Free A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir Page A

sent ahead to say that he had removed from there to Crosby Hall, a great mansion he had rented in the City of London, and would await them there. Kate had felt a pang of disappointment about that, because she had been looking forward to seeing her grandmother, but no doubt they would visit her during their stay.
    They entered the City through Aldersgate, their route taking thempast the great priory of St. Martin-le-Grand, then east into Cheapside and Cornhill, and so to Bishopsgate; and suddenly Kate found herself in a maze of bustling thoroughfares crammed with overhanging timbered buildings and hordes of people. There were stately merchants, rowdy apprentices, sober tradesmen and craftsmen, elegant dames attended by servants, and beggars crying for alms, all jostling each other, eyeing the myriad wondrous wares on display in the shops, and getting in the way of the drays and carts that plied their business. The cacophony of noise was deafening, and the smell was awful. All manner of rubbish, offal, and ordure was strewn across the street, and the mass of unwashed, sweating bodies only added to the stench. Kate pressed a handkerchief to her nose, though before long she would find that she no longer needed it, because you soon got used to living with the London stink. But it was a world away from peaceful Middleham and the spacious dales and moors of Yorkshire.
    “Make way! Make way for my lady the Duchess of Gloucester!” cried the captain at the head of their escort, as the townsfolk—some very fine and puffed up in their velvets and gold chains—stepped unwillingly out of the path of the horses. A few doffed their hats and bowed; others peered curiously at the occupants of the horse litter.
    The Londoners knew of the Duchess Anne mostly by repute, for she had spent most of her life at her father’s castle of Middleham in Yorkshire, now the property of her husband and his favorite seat. From there he had ruled the North like another king, and ruled it well. He was not well known in the capital, but the people cheered Anne as she passed, for they had loved her father, the Kingmaker, and it was said that she was a good and loyal wife, a kindly lady who performed many acts of charity, and most pious and devout. A loving mother too, by all accounts. A shame that she had borne just the one son and heir, after eleven years of marriage.
    Many assumed that the robust boy sitting next to the duchess was Edward of Middleham. But, to her sorrow, Anne had to leave him behind in Yorkshire, for he had not been strong enough to travel. Neither had she, in truth, but Richard needed her in London, and to London she had come as fast as she could, ready to stand beside her lord.
    Kate, looking avidly beyond the looped-back curtains of the litter, and waving back to some of the friendlier bystanders, had quickly perceived that London was in a ferment of anticipation. Overheard snatches of conversation, meaningful looks thrown in their direction by a cluster of merchants engaged in heated debate, the catcalls of street boys, and the nervous demeanor of the duchess all gave her to understand that they were riding unprepared into the midst of a city split by unrest.
    As the litter clattered and juddered along Bishopsgate, Kate felt a deep sense of foreboding. It was clear that her father’s authority was by no means fully established. Judging by the mood of the citizens, many were still anticipating that another civil war might break out. She saw men wearing hauberks, brigandine, padded jackets, and even armor; most carried daggers, and some had swords. There were more people than normal on the streets, Anne said anxiously.
    The mood of the people was wary, turbulent. “Gloucester wants the crown himself, I tell you!” one man could be heard insisting, while another was loudly proclaiming his opinion that the duke was planning to cancel the coronation.
    “How can they speak so of my father?” Kate spoke into the duchess’s