Kate Sedley - The Green Man

His first words, therefore, were to announce that he was passing over command of the army to his dearly beloved brother, the Duke of Gloucester, whom we were all to obey as we would himself. Prince Richard, rising from his seat, knelt to kiss the king’s hand and promised faithfully to carry out the royal commands.

‘Berwick shall be yours again, my liege, if we die in the attempt.’

A cheer went up at these words from the assembled nobility. All very well, I thought to myself, but it will be the poor bloody foot soldiers who do most of the dying. Then a sense of justice made me revise this opinion. I knew Richard of Gloucester by repute to be a valiant soldier, not afraid to put himself in the thick of any fight should his presence be needed. As a young man he had fought valiantly for his eldest brother at the battle of Barnet, when Edward returned to England eleven years previously to reclaim his crown. In the vanguard of his men, he had helped to carry the day. And a month or so later, his actions on the bloody field of Tewkesbury had again brought the Yorkist faction victory and preserved his brother’s throne …

My wandering thoughts were interrupted by the general surge of movement as the council disbanded. The king had risen to his feet and was embracing his brother, tears of weakness glistening on his sunken cheeks. He held the duke tightly as though loath to let him go, and it seemed to me that no one who saw them could help but be struck by the contrast between them; one, once so handsome and athletic and strong, now a sad wreck of a man, worn out by a life of excess; the other, so fragile in youth that his life had more than once been despaired of, now a creature as healthy and lithe as a whippet, his skin tanned by wind and sun, his dark eyes alive and eager in his thin, sallow face.

The king next turned to Albany, his embrace more perfunctory than the one he had bestowed on my lord Gloucester, but warm enough and sufficiently prolonged to impress those watching with a sense of the duke’s importance. But although he addressed him fondly as ‘Cousin’ it was plain — to me at any rate — that true affection was lacking, as he adjured Albany not to forget, once he was crowned, the urgent matter of the Princess Cicely’s dowry.

‘Our coffers are not so full, my dear fellow, that we can afford to forgo its return.’

Albany smiled thinly; a smile that failed to reach his eyes.

‘I never imagined for a second that Your Highness had any intention of relinquishing his claim. Once my brother is deposed — ’ the words ‘and dead’ weren’t uttered, but I think we could all hear them, echoing in the air — ‘I shall, of course, be Your Highness’s liege man of life and limb.’

There was a snort of laughter, hastily suppressed. Heads half-turned, searching for the culprit, but every face was smooth and stern: there was no telling who had let his natural scepticism get the better of his credulity. But whoever it was, was being more honest than the rest. The king frowned and pretended not to have heard.

The company began to disperse. Duke Richard issued his orders that we were to be on the march by noon. There were some miles to be covered before nightfall on the first stage of our journey to York.

I returned with Albany to our apartments where James Petrie was overseeing the packing of the duke’s chests and jewel caskets with the help of two of the castle’s lackeys, acting under his mimed directions; for they, like me, were unable to understand his broad Scots dialect. I wondered if he, too, spoke better English than he let on, but had no means at present of finding out. His gaunt, seamed face was even more careworn than usual and he elbowed me out of his way with what I guessed to be a muttered curse as I attempted to collect together my own meagre belongings and stow them in my satchel.

Donald Seton appeared to say that the baggage waggons were waiting and that my lord’s gear must be taken out immediately if it was not to be left behind in the rush.

‘And John Tullo’s below in the courtyard, my lord, with the bay. He thought you’d wish to ride him today. The animal’s a bit restive, he says, from lack of exercise. He will be leading the other two.’

Albany nodded curtly, seated on the bed and watching almost absent-mindedly while the rest of us busied ourselves about his affairs. He had been thoughtful and inclined, most uncharacteristically, to be silent ever since we returned from the great hall.

‘Is everything ready?’ he asked abruptly as the squire turned to leave the room.

Donald looked faintly surprised at the question and, if the truth were told, a little offended.

‘Of course, Your Grace,’ he answered stiffly.

I noticed that he had given up all pretence at not being able to speak English, and also that Albany accepted this without question.

‘You’ve deceived me, my lord,’ I said as Donald left the chamber. I folded a clean shirt and stuffed it into my satchel on top of a spare pair of hose. ‘You and your henchmen.’

At first, I didn’t think that he had heard me, but then he raised his eyebrows in a haughty look. The friendliness had suddenly evaporated.

‘In what way?’

‘You all led me to believe that your squires and page could speak only Scots and were unable to understand English.’

He regarded me coldly.

‘I don’t think we ever gave you to understand that, Roger. That was your own assumption.’ He glanced across at his serving-man who was snarling something unintelligible at the two lackeys as they staggered out of the chamber, bearing the weight of one of the duke’s three great chests. ‘Although it’s true that James and John Tullo are most certainly not fluent in the English.’

‘But my lord,’ I protested angrily, ‘did it never occur to you that Murdo or Donald or Davey might have overheard your suspicions of them? And what they know, they can easily communicate to the other two.’

The duke’s face relaxed and he gave a little laugh. He slid off the bed and clapped me on the back.

‘No one’s overheard us,’ he assured me. ‘I’ve taken good care of that. Think back, my friend. There’s been no one about. And now who’s being incautious?’ He nodded at James Petrie, just disappearing through the door to the ante-room. ‘If you’re so suspicious, say nothing until we are alone.’ He added sharply, ‘Do you have anything to tell me? I had a feeling there was some disturbance during the night, but I may have dreamed it. I was too exhausted to do more than nod straight off to sleep again.’

I hesitated. ‘There was something, my lord, but it will keep. It might be of importance, but then, it might not. The trumpets are blowing. Your Highness had better make his way to the courtyard. It surely won’t do for you to be late. My lord of Gloucester will be waiting on your arrival. He can hardly set off without you.’

Albany grinned, his good humour restored by my flattery. I could never make out quite how cynical the man was about the chances of his becoming king of Scotland. Sometimes, he seemed to view those chances with amused detachment, looking upon this whole expedition as nothing more than an adventure; an opportunity to make life as difficult as possible for his hated elder brother. But then there were other times when he lapped up compliments and references to his future kingship as greedily and as eagerly as a child cramming its mouth with sweetmeats.

Fotheringay’s huge courtyard was crowded and exceedingly noisy, the babel of sound contained within the surrounding walls, like a cup filled and overflowing with water. Horses neighed. Trumpets blared. The Duke of Gloucester and most of the nobles were already mounted, gentling their steeds and glancing around anxiously for Albany’s arrival. A slight cheer went up as he finally emerged into the watery sunlight, a greeting he acknowledged with an ironical bow.