White Boar and the Red Dragon, The (29 page)

‘Mais non, young Henri, you will remain safely here. Have no fear!’

‘But he may try and take me by force while he is in France. He could always send a small contingent of soldiers into Brittany secretly. Especially if you are away fighting and I am here alone!’

‘You will not be alone. Have I not returned your bodyguards to you? And allowed your Uncle Jasper to visit you? Your mother, the Lady for-mid-able, Margaret Beaufort, prevailed upon me to do that! You should be safe enough, even if King Edward does take it into his head to try and abduct you. But I do not think it is likely. He knows how angry that would make me, and he does need my support against King Louis, now and in the future! You are precious to me, mon fils, so I shall safeguard you! And do not think that while I am away, your Uncle Jasper will have any success in taking you from here, even with all your followers nearby. I shall make sure that will not be possible! And now, I must go. There is a herald waiting to see me with a message from King Edward, no doubt pressing me to fulfil my promise to him.’

Richard Picquigny, Near Amiens, France. August, 1475

‘No, Edward, in this matter I will
not
support you! It is not what I came here for—not what
you
came here for! You came, ostensibly, to reclaim English lands lost last century. Not to end all in such a tame way! Think of all that money you amassed by hook or by crook over the past few years, for what was to be a glorious recovery of English land rights in France. Think how it has now all been spent on soldiers, horses, and equipment—pointlessly, it seems!

This treaty, or settlement, with King Louis, without ever coming to blows, without even one tiny skirmish, is not worthy of you, Edward. You were always one for a good fight to settle things. And very successful at it too!’

‘We may not have got the lands back, Dickon, but think of it—we are assured of plentiful funds for the rest of Louis’s life. This agreement is most advantageous to England!’

‘To you, you mean, Edward! Everyone else feels cheated—even the common soldiers. I have heard them talking when they did not realise I was near! They came for a fight; were ready for it, fired with a nationalistic fervour! They did not come to turn back without even lifting a sword! And think of this terrible weather they have endured for weeks—endless rain and wind and mud. Surely they deserve some honour and glory after their misery and privations? Some have grown surly already and will be difficult to control on our retreat—for a retreat it is. Many will expect to do what they usually do after a battle, unless constrained not to—steal from and lay waste the country—if not worse.’

‘Then those must be severely punished if they disobey orders to make for the coast in an orderly fashion. And as long as they get paid for doing very little in the end except march—which they will, I have guaranteed—what have they to grumble about? They are all going home alive, by God’s bones, when many would be dead now if they had had to fight!

I regard the whole thing as a coup—a triumph of good sense! Surely it is better to treaty than to kill and maim? I think Louis agrees, even if he will be much the poorer in terms of gold because of it. As far as we are concerned, it is easy money for doing very little except issuing threats. And there was quite a lot of diplomacy involved too!

Think of it! Louis is to give me seventy-five thousand crowns within the next two weeks, and thereafter fifty thousand crowns a year! And there is to be an agreed seven-year truce! Added to that, to bind the agreement, my young Bess, who is now nine years old, is to be betrothed to Louis’s five-year-old son, the heir to the French throne. One day, my favourite little one will be Queen of France! It is all most satisfactory.

Everyone is pleased—except you, Dickon. That upsets me. My favourite and most-favoured brother, the only one not to support me. What will people think? That we have fallen out. We, who have always been so close?

Apart from your disagreement with me, I am very satisfied!’

‘Well I am not! The whole thing is a shameful fiasco. It reflects very badly on the English as a whole—apart from you as their king! The French must be laughing up their sleeves at us, especially Louis.

Expediency has taken the place of what should have been a glorious return home if we had fought. For I am sure we would have won!’

‘I would not be laughing if the tables had been turned and I was constrained to hand over so much gold to Louis each year. I do not care what the French—especially Louis—think as long as he comes up with the promised bounty on the due dates!

But I
do
care what you think, Dickon. Will you not reconsider and be there by my side tomorrow when we shake hands, Louis and I, and put our signatures to this treaty?’

‘I have never, in my whole life, wavered from my vow of loyalty to you, Edward, as my king and as my dear brother, but my sense of honour is involved here and will not allow me to condone what you are doing. I am sorry for it, but there it is. I cannot be there with you when you sign this wretched treaty and shake hands with that despicable Louis. He will renege on you, you know. He is not to be trusted one inch! He is known by all to be devious and his word cannot be accepted. In a year or two, he will find some clever way to wriggle out of all his promises to you. He is not known as “The Spider King” for nothing!’

‘So you put honour—a somewhat nebulous concept in this day and age, belonging with chivalry in the last century—before brotherly love? You have hurt me deeply, Richard. I have done a lot for you and given you so much of my love too! What a way to return it! If you were anyone but my beloved brother, you could be termed a turncoat. But I know it is only your youthful and idealistic beliefs that make you behave so. At twenty-two, you have not yet realised perhaps, my little brother, that in worldly matters, expediency and pragmatism are better in the end as ways to settle differences when it is possible to employ them!’

‘Well, you may be right. You are ten years older than me, after all. But I still feel I have a right to my opinion. I shall go to Amiens Cathedral and pray for you—and for England—while you are meeting Louis.

You have changed a lot, you know, Edward, in the past few years. You seem to want to get things done with the least possible effort now. I must admit I do not like the changes in you! I am sure you were idealistic once too?’

‘I expect I was. I cannot remember, to be honest. But we all change with time, Dickon—you too. There was a time, until recently, when you would have concurred with everything I said or did without thought. Ah well, the boy is grown up now and has a mind of his own!

You have always been most mature for your age. That is why I gave you commands and opportunities which I denied George. I felt you could deal with them far better. But this time, George is with me all the way and sadly you are not! Such is life!’

Richard, Westminster Palace, London, Late 1475

‘Richard, I am writing most strongly to Duke Francis of Brittany, complaining that he never turned up with his host as promised when we went to fight Louis in France!’

‘As it turned out, he was hardly missed at the time, you must admit! Perhaps he was on his way after all, but late and when he heard about your so-called treaty, decided to turn back home, knowing he would not be needed?’ Richard answers somewhat dryly.

‘That is not the point. We made a pact long ago. And he broke it. Whether he was needed or not, he should have come!

Now I want that Tudor boy back here safe in my keeping. I shall order Francis to release the boy. He must comply at once! I no longer need Francis’s goodwill. I have King Louis as an ally instead. But Francis needs mine! No doubt about it! Henry Tudor must be sent to England forthwith. I shall send not one, but several ambassadors to “persuade” this obstinate duke. He can hardly refuse now!’

‘And have you thought what you will actually do with Henry when—if—he returns?’

‘Well, I shall tell the duke that I am to marry the boy to one of my other daughters, to join the Houses of York and Lancaster so there will be no more wars. It would be a good thing. And that would be two daughters married off well. And this country does need peace now, more than anything. I may well do it too or—I may find another solution! It all depends!’

‘Incarcerate him in the Tower, perhaps, then have him quietly done away with, as you did Henry VI? It must have been you that ordered that, I have realised. He was in the way, after all, and I suppose it was expedient to rid the country of the old man, though he was harmless enough?’

‘I do not like your tone, Richard! You have become rather cynical of late! It was what he stood for that was dangerous—something had to be done about him. He could not go on lingering there for God knew how long as a rallying icon for those Lancastrians who wished to cause me further trouble—though his ghastly wife was safely incarcerated at last, thank God, and could do no more harm! But there would be no reason—at present anyway—to do away with the boy—I think.’

‘I hope not. As I told you before, he is not ambitious at all. I do not see how he could be a real threat to you! Not at the moment, anyway.’

‘No, not on his own—as I have told
you
before—but that Uncle Jasper of his and more to the point, his powerful mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, could do a lot of harm in his name! Her second name is ambition, I think!’

Henry Tudor, Brittany, Early 1476

‘Henry, mon fils, I have good news! At least, I believe you will find it so! It is surely an answer to the vexed question of your stay here as my unwilling guest.’

‘What do you mean, my lord?’

‘Why, you are to be married! In England, to one of King Edward’s daughters. It is a fitting answer to everything and will unite the Houses of Lancaster and York—which will mean no more wars! You need not fear for your life any longer. Everything is settled!’

‘And who has arranged this?’ Henry asks fearfully.

‘Why, King Edward himself, of course! He instructs me to release you at once into the care of his ambassadors, four of whom, he says, will shortly be arriving to escort you home to England!’

‘England is not my home! My homeland is Wales, as you well know, my lord.’

‘Anyway, they will take you to Calais, thence across the Channel to London. Think how exciting that will be for you! The wedding will take place almost at once, he says. But of course, your little bride is too young for the marriage to be a full one yet—you understand?’

‘Yes, of course. But I do not wish to marry an English princess! It is Maude, daughter of Earl Herbert at Raglan Castle, where my home was, to whom I am affianced and whom I care for. Surely I have some say about whom I want to marry?’

‘Not any more! The king’s wishes take precedence! Are you not pleased? You will be marrying into the royal family and living with the highest in the land. And above all, you will no longer be in danger!’

‘No, I am anything but pleased. Because I fear it is just another of the king’s ploys to get hold of me in any way he can! Why can you not resist this request or order, you say—as you have all the others?’

‘Because things have changed radically. And I am bound to obey. I still need Edward’s support, but he is now allied with France and that creature, King Louis. What am I to do? The future of my realm may depend on keeping King Edward happy!’

‘And not me? Does my happiness—and safety—mean nothing to you? I thought we had become friends—of a sort—during my long exile in Brittany. And you have certainly done much for me. Are you to abandon me now?’

‘I have no choice. Edward’s new treaty with Louis—in which a great deal of gold is involved—has changed everything drastically. And there was no fighting, not a blow struck. Edward has won hands down! I do not know how he manages it. I never get anywhere with Louis!’

‘So gold is more important than my life? Has he offered you a large portion of this gold, now he is rich, to let me go then?’

‘No, no. Not at all! He has offered me substantial bribes before to send you back to England. But I have always resisted!’

‘Then why do you give in now? I do not believe you. Ah—I understand—I am no longer useful to you as a bargaining tool. That is the truth of it, isn’t it? I am easily expendable now!’

‘I wish I could deny it. But I cannot. I am sorry. I do this for my country, try to understand! If it was just my choice, I would say no again. But Brittany will be better off with you gone now, rather than sheltering you here. That is a plain fact! Also, there is the matter of my breaking my promise to come with soldiers to fight for him when he invaded France in July. I did actually go with a force, but we were late in departing, because of the atrocious weather, and three-quarters of the way to Amiens, we heard that Edward and Louis had come to this agreement and there was to be no fighting. We just came home again. But Edward seems to think I should have carried on and joined him anyway, to show good faith, as it were. I do not think he believes I actually set out! I now have to placate him somehow, or he will never keep his promise to help me when the time comes for Brittany to rise up and claim complete independence from France! You can see how I am fixed?’

‘I can see clearly how I am fixed!
Once more, I am a puppet on a string, pulled hither and thither—and usually where I do not want to go! I did not want to leave Wales, but Uncle Jasper insisted it was for my safety. And I had to believe him, though I would willingly have taken my chances and stayed there. I have found refuge, of sorts, here, though it was, in effect, as a prisoner. Now I am to be uprooted yet again and thrown to the English Lion as a sacrifice! And all for expediency and other people’s needs and desires! When will my needs and desires ever be given any thought?’

‘It is a hard world, and a hard life, even for those in high places! You must just accept your lot, I am afraid. There is nothing else to be done. I believe that Edward truly means to do what he says and that you will be in no real danger. In fact, you could come out of all this very well. From an exiled, hopeless situation, you will go into a life of wealth and privilege, living your life in palaces and married to a princess. Many would be glad of the prospect ahead of you!’