by Anne O'Brien
‘Which has nothing to do with your visit.’ The grip of his hand demanded my attention. ‘Does Harry actually know you are here?’
I hedged. ‘He knows my intentions.’
‘Ah, but he doesn’t know that you are here. I don’t want him coming after me with sword and lance. Even his tongue has an edge.’
‘I will abjure you of all blame,’ I assured him.
‘So let me guess,’ Edmund said as he relieved me of my cloak and hood, sending the steward for ale to wash away the dust of travel, while I sank onto a cushioned stool with a sigh of appreciation for a seat that did not move. ‘It is your intent to see nephews Edmund and Roger.’
‘Of course. Alianore is anxious.’
‘Why? They’re safe enough. Alianore is always anxious.’
‘Alianore is grieving the loss of her brother and uncle,’ I remonstrated. ‘And how do you know they are safe?’
‘Why wouldn’t they be?’
‘No one seems to have any concern for this sudden change in their arrangements.’ I saw the slide of what I might have thought to be guilt as he turned to take the cups and flagon from the servant. ‘I know that they would soon be taken into a noble household to polish their manners, but this is different. This is Lancaster, following his own devious policies, whatever they might be.’ I saw Edmund brace himself to reply, and touched his wrist as he approached with the cup. ‘Just take me to Windsor and exert your Mortimer charm. I need some peace of mind, even if you do not. It astonishes me that you should have allowed it to happen without any remonstrance. Why could they not stay here, under your jurisdiction? They can learn chivalry and good manners and military skills from you as well as anywhere else.’
‘They can’t, because the King ordered that, as royal wards, they should not. He said they should be under his authority.’
‘Exactly.’ I took the cup of ale and sipped, enjoying the fine brewing. ‘Richard was under his authority too, and look what happened to him. And I don’t like it. Now take me to Windsor.’
Edmund decided, through long practice, not to argue.
While we travelled I learned of Edmund’s adventures over the past months. He was familiarly loquacious, comfortable in explaining his change in loyalties. They did not surprise me. He would always take the expedient route to solidify Mortimer power, and indeed I could not take him to task for it. It was not easy territory to hold against Welsh and border raiders but Edmund made allies where he could and kept a formidable band of retainers to deter those who were not open to friendly gestures. On Roger’s death it was Edmund who had taken on the mantle of Mortimer leadership until our nephew was of an age to do it himself. Not without lands of his own, his admiration of our tragically killed brother made him more than willing to take on the protection of the Welsh March. Still unmarried, he was without heirs so that I chivvied him again about a possible bride.
‘There is no haste,’ he said. ‘I am not burdened by years.’
‘So I see by your taste in garments,’ I said, running my hand down the sleeve of rich wool, doubtless woven from his own sheep and dyed an eye-catching viridian, which would certainly take the eye at King Henry’s court. ‘But life can be short,’ I added. Our brother, our parents, had all died young, not one of them with more than thirty years to their name.
‘I will live a long and happy life. Did the signs at my birth not predict it?’
There had indeed been strange portents, although I had no recollection of our father’s stables running with blood so deep that the horses splashed through it up to their hocks. I did not know what my mother had made of it all on the birth of this child, when the scabbards of swords and daggers filled with blood and axes turned red. All foretold the future of an eminent soldier, in Edmund’s mind, when only a dagger tucked into his cradle within the coverlet would halt his howls as a restless babe.
‘So to ensure a long and happy life, I suppose you threw in your lot with Lancaster at the earliest opportunity,’ I remarked.
His reply was irritatingly unemphatic. ‘I saw no reason not to. No different from you in the north, leaping to join his banner. You marched all the way to Doncaster; I only had to go as far as Hereford. I joined the Bishop of Hereford there, in bending the knee. Lancaster was inclined to be gracious, as he would be since Richard still wore the crown and Lancaster needed all the help he could get.’
I pulled my mount to a standstill to take a breath after a long uphill stretch. ‘Why did you do it, Edmund? Surely you of all people should have had our family interests at heart.’
He replied with a little heat and in some detail, such that I turned my head to watch the play of discontent that enlivened his features, adding years with lines between his brows, indenting the corners of his usually smiling mouth.
‘Don’t lecture me about substantive Mortimer claims, Elizabeth.’ He made a brisk gesture with the flat of his hand as I opened my mouth to do just that. ‘I agree. I agree with you about right and legitimacy, but Edmund’s too young and I’ve no mind to be regent until he comes of age. I’ve other worries chasing me from morn till night. There are rumours of insurrection in Wales. Were you aware of that? Owain Glyn Dwr is considering himself to be worthy of the title Prince, and aims to extend his arm over the whole of the province. We’ll have incursions into the March as soon as the weather improves. I’ll wager my manor in Dorset on it. What would young Edmund do about that, if he were King? Our new King Henry will give stronger resistance than Richard ever did, and I’ll fight at his side to keep these marcher lands safe. With Richard we may as well have handed them over and saved ourselves the bloodshed. Look how bad it was in Ireland. Lancaster, on the other hand, won’t give in without a fight. It would be a foolish man who chose the Earl of March over Lancaster who is experienced and already blooded in battle.’
That it was all true made me feel no better about it. Lancaster enjoyed an exemplary reputation. Yet still I was reluctant to give his argument weight. Surely right and justice mattered. If kingship did not rest on true inheritance, then the whole structure could be destroyed overnight. Of course I realised the futility of such an argument, the sheer emptiness, for Richard had been the true King. He should never have been deposed. But Richard was dead, and the claim of a Mortimer King must always take precedence over Lancaster.
Edmund must have seen the consternation writ large in my expression. ‘Let it be, Elizabeth. Forget right and justice. Enjoy the peace and the power as long as it lasts under our Blessed King Henry, long may he reign.’
‘I can’t forget it. It smacks of cowardice to do so. And I doubt there’ll be much peace in the north. The Scots take every opportunity to breathe down our necks.’
‘And the Percy dragon does not breathe back? I swear there is never peace where the Percy family is involved.’ Edmund leaned, grasped my bridle, and pulled my horse on into a brisk walk, our escort following at a discreet distance. ‘Now tell me about my nephew and niece. It is a constant source of astonishment that you and Harry ever had a chance to conceive them.’
I knew what he meant. Harry’s absence was legendary, yet he had miraculously found enough time to spend with me to father a son and a daughter, conceived in the gaps between his gracing a goodwill mission for King Richard to Cyprus, his appointment as Governor of Bordeaux, leading raiding parties from Calais and raising the siege of Brest in company with his uncle Worcester. When not engaged in warfare, he went in company with my cousin Henry, then still the Lancaster heir, to flex his restless muscles on the tournament field at St Inglevert where their exploits became the talk of Europe. It had been a relief to me, and a delight, when he was appointed Warden of the East March and Governor of Berwick. At least the latter two placed him somewhere in my vicinity at Alnwick, or within the possibility of my visiting him, which Cyprus did not.
So for the next few miles, content to be deflected into less abrasive conversation for a little time at least, I told Edmund of our son Hal, for whom Harry was planning a future
as a great knight, and our daughter Bess, who would one day be much sought after as a bride with her Percy and Plantagenet lineage. They were the joys of my life when Harry was not at home to distract me.
Of late there had been altogether too much distraction.
Windsor enveloped us in luxurious accommodations, although I noted the heightened defences at gate and wall after the abortive threat at the Epiphany. The guards were watchful and doubled in numbers. To my regret King Henry was not present.
There was no need to call on Edmund’s familial authority. Our nephews Edmund and Roger were presented to us without delay for our inspection, in the apartments set aside for John and Humphrey, the younger of the royal sons. The young Mortimers were well fed, well clad and growing like young colts. Moreover they were acquiring the polish of royal manners too, as they bowed their greetings with some flamboyance not always evident in the March.
‘I told you I would not be an asset to this journey,’ my brother muttered, returning the bow, running an eye over his nephews, then leaving me to make of the visit what I could while he hunted out some refreshment and congenial company.
‘Are you comfortable living here?’ I asked, wondering how best to get the information I required.
‘Yes, madam.’ There were no doubts to be read in Edmund’s spritely demeanour. ‘I am learning to use my sword. I practise with John, the King’s son. He is more skilled than I but says that I improve every day.’
‘I have a new hound,’ Roger added, ‘called Rollo. My lord the King says that he will give me a horse of my own, when I have grown as high as this.’ He spread his fingers a hand span above his head.
Nothing wrong with Roger either.
‘I hope that you are still learning to read and write,’ I asked, encouraged against my will.
‘Yes, madam. After Mass, every morning.’ Edmund was adamant, if unenthusiastic.
‘Are you free to ride out from the castle?’
‘Yes, madam. Yesterday we took the hawks out along the river.’
‘Are you guarded?’ I tried.
Edmund’s brow wrinkled as he considered. ‘We always have an escort, and servants to do our bidding.’
‘Are your doors locked?’
Edmund glanced at Roger as if he could not see the reason for such a question. ‘No, madam.’ He looked as if he would rather be hawking now than being questioned by his aunt. After a few more desultory queries about their health and the quality of their freedom, they left me to return to the admired company of the two Princes John and Humphrey.
Edmund and I remained at Westminster for two nights, my own ears and eyes alert for any evidence of malpractice. There was none. Edmund fought with them in mock combat, encouraging their skills with sword and bow. There was no lock on their chamber door, or not one that was used. It was clear that the Mortimer youths were given the same consideration as the young Princes.
‘What did you expect?’ Edmund asked as we prepared finally to leave. ‘Chained to a wall?’
I did not know what I expected, other than to be reassured that they were safe and without restraint.
‘I don’t fear for them here, Elizabeth,’ as we turned our horses to the north. ‘There are some who might make use of them.’ For the first time I detected a shadow of unease in my brother. ‘They are as safe here as they are in Ludlow or Wigmore. Perhaps safer.’
‘Who do you suspect?’
‘Best not to say.’
‘But you will.’ I bent an eye on him. ‘Secrets were never a strong point with you.’
He smiled. ‘Then I’ll tell you what I fear, and you will not repeat it.’ The smile had rapidly faded. ‘There are some who would take every opportunity to be gained from espousing the Mortimer cause, merely to increase their own power. How better than to raise a rebellion in the Mortimer name, to use the lads for their own ends? I will not, but there are some who might.’
‘Who?’
Edmund was surprisingly and maturely stern. ‘You don’t need me to tell you. It’s close enough to home for you to detect the signs.’
He would say no more; much like Harry, Edmund was not one for enigmatic warnings so it worried me, but there was no point in my trying to move an immovable object.
There was much political wisdom in his warning, and it showed me a landscape that I had not given cognizance to. There might be some magnates who would find the boys of great value if they wished to remove Henry of Lancaster, magnates who might be even more dangerous to the future of my nephews, using them as pawns in the game of power that they would play out at the Royal Court. There was one close family that might see a Mortimer rebellion sliding perfectly into the pattern of their own ambitions.
I considered the three Yorkist cousins of ours: Edward of Aumale, Richard of Cambridge, Constance Despenser.
But that was not Edmund’s meaning.
It’s close enough to home for you to detect the signs.
The thought kept me company all the way to Alnwick after I had parted from Edmund. The lives of my nephews had suddenly taken on a major significance. There were power-hungry magnates far too close for comfort, who might be capable of more deceit than even I had given them credit for. As for what I had discovered at Windsor, many would say that my concerns should have been laid to rest but still I could not find comfort in Lancaster’s protection of the boys. Yes, I could trust him not to allow the boys to fall into malignant hands, but he might still find it an advantage to not have them there at all. To remove two dangerous pawns might come well within his remit.
Now all must be shelved, for there was a Percy for me to face.
Alnwick Castle
If I expected the explosion that awaited me, I was not to be disappointed. My father by law, if he had been in residence, would have said that I deserved it. My brother had parted company with me, expressing similar sentiments. Now I had to face the wrath in full flow.
‘In God’s name, Elizabeth!’
At least my husband waited until we were out of earshot of most of the household. I had arrived home in the midst of a storm, to be welcomed by an even greater deluge of temper.
‘I return home from Bamburgh, expecting to find you here, or at least at Warkworth if the mood took you, only to discover a message with my steward that you had gone to visit your brother in Ludlow. When did you ever find an urgent need to visit Edmund? And then when I sent a courier hot-foot, having more than a little concern for your whereabouts, they told me that you both had gone south. To Windsor. Of course you had. I should have known. Before God! Do you have to meddle at every opportunity?’
He was stripping me of my dripping cloak with ungentle hands.
‘I was not meddling.’
‘You were. There was no need for it.’
My hood was removed and shaken, spattering us both with water drops.
‘As there was no need to send a courier to dog my steps,’ I said with suitable calm, wiping the rain from my face, wishing my hair had not come loose from its pleats. Here was an occasion for dignity. ‘I told you I wanted to see my nephews. You were unwilling to escort me. Edmund volunteered instead.’
‘Offered his services, did he?’ Harry’s face exhibited scorn. ‘I wager you berated him until he gave in.’
Which I did not deign with a reply.
‘Do you even think that I would worry about you? That the weather would close in or a band of robbers descend on any passing traveller who wore a cloak as good as that one?’
He nudged it with his shoe, where he had cast it on the floor in a heap of damp fur and a jewelled clasp, value or no.
‘I took an escort. Your livery would frighten off any self-respecting bandit. And now you know how I feel when you go off to battle. And I don’t send a courier on your trail to spy on what you are doing. I recall Otterburn, Harry. Have you forgotten? Have you ever considered how anxious that made me, when you were taken prisoner and not released for a year?’ I was tired and had fragile control over my temper. �
�You thought your presence at Bamburgh was more important than my peace of mind. Were they delighted to see you?’
‘No. Not noticeably. But they made me welcome because they could do no other. We had a brief discussion about improving the defences, which they reluctantly agreed to implement. I’ve put my own man in charge.’ He took a breath. ‘You are deflecting me from my righteous anger.’
‘No, I am not. You obviously had a more satisfying outcome than I did.’
I sat down, wincing a little, uncomfortable in damp skirts.
‘You deserve to be uncomfortable.’ Harry did not retreat. ‘So were the nephews in perfect health?’
‘Yes.’
‘Were they actually enjoying themselves?’
‘Yes. And now I am tired.’
‘And know as little as you did when you set out.’
‘Yes.’
‘How’s brother Edmund?’
‘Hand in fist with Lancaster. Like you.’
‘Like any sensible man in the land. You can’t blame him.’ His temper was subsiding, but not by much. ‘So what have you found out that gave you no contentment?’
‘That my brother is of the same mind as you, and my nephews are happy enough, surrounded by hounds and horses and their royal cousins,’ I admitted bitterly. ‘And their manners were good. I should of course be gratified.’
‘Was Henry there?’
‘No. They thought he was at Eltham, but he was expected.’ I paused, eyeing him, considering the effect if I allowed my tongue full rein. ‘My brother Edmund said better the King to take care of them than some self-seeking magnate who would use them to increase his own power.’
‘Did he now?’ I had all Harry’s attention. ‘Like me, perhaps?’
‘Like you. Or more like your father. A Mortimer King with a Percy as regent, through my blood connection, might suit the Earl very well.’
‘Is that what you think? After all the trouble my father went to to get the crown for Lancaster?’
‘I don’t know. I don’t know what I think.’