Rebellion (38 page)

Clarence stepped forward from the shadows in
the corridor, but if Warwick was startled he did not show it.

‘I see you have changed the rules of the
game,
mon père.
'

‘What?'

‘The rules. Of the game.'

Warwick tried to move on but Clarence was
blocking his way. The earl looked at his son-in-law with distaste.
He's been
drinking again
, he thought. ‘We've been through all this,' he said.

‘You've been through all this,' said
Clarence. ‘And you have changed the rules.'

Warwick shook his head and Clarence said,
‘Is it all agreed, then?'

‘As we said it would be. You agreed to it,
remember?'

‘You agreed to it,' said Clarence, ‘with
Louis.'

‘As you will,' said Warwick, and made
another attempt to walk past, but Clarence didn't move. ‘I just wondered where I fit
in,' he said, ‘in this new game.'

‘It's not a game,' said Warwick, ‘and you
know very well what the arrangements are.'

‘Remind me.'

The earl had just come to the end of a
protracted and difficult negotiation with the queen and did not want to explain
anything. ‘If you have any objections you should raise them with the king.'

‘Why would I have
objections?' countered Clarence. ‘Oh yes – because I stand to gain nothing from this new
arrangement
as you call it – nothing. I am in fact one step further away
from my goal.'

Warwick started to speak but Clarence
pressed his hand against the earl's chest. ‘I have left my country, rebelled against my
brother the king – committed treason – and for what? To remove myself still further from
the throne.'

‘You are no further –'

‘The prince will have heirs – why would he
not? And then, where am I? Nowhere. But you – your position is secure – better than
before in fact – you will be king in all but name.'

He prodded his father-in-law in the chest.
Warwick grabbed his wrist. ‘I would not do that if I were you,' he said.

‘Why not? What do I have to lose? Apart from
my life. Would you take that from me as well?'

Warwick did not want to lose his temper now,
after three days of keeping it.

‘We've all lost something,' he said, and the
image of the little coffin came to him once more.

‘Not you.'

‘None of this is as we initially planned,'
Warwick said, gazing intently at his son-in-law. ‘And none of it is set in stone.'

Clarence flushed angrily, miserably. ‘I have
lost my son,' he said. ‘My brother – all my family. I don't see what you've lost.'

Warwick let this pass. ‘Circumstances have
changed, that's all,' he said. ‘When we get to England they may change again.'

‘What do you mean?'

Although this was neither the time nor the
place, Warwick lowered his voice. ‘King Henry – is not fit to be king,' he said. ‘He
will not last long. From what I have heard of his son, he is not fit either. It is
possible,' he said carefully, ‘that matters will sort themselves out in England. The
people do not want a foreign king.'

For an instant he saw hope
flare in Clarence's eyes. ‘And then?' he said.

‘I'm not a fortune teller,' the earl said.
‘We will act as circumstances dictate.'

Clarence nodded slowly. ‘You've made
promises before,' he said. ‘Suppose I don't agree to this new scheme?'

Warwick released his son-in-law's wrist but
maintained his gaze until the younger man lowered his eyes. ‘Well then what?' he said
softly. ‘Will you wage war on your brother alone? Or throw yourself on his mercy? Do you
think he will welcome you?'

He saw the hope die in Clarence's eyes. The
young man took a step back. ‘What will I do?' he whispered.

Warwick looked at him with contempt. ‘Go to
your wife,' he said. ‘Ask her what she has lost.'

He pushed past Clarence and walked away,
reflecting, somewhat bitterly, that soon he would have not one but two difficult
sons-in-law.

‘Why should I not go with them?' he asked for
the hundredth time. ‘It's my country.'

‘And when it is won you will go to it,' the
queen said.

‘But I should win it,' he said. ‘What's the
purpose of staying here?'

‘To keep you safe, so that you can rule your
country. When the time comes.'

‘But my father will rule – that's what you
said.'

‘Your father – is not well,' she said. ‘He
does not have it in him to rule. The Earl of Warwick thinks he will rule in his stead –
but we will not allow that to happen. As soon as your father is made king again I will
persuade him to step down in your favour.'

The prince had begun to pace. ‘The earl will
never allow it.'

‘He will have no say in this.'

‘But I am to marry his daughter.'

‘You are to be betrothed to his daughter,'
she said. ‘We will leave it at that for now.' She paused, and he waited, but this was
not an easy subject for her. They had never spoken of sexual matters. She was not sure
whether he had any experience, but she suspected not. There was a streak of something in
him that was unexpectedly like his father, when in every other respect he was unlike her
husband.

But surely John Fortescue, or Jasper Tudor,
or any of the
knights who kept her son company would have apprised him
of the basic facts?

‘Once you are betrothed,' she said slowly,
‘you must keep no intimate company with her – you should not stay with her at any
time.'

‘Not even in church?'

‘You know what I mean,' she said sharply.
‘There must be no heirs of this union – not now – not ever.'

He was looking at her with that intent,
hostile stare. ‘I do not
like
her.'

‘That's good,' she said, then at the look on
his face, she added, ‘As soon as you are king we will have this arrangement annulled. We
will find someone else for you to marry. You will be able to have anyone you
choose.'

‘Warwick will have something to say about
that.'

‘Warwick may say what he likes,' said the
queen. ‘I don't propose to let him take the reins of government as Richard of York did.
That must not be allowed to happen. If Warwick is father-in-law to the king there will
be no stopping him. He will be more dangerous than Richard of York ever was.'

‘But he will rise against us.'

‘Then we will destroy him,' said the queen.
‘All that matters is that you have as little association with Anne Neville as possible.
You may be charming to her in public – in private, stay away.'

‘That would be easy,' said the prince, ‘if
you would let me go to England.'

The queen sighed. ‘I would as soon send you
with a pack of wolves as with the earl and the duke. They would have you poisoned, or
stabbed in the dark. Clarence still hopes to be king.'

She went over to him and touched his face,
but he shook her off. He did not like these displays of affection. ‘So I am to stay here
– with you – like a child.'

There was so much hostility in his eyes that
it frightened her.
It is his age
, she thought.

‘Is that so hard?' she
said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

‘It is hard,' he said, walking away.

[In September 1470] there landed in
Devonshire the Duke of Clarence, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Pembroke and the
Earl of Oxford with a company of Frenchmen … as they made their journey they
made proclamations in King Henry VI's name and daily drew to them many people
…

Great Chronicle of London

King Edward's army … was at
Doncaster … nearby at Pontefract was John Neville, brother of the Earl of
Warwick … When he heard of his brother's return his former loyalty to King
Edward changed to treachery and he plotted to use the numerous forces he had
collected on royal authority to seize the king. Thanks to the diligence of a spy the
king was warned and saved himself and his companions by fleeing to the port of
Bishop's Lynn …

Crowland Chronicle

King Edward sent for lords and other
men but there came so few people to him that he was unable to make a field against
them. Then he with Earl Rivers, Lord Hastings, Lord Howard and Lord Say …
obtained ships and sailed to the Duke of Burgundy who had married King Edward's
sister …

Coventry Leet Book

King Edward fled with two
flat-bottomed boats, and one of his own small ships, with 7[00] or 800 followers who
possessed no other clothes than the ones they were fighting in; they did not have a
penny between them and scarcely knew where they were going. The king … gave
the ship's master a robe lined with fine marten's fur, promising to reward him
better in future … By chance my Lord of Gruthuyse, the Duke of Burgundy's
governor in Holland, was at the place where King Edward wanted to disembark.
Straight away he went to the ship King Edward
was in to welcome
him … and dealt honourably with them [giving] them several robes and paying
all their expenses for the journey to the Hague … then informed the Duke of
Burgundy about this event.

Philippe de Commines

She wouldn't believe it until her husband's
flight was cried throughout London and all the bells began to ring. Her heart pounded
rapidly.

She tried to get up, but was hindered by the
weight of the child she was carrying and sank back in her chair. One of her ladies
mistakenly assumed she was fainting, called for wine and tried to open the neck of her
gown.

Then they all surrounded her.

‘Do not distress yourself, majesty.'

‘It may not be true.'

‘God will protect us.'

She tried to tell them that she was not
fainting; it was just that she could not believe that her husband had deserted both her
and the country he ruled. But in fact she did feel a little light-headed and out of
breath. So they continued to minister to her until a commotion in the street distracted
them.

‘Is it a fire?'

‘It's the king's men coming.'

‘Or the apprentices, rioting.'

‘It's the Flemish merchants,' said one, very
definitely. ‘They are attacking the Flemish again.'

The queen sent two of them down to ask the
guards and they reported back in some excitement that a mob of Sanctuary men – debtors
and thieves and all kinds of criminals – were rampaging
through the
city. They had broken open all the prisons, releasing murderers and cutthroats on to the
streets. Everywhere there was plundering, looting and fighting. Armed bands of Kentish
men were raiding and pillaging their way through Southwark.

‘What is the mayor doing?' the queen asked,
but no one could tell her. No one, it seemed, was in charge. And the royal guard could
not get through to Southwark because the Kentish men were setting fire to the
bridge.

Her husband had fled and the city was in
uproar. The red light of fires streamed in through the windows. Her ladies were
panicking now like so many birds, certain that the mob would break down the walls of the
Tower itself.

In the end, in a fit of savage impatience,
she sent them all away apart from one: an older woman who said little and thought
much.

‘What should I do?' she asked.

‘I think you should leave,' the woman
said.

‘And go where?'

‘Perhaps into Sanctuary.'

‘Sanctuary?' The queen almost laughed. It
was the resort of criminals; the first place that murderers, horse thieves and common
outlaws sought refuge.