I was thinking, could it be that Richard would be there?. The prospect of seeing him made me very happy. Moreover if he were, it might be an indication that this feud between the king and my father was coming to an end.
"We shall go to Cawood Castle," went on my mother.
"It is very pleasant there on the south bank of the Ouse. We shall have the river and it is only ten miles from York, so after the ceremony the company will, with your father and the archbishop, join us there for the feast."
In due course we set out for Cawood and as soon as we arrived, if we had not been aware of it before, we would have realised what an important occasion this was. The castle was swarming with retainers. There were fifty cooks at work in the kitchens and the carcasses of sheep, cattle, pigs, swans and geese were being prepared for the table, together with artistically fashioned pastry commemorating the archbishop's elevation and the power of the Nevilles. It was borne home to me that there was something significant about this occasion.
The party arrived from York and, to my great joy, riding with my father and uncle was Richard.
In the great hall I was seated at the long table with my mother, and Isabel and Richard was with us. He gave me his rare smite! and I knew that meant that he was glad to see me.
All the feasting ... the drinking ... the dancing ... the splendour indicated one thing: the power of the Nevilles which was by no means diminished. The local peasantry had the earl's permission to go the kitchens and take as much meat as they could carry off on their knives; and for that they were ready to throw their caps in the air at any time and shout "A Warwick" as often and as enthusiastically as the great earl wished.
It was a reminder to all that the Nevilles were not to be treated with disdain. The king might travel about the south, smiling and courteous, winning the approbation of the people, but this was the north and the Nevilles were the lords of the north. They had wrested the title from the Percys; and these sturdy, down-to-earth people were not the sort to be seduced by a few superficial smiles.
I could see that Richard was not happy. I longed to talk to him, but I could not do so at the table before my mother, Isabel and the guests who sat with us. But I determined to find an opportunity of doing so before he went away.
It had always been a habit of his to go off alone somewhere and eventually I found him. He was walking in the castle grounds and I called to him."
"Richard, I'm here. Or do you want to be left alone?"
"I don't mind you," he said.
"I was hoping to have a talk with you. Oh, Richard, how deep is this trouble between the king and my father?"
"Your father is making it deep."
"Has he no reason?"
"I suppose there are some who would say he has." He turned anxious eyes to me.
"You know of my brother's marriage?"
"Everyone knows."
"A man must marry where he will."
"Must not a king think of his country?"
"My brother thinks of his country. They are demanding that he get an heir. That is what he is preparing to give them."
"But I have heard that my father was negotiating with the King of France for a suitable marriage. The king allowed him to do so while he was already married."
"I know. Perhaps the king should have told your father. But it is more than that, Anne. The king does not wish others to tell him what he must do. He decides for himself. That is what he means your father to understand. He is sorry to be on ill terms. He does not forget the good service your father has given him in the past and the friendship between them. But he will make his own choice and he has chosen this queen."
"So you, too, are against my father?"
He shook his head.
"I have admired your father more than any man except my brother. They have both been ideals to me. I have often wished that I could be like them. But your father must remember that it is my brother who is the king. The people shout for Warwick in the streets, it is true. I believe that, next to my brother, they respect him more than any other man. It grieves me as much as it does you that they should not be good friends."
"What does George say?"
He was silent for a few seconds. Then he said slowly: "George does not like the queen. George is always ... a little critical. Secretly, I think he would like to be king himself. He is handsome and clever ... and people like him. But he should know that not he nor anyone ... could compete with Edward."
"How loyal you are to the king!"
"I would die rather than fail him. I have taken for my motto "Loyaulte me lie!" I think loyalty is the most important virtue and that is what I have for Edward."
"He is fortunate to have such a brother."
"Nay. It is I who am the fortunate one." Tell me. Why does George not like the queen?"
"George would not like any queen my brother had, for if she produces a son, George would be a step backwards from the throne. Now, you see, he is next in line. I believe that is at the heart of George's dislike. Besides ..."
"Besides, what?"
"Well, the queen is haughty. People have to kneel before her all the time. It is what happens. She was of no importance before her marriage. Now she is the queen and she wants no one to forget it."
"That will not make her very popular."
"I believe she does not crave popularity. She just wants to be the Queen of England. Surely that is ambition enough."
"Richard, I believe you do not like her either."
"Have I shown that?"
"Yes, you have." .
He hesitated for a moment, then he said: "The Woodvilles are arrogant. They have come too high too quickly. They are pushing themselves into the highest positions in the land; and the queen is seeking great marriages for all her relations ... her sons ... her brothers. There are many of them. People are saying that before long we shall have the Woodville clan ousting ..."
'... ousting the Nevilles," I finished.
"Yes, they are saying that. We shall be ruled by the Woodvilles and the Woodvilles are unfit for high office."
"So you see why my father is so upset."
"I understand, and it grieves me. My brother has been kind to your father. He stormed into the king's chambers and actually dared berate him. My brother was so calm ... so reasonable!
"Poor Warwick!" he said.
"I should have told him I was married and not let him go on making plans with the old Spider. Yes, I understand his wrath. He has been of good service to me and I am ready to forget that outburst. I am ready to be his good friend again." There! You see how forgiving he can be. He does not want conflict with his old friend. If only your father would be friends again, my brother would be ready."
"He will, I am sure."
"He must be."
"And in the meantime, does that mean that you will not be staying at Middleham?"
"I am here now only for this celebration."
"I am so glad you came, Richard. Oh, how I wish for a return to the old days before there was this trouble."
"We were always good friends, you and I, Anne," he said.
"Let us always be."
"That is what I want. Very much I want it."
"We will agree then that, whatever happens, you and I will always be friends."
How readily I agreed to that.
We returned to Middleham and Richard said goodbye to me and went to join his brother.
Life settled down to what it had been. There were boys in the tiltyard and in the fields doing their martial exercises, but I was not interested because Richard was not among them.
I was learning more about what was going on. The quarrel between my father and the king had made me more aware. There were times when there was no sign of the rift, but it was there, and occasionally it was brought to our notice.
When there was a visiting embassy from Bohemia, I think -and the king was anxious to entertain the emissaries lavishly, we heard that he had offered them a banquet with fifty different courses of the finest foods. Everyone gasped with wonder until they heard that the Earl of Warwick had invited the visitors to Warwick Court where sixty courses were offered; and that because of the earl's generous gesture in allowing the people to come to the kitchens and take away the surplus food, there was rejoicing in the streets because Warwick was in town. The cries of "A Warwick!"