The Red Rose of Anjou - Plaidy Jean. Страница 64

But there was much to be done; she must not waste her energies on fruitless fantasies of what she would do with her enemies. She had her boy to consider. Edward was seven years old. He had been constantly in her care and she would not let him escape from it. She was going to be sure that he did not grow up to be like his father.

There had been a time when she had asked Somerset if it would be possible to have Henry deposed and his son crowned King. Somerset had advised her not to mention such a matter to anyone else. It might be construed as treason.

Treason! When she made a reasonable suggestion that her poor ineffectual husband – who was capable of madness in any case – should stand aside for her young and beautiful son who would one day inherit the throne?

But she did recognize that fact that she ought to take care, so that matter had gone no farther.

She had said goodbye to Henry at Coventry and left him to join the army at Northampton while she went on to Eccleshill in Staffordshire. As soon as he had defeated the Yorkists she would join the King.

It was to Eccleshill that the messengers came.

Defeat. Debacle. A battle which was almost over before it had begun.

And what of her? Here she was not far off and she was the one they hated. She was the one they wanted to get into their power. She, the Queen...and her precious son the Prince of Wales.

‘There is no time to be lost,’ she said. ‘We must leave at once.’

She sent for Edward and told him.

‘But where shall we go, my dear lady?’ asked Edward.

‘We shall go to our true friends. I know there are some in this country we can trust. And if there are not enough of them, we shall go to our country’s enemies. They will assist us for their own sake.’

Edward looked bewildered. Poor child, he was too young to understand what a world he had been born into. But he was a Prince, the heir to the throne and Margaret was going to fight with all the strength of which she was capable to make sure that he was not cheated out of that.

Summoning her servants she prepared to leave at once and they were soon on the road to Malpas. Margaret failed completely to understand the effect her arrogance had on her followers. Interested as she was in her women’s love affairs and having a genuine concern for their welfare, she could never forget that she was the Queen; and she would be amazed if they did not immediately fall in with her wishes. There had been two main influences in her youth and they were the domination of her mother and grandmother and the feckless poverty of her father. She had seen the power of feminine rule. She was determined to emulate her grandmother and mother and equally determined to cling to the high position she had acquired; if she could prevent it, she was never going to live as she had in her childhood with poverty and the fear that everything the family had would be lost to them.

Now that the King had suffered a major defeat and was in the hands of his enemies who would assuredly bend him to their will, her servants asked themselves why they should have to be treated as being so inferior by a woman who first of all could well find her power cut off and secondly was a foreigner who did not understand English ways.

So on the flight from Eccleshill there was a certain amount of murmuring of which Margaret was oblivious—but if she had been aware of it would have taken little heed.

They had come to a wood and as she entered it Margaret felt a shudder of apprehension. It was merely because it was late afternoon, the wood seemed so quiet and the trees made it dark.

She looked with concern at the saddle horses which carried her precious belongings, the jewels which represented so much money, the fine garments which she loved. They were a small band and a lonely one.

She had just turned to give an order to hurry when out of the woods came a band of men. She recognized the livery of one of the nobles and with sinking heart she believed that these were Lord Stanley’s men and he was a firm Yorkist supporter.

The men stood a little distance from her.

Margaret, fearless as ever, rode ahead of the company.

‘Good day to you,’ she said. ‘You are not attempting to impede our progress, I hope.’

The arrogant tone betrayed her.

‘You are the Queen,’ said the leader of the men.

‘You appear to have forgotten that,’ she answered coolly.

‘Nay, we were expecting you to come this way. We had news of your arrival.’

‘You have come to join me?’

The men laughed.

‘Go to it,’ shouted their leader.

‘Ay, John Cleger, we will!’ shouted the others.

To Margaret’s horror she saw that they were making for the saddle horses and some of them had begun to unstrap the baggage.

‘Stop them!’ she cried. ‘Why are you standing there, you oafs?’

It was a fearsome moment for her own men were standing by not attempting to stop the robbers. Then she saw a few of them go over to the saddle horses.

‘Do your duty,’ she cried. ‘Kill these robbers.’

One of the robbers came over to her and the Prince who was beside her.

‘We want the horses,’ he said. ‘Better dismount, lady. You and the boy.’

‘How dare you talk to your Queen in such a way!’

‘I reckon you’re not that now, lady, or if you are it won’t be for much longer. Get down, boy.’

Edward watching his mother, remembering her instructions that he must be brave, sat his horse looking straight ahead of him.

The robber seized him and dragged him to the ground.

Margaret cried out, and leaping out of the saddle went immediately to her son.

‘It’s all right, lady. I wanted your horses, that’s all. As fine a pair as I ever saw.’

This was nightmare. She gripped her son’s shoulder and held him close to her. The robbers and her own servants were quarrelling over the contents of the saddle bags.

Her jewels! Her beautiful clothes! All lost!

One of them turned and looked in her direction. She did not Like what she saw. What would they do when they had everything she had? She knew. Instinct told her. She had identified them as Stanley’s men. Her own had deserted her for the sake of getting a share in the booty. Every one of them should die the traitor’s death if they were ever brought to justice and they knew it.

They would prevent that at all costs and there was one way of doing it.

She knew that these men would have no compunction in killing her and the Prince.

She drew her son closer to her. It was characteristic of Margaret that she should think of his safety before her own. In her turbulent heart this boy had first place. He was her beloved son for whom she had waited so long; she would fight for him with every spark of strength she possessed. She would die for him if need be. She was fond of the King but she despised him. She wanted to care for him and govern him. It was possible that she wanted to govern this boy too. But she wanted him to grow up strong, not like his father. And now he was in acute danger. She knew that neither of them would be allowed to leave this scene alive if those wicked men could help it.

Keeping her eyes on them she withdrew a little into the trees. She must not go too openly. She must tread cautiously. If she could get one of the horses...but that was impossible, they would see her mounting.

Edward was looking at her with eyes that were full of hope. She was there. The mother who seemed to him invincible. He knew they were in danger but he believed that no one could ever stand up for long against his mother.

The men were still wrangling over the jewels. How long would it last? The moment of doom was getting nearer and nearer.

‘Lady...’ It was a soft voice in the trees.

She was alert. A young boy looked at her from behind the trunk of a tree.

‘I have a horse here. I know a way through the woods...a special way. I could take you and the Prince...’