The Star of Lancaster - Plaidy Jean. Страница 67

This was done and it was not long before the same infor-

mation was gleaned from several sources.

They had been drawn into London from the countryside with promise of great rewards. Who had made these promises? It was Lord Cobham who was behind it. He was a very rich lord and he was going to reform the Church and make living easy for the poor.

Has it come to this, John? thought Henry. War between you and me.

'We must arm ourselves/ said the King. *I see full well that this may be a repetition of what happened in Richard's time. It is the same ragged army but if there are enough of them they could be formidable.'

*My lord,' said the Archbishop Arundel, 'it is this man Old-castle who calls himself Cobham. He has some notion that he is fighting for the right.'

'He is an old man,' said the King. *I knew him once. He is one who will espouse a cause and give it all he has to give. I fear this is what he does now.'

'It is a pity he was ever allowed to escape from the Tower.'

Henry nodded. He remembered his pleasure when he heard that John was free.

John, you fool, he thought. Why did you not go back to the country and live in peace? Will you never learn your lesson?

Of course he wouldn't. He was a fighter. He was ready for any adventure—now as then.

Stay out of this John, thought the King. I want no confrontation between us two. I like not that we should be fighting on different sides. Once we undertook all our adventures together. Let us remember that now. Stop this nonsense while there is still time.

There was more news. One of his spies reported that the Lollards were gathering in St Giles's Fields and that they were preparing to march. Their first plan was to destroy the monasteries of Westminster, St Albans and St Paul as well as all the friars' houses in London.

The King was restive. Some action must be taken. He remembered how Richard had saved the day by making promises, promises which had not been kept it was true. But the poor simple peasants had not believed that that would be the outcome. They had trusted the King.

'I will send out a proclamation,' he said, 'that all persons who have preached heretical doctrines and even those who

have plotted against my life shall be pardoned.'

His advisers were silent. They questioned the wisdom of this but Henry was firm.

'So they are gathering in St Giles's Fields, are they? Well, I will go to meet them. And I shall take a strong company with me?'

'My lord,' said one, 'the apprentices are gathering in the streets.'

'Then when we pass through the city gates on the way to the Fields, see that the gates are closed and let no one in or out save those known to be our friends.'

'It shall be done, my lord,' was the answer; and so the King with his guards rode out to the Fields of St Giles's.

This was a good move for the apprentices, always eager to join any movement which could mean trouble, were preparing to march, and gathering with them were the beggars and criminals ever eager to loot and pillage other people's goods and houses. Many of the countrymen who had come to London to answer the call of Lord Cobham mistook the King's camp for that of their friends and were immediately captured. The result was chaos and the rebelling army quickly realized that they could not hope for success against the King's disciplined soldiers.

They took the only action possible. They fled.

The King returned to London. He had quelled the revolt with greater ease than Richard had dispersed the band of peasants who came against him. This was not, of course, on the same scale; but such risings could be dangerous.

He eagerly awaited news of the prisoners who had been taken. There were many of them.

'Is Lord Cobham among them?' he asked.

'No, my lord. It would seem that he got away ... if indeed he were there. He is the one we want, my lord. He might attempt again what he has failed to do this time.'

'He is a slippery fellow, this Oldcastle.'

'We should bring him to the Tower and this time make sure he gets his deserts.'

'We should,' agreed the King, 'but I doubt he will be easy to hold. He escaped before.'

'His fate will be quickly decided this time. He is a heretic as well as a traitor to you, my lord.'

The King half closed his eyes. There were so many mem-

ories of John. How had they come to this? They should have been friends for life.

'Yes,' said Henry firmly, 'his fate will be decided quickly.*

And what would it be? The axe, the rope? The heretic's death?

Henry could not shut out of his mind the thought of John Badby. The hideous smell of scorching flesh.

Oh John, you fool, he thought.

When he heard that Lord Cobham had escaped from the Fields (if he had been there) and had gone into hiding he was filled with relief.

Stay in hiding, you old idiot, he thought. And for the love of God, come to your senses!

AGINCOURT

Henry burned with ambition. All the energies which had gone into his night adventures were now concentrated on one aim. That was to win the crown of France.

He called together his council and told them that negotiations with the French must begin without delay. He laid claim to the crown of France. It was without doubt his. They might maintain the Salic law in France but England took no account of it; and through Isabella of France the mother of his great-grandfather Edward the Third the crown must come to him.

His brothers the Dukes of Gloucester and Bedford stood firmly beside him; so did his uncle the Duke of Exeter and his cousin the Duke of York.

The leading nobles were assembled too with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Poor old Arundel, he looked as though he was not long for this world. He had lived through many hazards, had suffered exile and seen his brother the Earl executed as traitor to King Richard. A long life during which the King believed the Archbishop had tried to live by his principles. He ioved extravagance of course; and he whole-heartedly supported the pomp and grandeur of the Church and was therefore naturally an arch enemy of the Lollards.

And now here he w^as to give his assurance that Henry's claim to the throne of France was no false one.

*We have already made our feelings on that matter clear to the French,* said Henry/

*And, my lord/ his uncle Exeter reminded him, 'they laugh at us/

*Let them laugh while they may. I promise you all that we shall be the ones who are laughing when the crown is set upon my head/

'There will be many a battle before that happy day,' pointed out his uncle.

Henry laid his hand on his shoulder. 'You think this the dream of a wild youth,' he said. 'I know your mind. Uncle. But think, my great-grandfather had this dream too and he was not a wild youth. He was a warrior before whom all men bent the knee.*

'It is said, my lord, that he was urged into the endeavour by a rash vow he took on a heron.*

'But heron or no heron, he made every effort to seize the crown of France.*

'And did not succeed, my lord.'

'He had ill luck. He grew old and his great son, the Black Prince, was stricken by ill health. I am young. I shall not cease until I have succeeded.*

'Charles the Sixth will never willingly give up his crown.'

'Well, that is something we understand. Poor mad old man. He is beset on all sides. Burgundy would be with us.*

'It is not likely that a King of France will give up his crown without a struggle. Moreover there is the Dauphin.*

The King snapped his fingers. 'Louis is a braggart and a very pretty one, I believe. He will make sure his linen is well scented before he goes into battle. He would be wise to accept our latest terms: Charles to remain in nominal possession of the throne until his death. That is very fair, very reasonable. England to be no longer the vassal of France for the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Anjou and Aquitaine. The ransom for King John who was captured by the Black Prince and kept prisoner here in London for a while has never been paid. Is it asking much that this should now be honoured? The King of France shall give his youngest daughter Katherine to be my Queen and she shall bring with her a dowry of two million crowns.*