"I cannot imagine what she would do if she heard such a rumour." I said.
"Edward does not want her to know what Clarence has said of her. He said it would shock and depress her too deeply. She was always a devoted wife to our father. She was even with him in campaigns whenever she could be. This is a terrible slight on her good name, and so unjustified: But it shows that George will say anything that occurs to him."
"Do you think this will be the end of him?"
Richard was thoughtful.
"There is one other matter," he said slowly.
"I think Edward was on the verge of telling me, but changed his mind. I am of the opinion that it shocked him so much that he could not speak of it even to me."
"So you have no idea what it was?"
"None at all. As I remember, Edward spoke somewhat incoherently. He said: "There is something else ... disastrous if he succeeded." Then he paused for a long time. I asked him what it was and he said: "Oh, 'twas nothing in truth ... just slanderous nonsense. The sort of thing George would think up." I again asked him to tell me, because I could see that, in spite of the manner in which he was trying to brush aside this thing, it had affected him deeply.
"Nothing ... nothing," he said, and he made it clear to me that the matter was closed."
"Do you think that Clarence has offended him beyond forgiveness?"
"I do."
"I suppose the slur on his legitimacy is enough."
"I think it is such nonsense that it could easily be disproved."
"But it shows he is his brother's enemy."
"That is no new discovery. I have a notion that it is this other matter which has made up the king's mind. But knowing Edward, I am unsure. Our mother begged for Clarence's life, and Edward hates there to be rifts in the family. There is Margaret, whom he has offended by refusing to consider Clarence's marriage to Mary and allowing Lord Rivers' name to go forward. He wants harmony all around him ... so ... I do not know what George's fate will be."
We were not long kept in doubt.
Next day we heard that the Duke of Clarence, the worse for drink, had fallen into a huge butt of malmsey and been drowned.
The court was stunned by the news. It was well known that the Duke of Clarence was a heavy drinker, and it seemed plausible that, in a drunken stupor, he had reached to fill his goblet, toppled into the butt and, being intoxicated, was unable to get out. It was ironical that he had been killed by his favourite drink and in a butt which he himself had ordered to be brought into his cell.
I had other suspicions. After what Richard had told me, it seemed certain that he had been killed on Edward's orders.
Duchess Cecily was stricken with grief. She seemed like a different person from Proud Cis, as they called her. She was very sad when she spoke to me.
"Edward is a great king," she said, "and state affairs are safe in his hands. His father would have been a great king too. How I wish there had not been this quarrel in the family! We should all stand together. There is strength in union and danger in discord."
As I tried to comfort her I could not help wondering what she would have said had she known of the slander which her son would have brought against her. Perhaps then she would have understood why Clarence had to die and that he was indeed a menace to his brother, and the peace of the realm.
Richard was very distressed by the whole matter. We talked about it a little. I knew he thought that Edward had arranged for the death of George ... in which case it was murder.
"If Clarence had lived," said Richard, "there would have been trouble sooner or later ... risings all over the country ... men dying in a foolish and hopeless cause. And just suppose Clarence had triumphed over Edward ... imagine what harm would have been done to the country. In such a case murder would be justified."
We discussed this for a while and I think we both felt that if the death of one foolish and reckless man had been brought about in order to save the lives and suffering of thousands, the deed was not to be judged as murder but justice.
"Edward was never a vindictive man," insisted Richard.
"Whatever happened on that night was justified." . I knew Richard felt better after he had come to that conclusion, and we did not refer to his brother's death again.
Mary of Burgundy had now married the Archduke Maximilian, son of the Hapsburg Emperor Frederick the Third, so that the matter which had aroused such fury in Clarence and led to his death was now concluded.
There was another arrest which puzzled Richard. It had taken place on the very night of Clarence's death. This was that of Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was a good Yorkist, but he was accused of uttering treasonable words which could be prejudicial to the state. It was a small matter and Stillington was soon released, but I was to remember this some time after, although it seemed of very little importance at the time.
There was nothing now to detain us. Richard assured Edward that it would be unwise for him to stay too long away from the north. Edward embraced Richard warmly, calling him his 'loyal brother'. Richard was deeply touched. He told me that Edward had said, "Never have I had any cause to doubt your loyalty to me. I should thank Heaven for giving me the blessings of my brother Richard."
I guessed then that the death of his brother weighed heavily upon him. After taking a tender farewell, during which the king commanded us both to take care of ourselves and each other, for he loved us both dearly, we returned to Middleham and our family.
The Lord Protector's Wife
What joy to be away from the intrigues and troubles of the court! And there was our family eagerly awaiting us. What a pleasure to slip into the lives of a country nobleman and his wife, to be chatelaine of the castle, to immerse myself in domestic matters! We must, perforce, frequently entertain, but what enjoyable occasions they were! There would be dancing and singing; and often, to the delight of the children, the mummers came to perform.
I would accompany Richard on his various progresses through the northern towns. I enjoyed these visits, especially those to York, which city was the very bastion of the House of York. It was always thrilling to approach those white walls with their battlements and barbican gates.
York was the important town of the north. Some said it was as important as London. The minster, which had only recently been completed, was the glory of the city. The wealth of York was due to its merchants, who carried on a thriving trade, not only throughout the country but on the continent.
The people of the north appreciated Richard's steadying influence. There was always a great welcome for us and I was always thrilled to hear the shouts for Gloucester as we rode along. Richard received this homage with a restrained dignity, but I knew he was proud of what he had been able to achieve in keeping the north peaceful and content for Edward.
We endeavoured to be there during the week after Trinity, so that we could witness the miracle plays which were often performed in York at that time, when the actors were the traders of the town and they enacted scenes from the Bible.
This state of utter contentment could not be expected to last for ever. There was trouble with the Scots.Messages came from Edward. He believed that Louis was contemplating the situation in Burgundy and was getting restive. Maximilian was an energetic young man but he lacked the money which he would need if he were to hold out against Louis, and once the French king had brought Burgundy under his control, he would set himself free from the treaty with England. Paying the pension to Edward must rankle: and Edward was sure he was persuading perhaps bribing the King of Scotland to harry the English on the border.
James the Third of Scotland was something of a weakling, a man of little judgement, but he might believe that with the backing of the French king he could achieve victory over his old enemy.