A Dangerous Inheritance

It was horrible, horrible! But worst of all was the venom of a friar preaching to a crowd on Bishopsgate.

‘Where is this leading but to treason of the worst sort?’ he cried, his red, well-fed face a mask of outrage. ‘The King in the Tower, in the power of the Duke of Gloucester. The Queen and her children in sanctuary, afraid to come out. The Queen’s kinsmen either unlawfully imprisoned or fled overseas. And now talk of a new enmity between Gloucester and Lord Hastings.’

‘Hastings is loyal to the King!’ shouted a bystander.

‘Aye, but he has no reason to be loyal to Gloucester,’ the friar retorted.

Kate could not help herself. ‘Gloucester is loyal to the King too!’ she cried out. ‘He is a good man!’ To her dismay, her words were greeted with jeers and hoots of derision.

‘Loyal my foot!’ trumpeted a stout woman beside her. ‘He’s after the crown, the crafty bugger. That’s what he wants!’

‘And Hastings knows it, mark my words,’ chimed in a man whose bloody apron proclaimed him a butcher. ‘With luck, he’ll be the ruin of Gloucester.’

‘Hark at her!’ shrieked a fishwife, pointing at Kate. ‘It’s clear where she hails from. You got a tail under that fine gown, love?’

‘No!’ Kate squealed, then fled in terror, pushing her way through the astonished mob, leaving Mattie, her little maid, struggling to stay with her. People called after her, but she was ru

Her father caught her in his arms as she raced into the hall.

‘Those dreadful people!’ she panted. ‘Sir, they say that Lord Hastings will be your ruin. It ca

Gloucester looked her straight in the face, still grasping her arms.

‘It may be true,’ he said. He was deadly serious, and it terrified her. ‘But never fear, daughter. I am on my guard, and every precaution is being taken.’

‘But Hastings helped you,’ Kate protested.

‘My enemies have poisoned his mind, telling him that I covet my nephew’s throne. They are clever and plausible, and so he plots my downfall.’

‘Be watchful!’ Kate begged, pressing her damp face into the seamed velvet of his doublet. Behind her A

‘I did not ask for this,’ Richard said.

Her father looked ill. He dragged himself around the house, as if in pain. He barely touched his food, took hardly a sip of wine, and complained that he could not sleep and was suffering from a strange, inexplicable malaise. A

She came, the venerable Cecily, looking the very image of a devout widow in her black, nun-like garments, a snowy wimple framing her haughty, aristocratic face. She had the high cheekbones and strong features of most of the Neville race.

‘You must take care of yourself, my son,’ she admonished the Duke, as he knelt for her blessing. ‘You look sick and haggard. For the love of God, go to bed and rest.’

‘There is too much to do, Madam my mother,’ he protested, rising to his feet. ‘I have one especially urgent matter to attend to.’

‘Can it not wait?’ the Duchess Cecily barked.

‘I fear not, Madam,’ he replied.

‘Is it concerning that hussy who calls herself Queen?’ His mother was visibly bristling. ‘Has she not caused enough harm?’

‘Yes, it is the Queen and her following,’ the Duke said testily. ‘I will tell you presently. Pray be seated, my lady.’ The Duchess unthinkingly took the chair that was usually his – the most imposing one in the room. A

‘You have bred a little beauty, my son,’ Cecily pronounced, tipping Kate’s chin upwards to see her better. ‘A modest decorum too. Most edifying.’ She nodded, well pleased.

‘So, Richard,’ she went on, ‘tell me about the Wydevilles. God knows I curse the day when that woman married your brother.’

‘She and her kin loathe me,’ the Duke said. ‘I am convinced they mean utterly to destroy me, my cousin Buckingham and all the old royal blood of this realm.’

Cecily grimaced, but looked sceptical. ‘How can this be, my son? The woman is in sanctuary, her kinsmen imprisoned or fled.’

‘She is allowed visitors. I ca

Kate noticed a look of distaste shadow her grandmother’s face.

‘That slut!’

‘She acts as an agent for her lover Hastings, plotting against me with the Queen,’ Gloucester growled. ‘I tell you, Madam, it is openly known, for they do not trouble to hide it. Oh, they think they are subtle, but certain it is they are conspiring the destruction and disinheriting of me and many others, all good men of this realm!’ His voice shook with anger.

‘Summon the men of the north,’ his mother counselled. ‘The city of York is loyal to you and will send soldiers to your aid. Do not tarry on this, my son.’

Gloucester lifted her hand and kissed it.

‘I will do it!’ he said. ‘I could ever rely on your counsel.’

‘Is help not nearer at hand?’ A

‘If?’ Richard shouted, to A

A

‘Shore’s wife should be apprehended,’ the Duchess warned. ‘The woman is a menace.’

‘I will deal with her anon,’ Richard muttered. ‘But there are more serious threats to be neutralised first. I mean the Queen’s brother, Earl Rivers, and her son, Sir Richard Grey, whom I sent as prisoners to Pontefract.’

‘Surely they can do no harm to you there?’ Duchess Cecily sniffed. ‘That castle is all but impregnable.’

‘So the King’s Council tells me,’ the Duke muttered. ‘But those two will ever be a danger! What happens when the King comes of age and frees them? They have already treasonously conspired to kill me.’

‘Are you now king, then?’ asked his mother. ‘My son, it is not treason to conspire the death of the Lord Protector, heinous crime though that be.’

‘It’s an arguable point,’ he responded testily.

‘Have they been proven guilty?’ the Duchess persisted. There was a silence. Kate realised they had all forgotten she was there. She felt that she wanted to curl up and die. It was bad enough that her father was being so grievously threatened by his enemies, so why was her grandmother treating him as if he were somehow in the wrong?

‘I asked if they have been tried or attainted by Parliament?’ Cecily said reasonably. ‘My son, if you do what I suspect you are pla

‘But if I have those men tried, my enemies will acquit them, and they will be free to do their worst!’ protested the Duke. ‘I am in an impossible position. Whatever I do, I ca

‘The King will never forgive you if you kill his kinsmen without trial.’ A

Kate could bear to listen no more. Excusing herself, she escaped up the stairs to her bedchamber, and there she too gave way to tears.

The next morning, she learned from the Duchess A