Wolf Wood (Part Two): The Dangerous years

by Mike Dixon

  He resolved to see it through to the bitter end. He would ingratiate himself with the palace toddies. He would tell them what they wanted to hear and do what they wanted him to do. In the process, he would learn enough to destroy the whole stinking lot and bring the House of Lancaster to its knees.

  Interlude

  On October 13th 1453, Queen Margaret produced a healthy infant who was named Edward after King Henry's favourite saint, Edward the Confessor. The boy's arrival solved one problem for the House of Lancaster and created another.

  Henry's blessing was needed before the child could be declared a true and legitimate heir to the throne of England. The king's failure to appear in public and acclaim Edward as his beloved son plunged the nation back into crisis. Rumours began to circulate and were encouraged by enemies of the court party.

  The king's abhorrence of sexual relations was well known. Henry even encouraged married couples to restrict their sexual encounters to a minimum. Margaret had waited seven years to become pregnant. It seemed likely that she had found a more willing companion to share her bed.

  A new year dawned and the king's mental state could no longer be kept secret. Parliament sought an end to the crisis. Margaret declared her willingness to become regent and that was firmly rejected. The thought of a petticoat government, run by a domineering French woman, was enough to send the squabbling lords to London.

  Parliament was convened and Duke Richard of York was elected as regent and empowered to rule as Protector of the Realm during the king's illness.

  Chapter 31

  Lord Protector

  The stones of Ludlow Castle held their heat well. That was one thing Henriette liked about living there. Even on the coldest day, it was warm inside. The wood for the fires came from across the border in Wales. While much of England had been cleared for sheep and agriculture, the nearby mountains of Wales were thickly wooded.

  Rain was beating against the windows. She looked through the small, diamond-shaped panes of glass and saw a carriage enter the inner court. The first of the girls had arrived for their needlework class. They came with their aristocratic mothers who would sit with them for a while before retiring to Duchess Cecily's private quarters for conversation and sweetmeats.

  On holy days, they would join the duchess for one of the many services held in the castle chapel. Henriette had got to know the duke's wife well during the four years she and her family had lived at Ludlow. At thirty-nine, Cecily Plantagenet was eleven years older than Henriette. Despite the difference in age and background, they got on well.

  Henriette made no secret of the fact that her parents were Breton pirates and she had not known a word of English until she was twelve. Cecily once remarked that while neither she nor Henriette had studied at Oxford or Cambridge, like some members of their families, they had attended the university of life and grown wiser as a consequence.

  Cecily was the daughter of Ralph Neville who had made himself one of the most powerful men in England by marrying into a succession of leading families and putting his young wives to work bearing children. His second wife was Joan Beaufort who was a granddaughter of Edward III. Cecily was Joan's ninth child and Ralph's twenty-second.

  Ralph not only sired children. He adopted them and was prepared to pay a top price for a child with a top pedigree. Richard Plantagenet was such a child. His royal father rebelled against his cousin, Henry V, and paid the ultimate price for failure. He was executed and four-year-old Richard was placed in the care of the Crown and sold to Ralph for the princely sum of 3,000 marks.

  Cecily grew up in the same household as Richard and was espoused to him at the age of nine. Their first surviving child was born when she was twenty-four. With so many powerful relatives, she was an important woman in her own right. Their support was crucial if Richard was to maintain his grasp on power. He was Protector of the Realm with the consent of his wife's relatives. If they turned against him, he would be forced to step down.

  It was not an enviable position. Henriette had a lot of respect for Duke Richard. Robin was totally committed to him. He saw the duke as devoted to the good of the nation and was proud to be taken into his confidence and treated as a valued companion.

  Like Henriette, Robin made no secret of his humble origins. The duke jokingly referred to him as a ploughman's son. That wasn't true. Robin's father was a tailor but it didn't matter. Duke Richard liked it to be known that he kept the company of ordinary people. He also liked people to call him York and that was the name he was usually given.

  Robin was with York in London. As captain of the duke's personal guard he was with him all the time and responsible for his security.

  ***

  Robin left his office in Baynard's Castle and walked to the outer court. The building got its name from the Norman knight who built it three centuries earlier following the Norman Conquest of England. Over the years it had suffered from civil insurrection and fire and had undergone a lot of rebuilding.

  York was allocated the castle when he became Protector of the Realm. It had once belonged to Duke Humphrey of Gloucester who lost it when he was arrested on false charges of treason. It then became the property of the Lancastrian Crown.

  York had his headquarters in a building that belonged to his enemies and was almost certainly riddled with secret passages. Robin's sappers had located one and suspected there were others. He found them at work beside a flagstone that had been lifted to reveal a flight of stairs.

  A sergeant emerged from below, dressed in heavy leathers and carrying an oil lamp. He held up a blackened finger.

  'Someone has been down here recently, Captain. That's fresh soot. You can feel the fat. It won't be more than a few days old.'

  'You think there are more tunnels?'

  'Aye, Captain.'

  The sergeant blew out his lamp.

  'If we go up the tower, I'll point them out. We're certain of some and you can wager your life that there'll be others ...'

  The tower was hexagonal and dated from Norman times. They went to the top and looked down onto the maze of streets below. The castle fronted Thames Street and stuck out into the river. Luxury townhouses flanked it on either side. They were of timber construction and stood on piers driven into the river bed. The sergeant pointed at one.

  'That belongs to Somerset.'

  'It belongs to the Crown,' Robin said.

  'Yeah. But Somerset decides who lives there.'

  'Not anymore,' Robin grinned. 'As we now speak, Duke Edmund of Somerset is being conveyed to the Tower of London, where he will reside at the Lord Protector's pleasure.'

  'Struth. That changes a thing or two.'

  'Certainly does. York has made it clear that Crown property will in future be used for the benefit of the nation. Its purpose is to provide revenue for government.'

  'Yeah,' the sergeant nodded. 'It belongs to the people. It doesn't belong to the nobility for them to use like they want.'

  'That's right.' Robin placed a hand on the man's shoulder. 'York is going to see to that and that's why we support him.'

  'I'll say Amen to that, Captain.'

  'The house is occupied by the Earl of Norfolk,' Robin said. 'He gets it for free. From now on, he'll have to pay rent and it won't be cheap. There's no shortage of rich merchants who will bid against one another and push up the price.'

  'That won't please the earl.'

  'It will please a lot of ordinary people.'

  'Aye, Captain. York is popular with folks round here. You don't have to change out of uniform when you go for a drink, like you do up north. Everyone wants to stop and shake your hand. And it's not just the ordinary folk. I've had ladies in expensive gowns give me a coin for a mug of ale.'

  'That could be because you're such a good-looking fellow, Tom.' Robin slapped the sergeant on the back. 'Maybe they want to know you better.'

  They both laughed.

  'You were going to tell me about the tunnels,' Robin reminded him.

  'Aye, Capta
in. If I'm not mistaken, there's one that runs from the house to the castle. Duke Humphrey is said to have used it to visit his mistress. It can't be very deep or it would get flooded at high tide. That means we can probe for it.'

  As the sergeant spoke, a barge came into view. Robin saw the royal standard and wondered if the queen was on board. She would have heard that Somerset had been arrested and taken to the Tower. Maybe, the silly woman thought she could go and rescue him.

  ***

  The air was cold but the sun was shining. Alice strolled beside Harald in the park and watched the squirrels chasing one another in the branches of the trees. Spring was in the air and the small animals had got a taste of it. The females would soon be receptive to the males even if they pretended run away from them.

  Life had changed. The soldiers, patrolling beside the river, now wore the uniforms of the Earl of Warwick. Somerset's men had gone and he was in custody in the Tower of London. According to Harald, Margaret went ballistic when she heard about it. She stormed into the administration building, where he was working, and demanded an explanation.

  He gave a light hearted account of what had happened. Alice hadn't seen him so relaxed for a long while.

  'She was like a loose cannon on the deck of a warship,' he chuckled. 'People scattered in all directions. They couldn't get away fast enough. She wanted to know why something hadn't been done to stop it. No one was prepared to tell her that, short of taking on Warwick's men, there was nothing they could have done.'

  'You've always said that the pen is mightier than the sword,' Alice reminded him.

  'Not in this case. She called for the royal barge. If we couldn't save Somerset then she would. She would go down to the Tower and order his release.'

  'She's rescued him in the past.'

  'Aye. But that was different. York didn't have the support of Warwick and Salisbury then. They've got twenty thousand men in the London area and can call on more if the need arises. York has the backing of Parliament. No one is going to challenge him.'

  'At least for the present,' Alice sounded a note of caution. 'Things could change. York might be popular in London but not everyone is rushing to his side.'

  'Aye,' Harald nodded. 'I'll grant you that he has offended some very powerful people. He's got involved in Salisbury's disputes with the northern lords and that has made him very unpopular in that part of the country.'

  'How is this going to affect us?'

  'We'll go on doing our work. At least we are now being paid. York is determined to stamp out the corruption of the old system. We'll get a fixed wage. We won't be dependent on presents from above and bribes from below.'

  'But who are we working for?'

  'The king, my darling, as we always have.' He squeezed her arm. 'The difference is that Henry is no longer at the beck and call of Queen Margaret and Edmund Somerset. He is now in the care of the Lord Protector of the Realm in the person of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, and I shall be reporting to him.'

  'You will be reporting to the Duke of York?'

  'Yes, my love, to him or one of his officers ... who could be Sir Robin Perry for all I know.'

  Harald saw the pained expression on Alice's face.

  'I thought you would be pleased.'

  'I'm scared, Harald.'

  'Why?'

  'I never wanted to get involved in this. Henriette and Robin joined York and we ended up here in Westminster with the House of Lancaster. While we were apart, it didn't seem so bad. Now we have come together, it's impossible to ignore that we are on different sides.'

  'No. We are not.'

  'How can you say such a thing?'

  'We are serving England through the person of the king.'

  'Harald. That is lawyers' language. England is sliding into civil war. The royal cousins will fight just like they did in France. The nation will be torn apart …'

  She was interrupted by the arrival of Steven who came running up the river bank, waving and shouting.

  'The queen is coming!'

  He pointed to the royal barge, which was sailing towards them on the incoming tide.

  'I'm going up to the jetty … see what's happened.'

  He ran ahead and Harald followed.

  'Must we go?' Alice hung back.

  'We can't ignore her.' Harald slowed his pace. 'We shall stand at the end of the jetty and nod respectfully when Margaret walks past, just as we shall do for the Duke of York if he pays us a visit in his capacity as Protector of the Realm. To do otherwise would be to take sides.'

  Alice was shocked to see that her son was doing more than nodding respectfully. He ran along beside the royal barge, waving and shouting.

  'Three cheers for Her Majesty!'

  He threw his feathered hat in the air and started to shout his hurrahs. Others followed. By the time Alice and Harald arrived, a modest display of respect would have seemed disrespectful. A more enthusiastic welcome was needed. Harald removed his lawyers cap and waved it. Alice followed the other women and curtsied.

  Margaret strode down the jetty and made straight for Steven, who swirled his cloak and bowed in the flamboyant manner of the young blades of the royal court.

  'Steven Gascoigne!'

  She placed her hands on her hips.

  'You were here to greet me on this very spot when I left London three years ago. England was in the grips of traitors then just as it is now.'

  She turned to the crowd and harangued them in her powerful French voice.

  'Through the loyalty of young Englishmen like Steven our dear country was saved. He turned the tide of battle on London Bridge with his crossbow and slew those who would seize power for their own selfish ends …'

  Alice clasped her hands together and shuddered. It was like a hideous replay of the incident when Robin was knighted. Margaret was facing defeat then and in desperate need of support. She was facing defeat now and her enthusiasm for Steven was understandable. But why had her son gone out of his way to court the queen's favour?

  She had expected him to throw his support behind Robin and the Duke of York. Instead, he had gone out of his way to ingratiate himself with the House of Lancaster. Steven liked to play games. They were dangerous when he was twelve and getting more dangerous with each passing day.

  Her son was almost sixteen. Boys were recognised as adults at that age. They could be tortured to death as spies when much younger as the fate of Gareth Pritchard's son had shown. She feared for Steven's future.

  Chapter 32

  Birthday

  It was Edward's birthday and they were staging a tournament. He was twelve. Maud was already twelve. Her birthday was a week earlier. They had held a party at the castle for her but it was nothing like the one they were holding for Edward. Maud was excited. It was going to be just totally and completely fabulous.

  People had come to Ludlow from all over the country. There were at least thirty boys and girls. Their families were rich. And they weren't just a tiny bit rich. They were amazingly rich.

  They were the sort of people who lived in huge castles and had soldiers. All of them supported the Duke of York. Maud knew that was important because he was trying to get rid of the bad people in Westminster and the bad people were trying to stop him.

  The duke was Edward's father. Parliament had made him Lord Protector. Maud wasn't sure what a Lord Protector did but knew it was very important. Edward said it was like being king but without a crown. The king was ill and York was doing his job for him until he got better. York was in London and her father was with him. He was captain of the guard.

  The castle servants had put up a stand on a bank beside the tournament ground. It was protected by coloured canvas. People who were invited to the party were allowed to sit there. The townspeople could come along to watch but they had to stay outside in the open.

  Today it was snowing so there weren't as many townspeople as in summer. But a lot of boys had come. Edward wasn't snooty. He played with the boys in Ludlow town and knew a
lot of them by name.

  Some people were complaining about the snow. Maud thought it was fun. She was warmly dressed in a hooded cloak, lined with fur. The fur was squirrel on the outside and rabbit inside. Some girls had cloaks with expensive fur throughout. Others had to make do with wool.

  How you dressed depended on who your parents were. The girls from noble families were expected to dress noble. Those from ordinary families had to dress ordinary, even if their family could afford something better.

  Maud's father was Sir Robin Perry. Being Sir meant he was a knight and knights weren't ordinary. But her family wasn't noble either so she was expected to wear something in between even if her father couldn't afford it. Edward's mother new that and she had given Maud the cloak for her birthday.

  Maud took her place in the stand. She was allowed to sit at the front because Edward said she could. Some of the girls didn't like that. They thought only girls from noble families could sit there but they were wrong. It was Edward's birthday and he could choose some of the girls, even if his mother chose the rest.

  Maud's mother had told her to be on her very best behaviour and not do anything to upset anyone. Maud didn't need to be told. She was the girl in the middle. The soldiers' children looked up to her and the nobility looked down. All except Edward. He made friends with everyone.

  Edward liked to play a game called Piggy in the Middle. When you are Piggy you have to fight off people on both sides and that means you need friends on all sides. His father says that being a duke is like being Piggy and Edward needs to get used to it because, one day, he will be a duke.

  The tournament started with jousting. Maud sat back and watched as men rode horses at one another. They galloped down different sides of a fence and used lances to knock their opponents off their mounts. Jousting was very dangerous and you weren't allowed to do it until you were fifteen.

  The jousting was exciting but the real fun would come when Edward led his troops into battle. The younger boys were allowed to fight on foot using wooden swords. They wore real armour and had to keep their visors down so their eyes wouldn't get poked out.