by Mike Dixon
He had coached Steven in the subtle art of espionage and double dealing. His mission was to contact Robin and offer his services as a spy. Cunningham figured that Robin would jump at the chance. He had already attempted to contact Steven through the boy, David, and failed. A second chance would be like a gift from heaven.
There was, of course, the awkward question of how David came to be caught. Cunningham's answer was simple. David and his father were a pair of incompetents. The boy made a total hash of it. Steven couldn't decide whether he was genuine or a palace agent. He was to tell Robin that. He was to say that while he was trying to make up his mind the boy was arrested. What happened to him was so horrible he decided to turn against the palace and work for the Duke of York.
The explanation was utterly plausible and frighteningly close to the truth. Steven wondered if Cunningham had any idea of how close he had come to guessing his true intentions. The man had recruited him as a double agent. In Cunningham's scenario he would be working for the House of Lancaster while pretending to spy for the House of York. In Steven's scenario the exact opposite would apply.
The role of double agent was not a happy one. Steven lay in his cot and wondered about the future. If things worked out badly, he could become trapped between two warring sides. Both would think he was working for the other. Neither would trust him and his own family would come to hate him. It was not a happy thought.
The temptation to cut and run was compelling. He played with the idea and rejected it. There was no turning back. He had committed the sin of pride and others had suffered. His mother had taught him how to behave. She had her own way of looking at the world and had suffered for it. She believed in Jesus and Mary but didn't believe in the Church. She said that how you behaved in this life would determine what happened to you in the next.
She said that God didn't listen to silly old priests. You should forget about them. Weak people went to priests and begged forgiveness. They gave money for indulgences and that did more harm than good. The only way to expiate sin was to do something to overcome the bad you had done.
His sin was to play the clever donkey. He thought he was so clever to have listened in to Cunningham and Queen Margaret. He thought they were stupid because they had left the ends off their listening tubes. That wasn't stupidity that was carelessness. Cunningham had a brilliant mind and Margaret was no fool. She might have a nasty nature but that wouldn't stop her from being a formidable adversary.
Cunningham had sent him to Westminster to spy on the House of York. His real mission was to spy on the House of Lancaster. Steven resolved to stay with it until Lancaster was completely and utterly destroyed. Only then would he have made amends for his sin.
***
The technique was called "following from in front". Agents trailing a suspect ran the risk of being detected. One way round the problem was to anticipate the suspect's movements and get ahead of him.
Robin wondered if Steven had detected the agent who was following him from in front. He saw the man before he saw Steven. He came into the stables and pretended to examine one of the horses. Steven arrived shortly afterwards. He was dressed for riding.
'Sir Robin.' He grasped Robin's hand. 'I am delighted to see you again.'
Robin noticed that Steven had assumed the dress and mannerisms of the royal court. He had also leant their exaggerated form of speech. He wondered what the people at Wolf Wood would think if they could see and hear him now.
'You have grown since I last saw you, Steven.'
'And you look even more distinguished, Sir Robin.'
Steven pointed to the Falcon and Fetlock badge on Robin's coat. It was bordered with gold thread and identified him as a senior officer in the ranks of the Duke of York.
'And you look very smart, Steven.'
Robin released himself from the young man's grasp and pointed to a white stallion, saddled and ready for riding.
'I have chosen a fine mount for you, Steven. The grooms tell me that you have ridden him before and he is one of your favourites.'
'That is most considerate of you, Sir Robin.'
Robin wondered if Steven would stop calling him Sir. In the past he called him Uncle Robin.
They rode into the park and Steven's mood changed. Robin expected him to relax but he didn't. Instead of chattering on in a courtly fashion, he seemed short of words. When he eventually spoke, the plumy tones of Westminster were replaced by the nasal twang of the Norman garrison. He sounded more like the Steven of old.
'There's something you should know, Robin.'
He forced out the words. Robin felt like a priest waiting to hear a confession. Steven glanced around before continuing. He spoke in a half-whisper as if the trees had ears.
'Cunningham sent me … you know who I mean?'
'You are referring to the royal spymaster?'
'I call him RW because of how he speaks.'
'I am aware of how Sir Matthew speaks, Steven.'
'He wants me to spy on you, Robin.'
'Is that so?'
'He spent half the night coaching me, telling me what to do. He gave me detailed instructions.'
'What were these?'
'He wants me to be a double agent.'
'Did you agree?'
'I agreed to offer my services to you as a spy. He said he would feed me information and I would gather as much as I could about what you are doing.'
'Was Sir Matthew aware that we had attempted to contact you with a similar offer, Steven?'
'Yes,'
'Gareth Pritchard's son, David, approached you. He spoke about getting letters to Ludlow and was immediately arrested. Isn't that right?'
'Yes.'
'Did it never occur to you or Cunningham that we might want to know what happened?'
'Cunningham talked about that. He said you were bound to ask me and he told me what to say.'
Robin reined in his mount.
'Go On.'
'He said I should tell you that David made a big hash of it. I didn't know whether he was from you or the palace. When he was arrested I knew he was from you. I got so angry with what they did to him that I decided to come to you and say I'd be your spy.'
'And that's not how it happened?'
'No. But it wasn't much different.' Steven's eyes filled with tears. 'I told them about David. I really thought he was a palace spy and Cunningham was testing my loyalty. Queen Margaret wanted to recruit me as an agent. That's what I wanted. Then I could gather a heap of information about them and find a way of getting it to you …'
Robin listened as Steven told him about the listening tube. What he said sounded convincing but his body spoke more loudly than his words. Tears streamed down his face as he recalled seeing the bodies of Gareth and David displayed on the river bank. Robin hoped they weren't being watched. Even from a distance it would be obvious that the young man was deeply distressed. There were royal spies everywhere and no shortage of people who would turn informer if offered a suitable incentive.
He had no doubt that Steven was telling the truth. His immediate problem was to return him to a state of composure where he would not attract attention. The next step would be to draw up a plan of action. There was no hurry. The struggle with Lancaster could drag on for years. To have an agent like Steven in the enemy's camp was too good an opportunity to miss.
They continued through the park. Steven gave the names of recent visitors to Windsor. People who had expressed loyalty to York were sneaking round to the castle to speak with Queen Margaret. Some were already under suspicion. Others came as an unpleasant surprise.
In the space of an hour, Steven supplied far more information than Robin had anticipated. He was already proving himself a valuable addition to his team. But his services carried a terrifying responsibility. If anything went wrong. Steven could suffer the same fate as David.
Robin didn't doubt that Steven was aware of the terrible risk he was taking. That did nothing to calm his fears. He had known the Gasco
ignes his entire adult life. They were like family to him. The thought of Steven suffering an agonising death was mortifying.
For a while, he had suspected that Steven had been seduced by the glamour of court life. Now he knew otherwise. Steven was a credit to his parents. One day they might know the risk he was taking. For the present, their son's role would remain a closely guarded secret. Alice and Harald would not be told. Steven had insisted on that.
Interlude
On Christmas Day 1454, the royal doctors announced that their treatment had enabled the king to make a complete recovery and he was now restored to full health. Henry appeared before his adoring court saying he remembered nothing of the sixteen months during which he lived in a stupor. He embraced his infant son, Edward, praising God and saying that he must be a true child of the Holy Ghost. This reference, to a heavenly power, fuelled speculation that Henry was not the child's father. However, his failure to deny paternity during Margaret's pregnancy was enough to convince Parliament of the child's legitimacy.
Early in February 1455, Henry appeared in Parliament and read a prepared speech in which he thanked the members for their loyalty and dismissed the Duke of York from the office of Protector of the Realm. Within weeks, The Duke of Somerset was released from imprisonment and confiscated property was returned to loyal supporters of the House of Lancaster.
York left London in disgust and withdrew to Sandal Castle, his stronghold in Yorkshire. For the greater part of a year, he had ruled England wisely and without favour. He had stamped out corruption and waste of public money. In the process, he won the hearts and minds of ordinary people but made enemies amongst the landed classes. His wife's brother, the Earl of Salisbury, and her nephew, Warwick, remained firmly on York's side but most of the aristocracy favoured the House of Lancaster.
Chapter 34
Sandal
Maud looked down into the castle garden. It was April and the trees were getting their first leaves. In Ludlow, they would be out by now. She didn't like Sandal. It was cold and bleak and the people spoke with such strong accents you could hardly understand what they were saying. And it wasn't just the accents. They had words you'd never heard before. Half the time, they sounded like they were speaking a foreign language.
And it wasn't just the cold and the funny accents that put her off Sandal. There were other reasons for not liking the place. Most of all, she didn't like it because the snooty Salisbury girl was there. Her name was Katherine and she was after Edward again. You could tell that from the way she hung around him. She wouldn't let him get out of her sight.
Katherine was a real pain. She kept saying how handsome he was. How big and strong he was. Things like that. She never stopped and her mother was no better. She egged her on. There was no need for them to be at Sandal. It wasn't as if the Earl of Salisbury didn't have enough castles of his own. They could have stayed in a different castle every night if they had wanted.
It was pretty obvious that Katherine's mother wanted her to marry Edward. That shouldn't happen. They were cousins. Auntie Alice said that was why King Henry was mad. His parents had married their cousins and people who did that had babies that didn't come out right. There was a law to stop it but if you paid enough money the pope said it was alright. That was ridiculous but you mustn't say so because the pope was meant to be infallible ... whatever that meant.
Edward was down in the garden with the other boys. They were practising with their weapons and Katherine was watching. She was dressed in a fur gown and wore a fur hat. The gown and hat came from Sweden. They were made from the coats of animals that lived in the forests and would have cost a fortune.
The boys were stripped to the waist and whirling war clubs around. That built up muscles. Edward had big muscles. He was now thirteen and growing fast. His voice had changed too. He was beginning to sound like a man and was already as tall as a lot of men. Her father said he would grow into a giant.
Maud didn't take that literally. She figured that Edward would be big but not big like giants. It helped to be big if you were an earl. You were expected to fight. That was King Henry's problem. He was expected to lead men into battle but he was a weedy little toad and scared of fighting.
She was growing up too. Her breasts were developing. Edward had teased her about them. He did that to the girls. That made them blush. Not all of them, of course. Some girls liked it. Edward's father didn't like him to behave like that and nor did his mother. Duchess Cecily was very strict. Maud was pleased she was not her daughter.
She wondered about the duke and duchess. She was a tall, aristocratic-looking lady. He was short and rather stout. A lot of important men kept mistresses. Maud's mother said Duke Richard was not like that. He and Duchess Cecily were happily married.
Mistresses were like wives but not churched. Her mother said some men had them because they were forced to marry people they didn't like. That was a problem Edward could have. He hated Katherine but his parents were trying to make him like her. If he didn't agree, he could be disinherited. Edmund would then be duke when their father died. Maud had a feeling that Edward wouldn't be too fussed if that happened.
The good part was that, if he was forced to marry someone he didn't like, then he could take a mistress. Auntie Alice had been Uncle Harald's mistress once. It was all very complicated but she was married to him now. Maud wondered what it would be like to be a mistress. Far worse things could happen to you. It had worked out alright for Alice. If your man was like Edward it could be very nice.
Her father appeared in the garden. He was wearing his captain's uniform and had a young man with him. The young man looked about three years older than Edward but was the same height. Maud had the impression that he was going to be introduced to Edward. Then it seemed that they had just come to watch.
She leant out of the window and the young man looked up at her. Their eyes met. His were bright like diamonds and seemed to look right into her. She had a feeling she knew him. He looked a bit like Steven Gascoigne but older than when she had last seen him.
***
The room was small but it had its own privy and was comfortably furnished. Steven noticed that effluent from the privy was not discharged outside but ran into an internal drain. The door was massive and could be locked on the outside. There were no windows and ventilation was provided through slits in the walls. It occurred to him that the room could serve as both a secret hideaway and a prison. It could also operate as an extermination chamber if poison gas was pumped inside.
Robin brought his evening meal and left saying he would return later. The meal was cooked in the northern style and not entirely to Steven's taste. But it was warm and nourishing. He needed to get some food into him. The journey from London was more demanding than he had expected. Cunningham arranged transport as far as Leicester. After that he had to make his own way north so as not to arouse suspicion.
That was easier said than done. There had been a complete breakdown of law and order in some parts of England. Travellers ran the risk of being robbed or mistaken for robbers. Many had taken to blowing horns before entering villages. People were getting trigger happy and it was advisable to let them know that you weren't sneaking up on them.
Shoot first and ask questions later.
It was best to avoid that sort of situation and one way was to join the carriers transporting goods and letters between towns. He had paid for the privilege and had left their company at Wakefield, about a mile from Sandal Castle.
He finished his meal and went to a writing table. Paper and ink had been provided, together with a supply of goose feathers for quill pens. He took a knife and trimmed one into a pen suitable for writing with the left hand.
Being a double agent was dangerous and having two identities cut down the risk of being caught. His other identity was Bernard who spoke with a slight French accent and wrote in the French style using his left hand. The real Steven wrote with his right hand and formed his letters in the style favoured at Westmins
ter.
Writing in the French style was easy because he had been taught it in Normandy. Speaking with a French accent was easy because he spoke the language as well as he spoke English. Writing with the left hand had required hours of practice on thin slithers of pine wood, which he chucked in the fire when he had finished so as to hide what he was doing.
Disguising your handwriting when you wrote things down was one way to reduce the risk of being caught. Writing down nothing that could incriminate you was far better. Steven had trained his memory and carried as much in his head as possible.
He wrote his report, signed with an elegant French flourish and was wondering what would happen next when the door opened and Robin appeared, followed by another man. To his amazement, Duke Richard of York was paying him a visit.
'Good Evening. Steven.'
Steven rose and grasped the hand that was extended towards him. He had last seen Duke Richard in Westminster and had spoken to him on two previous occasions. York got straight down to business.
'What have you to report?'
Steven knew the routine. They would start in a brisk manner and end with a casual chat. He began with a piece of information that was probably already known.'
'Somerset is saying you are planning to seize the throne, Sir.'
'To whom is he saying this?'
'To anyone who will listen.'
'Is that all?'
'No. He is planning a meeting of peers of the realm known to be loyal to the House of Lancaster. They will discuss the alleged threat to the king and draw up plans for his defence. A list of invitees has been drawn up and letters dispatched. I think it unlikely that you will be receiving one, Sir.'
A thin smile crossed the duke's lips.
'How did you get this information?'