Free A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir

Wydevilles. He has summoned Parliament, in the King’s name, to assemble after the coronation, and he constantly urges that his protectorate be extended. He is doing all he can, it seems, to ensure his future security. Yet it is plain as day that he anticipates some conflict.”
    “My lords Hastings and Buckingham are loyal to him,” Kate said. “They will insist upon the term of his office being lengthened.”
    “I think they will,” Anne answered thoughtfully. “Especially Buckingham. My lord has rewarded him handsomely for his support. The duke praises him highly, and writes that Buckingham is always ready at hand to assist him with his advice and his great wealth and influence.”
    “What of Lord Hastings?” Kate asked. It seemed to her that Buckingham was getting the lion’s share of the rewards. “Surely his help has been as invaluable? After all, it was Hastings who first warned my father that the Wydevilles were plotting to seize power. If it were not for Hastings, he might not have been in time to take the King.”
    Anne looked slightly disquieted. “Your father has confirmed that Hastings shall continue to serve as Lord Chamberlain of England and he has put him in charge of the mint.”
    “Is that all?” Kate was surprised.
    “In truth, I think it a little strange,” Anne confessed. “Your father says he loves Hastings well, and yet he has been far more lavish with favors to Buckingham.”
    “Maybe he has something else in mind for Hastings,” Kate said.
    A messenger caught up with them near Royston. The duke was now Lord Protector: the council had formally invested him, and had entrusted him not only with the governance of the realm but also with the tutelage and upbringing of the King.
    It was done with the consent and goodwill of the lords
, he had written,
and I have sovereign power to order and forbid in every matter, just like another king. Lord Hastings cannot sufficiently express his joy at such a happy outcome, and we all thank God that it has been achieved without any blood being spilt
.
    But it might yet be. The duke had pressed for the condemnation ofRivers and Grey and two of their associates, but the council had refused to convict them.
They say there is no certain evidence
, he fumed,
and they remind me that, at the time of the alleged attempt on my life, I was not Lord Protector, so cannot press a charge of treason. Some even think those men innocent! They condemn me instead for imprisoning them without judgment or justice
.
    “But if he lets them go, they will seek his death,” the duchess protested, her voice shaking, her face drawn with fear. “If he has gone too far in the matter, it was because he had no choice. He was right to imprison them, for they were powerful men and would certainly have risen against him, with the backing of the Queen and the rest of her faction. But seizing their estates too? I’m not sure he should have done that, for they have not been attainted by Parliament.”
    “Not yet,” Kate said confidently. “They will be. They must be! Cannot the council see that they are men of blood who would do my father a mischief, given the chance? What else could he have done?” Her little face was unusually flushed with anger. It was rare for her to become so heated.
    Kate never forgot her first sight of London. Approaching from the northern heights, after the long journey south from Wensleydale, she suddenly saw before her the fabled city nestling in its broad valley: a marvelous, teeming panorama of rooftops and church spires, dominated by the massive presence of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and ringed by strong walls. And as the noble cavalcade progressed slowly downhill from the village of Highgate, she saw fine houses set in spacious gardens and orchards, which presently gave place to more populous and prosperous suburbs.
    They were to have gone to Baynard’s Castle, the palatial riverside residence of her grandmother, the Duchess of York, but the duke had