafy branches and scattering blossom on the hawthorn in the hall of Crosby Place. I smiled at the sight, since the copious foliage totally transformed the mood of the austere room. It was pleasing to see the younger servants bustling around happy, not only with the novelty of their task, but in keen anticipation of their May Day holiday.

I reached into my purse for some pennies and groats for the steward to distribute to them.

‘My lord?'

I spun round. The messenger's face was scratched by brambles, his face and clothes filthy with mud. Clearly he had ridden both long and hard.

I held out my hand for the proffered scroll and unrolled it apprehensively. Shortly after I felt an immense surge of happiness as I read Ratcliffe's enigmatic scrawl.

‘Woodvilles deceived. Prince retrieved. ‘

So Richard had managed it! In his evident haste, Ratcliffe had omitted any details of where, when or how Richard had done this, but it scarcely mattered for the moment.

I smiled broadly, so great was my joy. Seeing this, one or two of the servants regarded me curiously, but I paid them no heed for now Richard could become protector and we would be saved from civil war. I glanced around for someone to share my happiness, but then I had an idea. Crosby Place was the house Richard used sometimes when he came to London. These were his servants.

On impulse, I dug deep into my purse and flung a handful of coins into the air. There was an excited rush towards them even before the cascade of copper and silver hit the floor and rolled in all directions, the servants scampering after them.

I left to find Lord Hastings. His own joy this May Day would probably exceed that of Richard's servants.

The entry of Prince Edward into London, together with his Uncle Gloucester and the Duke of Buckingham, was managed magnificently. But while the young prince was cheered by the crowds, it was Richard who was the man of the hour.

Word had spread quickly; the crowds had learned that he had prevented the unpopular Woodvilles from seizing power for themselves and they were grateful to him. I watched how they cheered him as he deferentially presented King Edward's son to them. He had chosen to wear subtle dark clothing to lend greater emphasis to the prince's purple velvet and he bowed repeatedly to show the people that he was merely their servant.

Lord Stanley chuckled next to me.

‘They love him, don't they? Hastings thinks the same. Mind you, he's positively bursting with joy now that the Woodvilles have been neutralised.'

It was curious just how quickly the Woodvilles had collapsed, I reflected. With the head of the family, Earl Rivers, and the queen's son Grey already arrested, they had been at a disadvantage. Of course, once the news of Richard's action became known in London, they had tried to fight back. The queen's eldest son, Dorset, had tried to raise an army but to no avail. As a result, he had joined his mother and the remainder of her children in sanctuary at Westminster.

‘I would like to know how Gloucester actually managed it,' Lord Stanley murmured.

I tore my eyes away from the cheering crowds and smiled at him.

‘I imagine we'll have to wait a few days.'

I pointed at the tumultuous scenes around us.

‘This is going to keep Richard busy for a while.'

But I was wrong; the following night a page summoned me from my chamber. The Duke of Gloucester had arrived at Crosby Place and, despite the lateness of the hour, was desirous of speech with me.

I hurried down and greeted him delightedly, but he waved away my congratulations claiming that I should be praised for arranging the successful reception in London.

Looking at his flushed cheeks and glittering eyes, I suspected that the heady events of the last few days were catching up with him and called for wine.

‘So how did you manage it?' I asked after he had dismissed the servants.

‘It all went according to plan,' he said smugly.

He then gulped down his wine and held his glass out to be refilled, which was completely out of character for him.

‘Of course, I hadn't realised just how good her planning could be. You see, we knew that Earl Rivers was bringing Prince Edward up to London from Ludlow, so we simply sent word to him that we would join him en route and would journey on together.'

‘But surely he would have been on his guard? He would have suspected your intentions.'

Richard winked at me conspiratorially

‘Why should he? His force, he knew, easily exceeded mine and he probably viewed my offer as a natural surrender to the power of the Woodvilles.'

‘And Buckingham, who was with you, is married to a Woodville,' I said thoughtfully.

Richard clapped my shoulder and used his other hand to push his empty glass towards me again.

‘Rivers is a clever man, but he suspected nothing,' he chuckled. ‘Do you know that when Buckingham and I got to Northampton, he even came trotting back to meet us?'

‘So what did you do?' I asked as I handed his glass back.

‘We charmed him.' Richard grinned. We asked him to dine with us and told him that he could sleep in the inn next door. Then Buckingham praised that book of his, while Ratcliffe plied him with wine.'