Free Jean Plaidy by The Reluctant Queen: The Story of Anne of York Page B

and prayed she would not be disappointed. She would be miserable if anything stopped the marriage she had set her heart on.
    â€œI asked the king to see them and he agreed,” I heard my father tell my mother. “He was reluctant, but it was less trouble to see them than make an issue of it by refusing. But all the time he was listening to them he appeared bored and inattentive. Clarence was a great help with them. They thought him charming but, of course, it could not make up for the king’s manner. I apologized to them. I told them I was ashamed. Do you know what they said to me? ‘Do not distress yourself, my lord earl. You will be avenged.’”
    My mother tried to soothe him, but there was little she could do.
    â€œOur enemies have taken the Great Seal from my brother,” went on my father. “Do you realize what this means? The king has declared for Burgundy and most blatantly has he done this while I was on a mission to France.”
    â€œIt is very upsetting,” replied my mother. “If you had been here it could not have happened.”
    â€œIt is war,” cried my father. “Yes, this is war between the Nevilles and the Woodvilles—and that means war between Warwick and the king.”
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    It was rarely that my father spent so much time at home, but these were days of activity. There was much coming and going at the castle. One of the first to arrive was Uncle George—one-time Chancellor and now only Archbishop of York.
    His anger was as fierce as that of my father—but perhaps, I thought, that was because he was less able to control it. For my father there had been only hints and signs; for the archbishop there had been an unmistakable blow. He would never forget the insult of the king’s arrival at his London palace to demand the return of the Seal; and at this time he was obsessed by the thought of revenge.
    His rage had been exacerbated by a definite insult from the king. When Edward had discovered that Uncle George was in secret negotiations not only for the dispensation needed by Clarence and Isabel, but for the support of his election to the College of Cardinals, the king himself had put forward a candidate—Thomas Bourchier, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. What made this so intolerable was that Bourchier was elected and Edward sent a personal message to Uncle George telling him so.
    Uncle George said, “It is time the king was taught a lesson.”
    â€œThat is so,” agreed my father. “But we should have to be very sure of success before we undertook the task of doing it.”
    Members of the family were gathering at Middleham. Even the most obscure were making their way to us to assure my father of their loyalty to the family.
    Clarence came and, to my great delight, Richard was with him.
    Richard was bewildered. I was sure he did not know what this was all about. His brother had brought him with him and Richard at first had clearly expected this to be a friendly call on the man whom, next to his brother, he admired more than any other in the kingdom.
    Isabel said to me when we were alone, “It is because of our marriage that they have come. I think the king may try to stop it now that he is not on friendly terms with our father.”
    â€œOh, Isabel, I do hope it does not go as far as that.”
    â€œThink of the way the king has treated Uncle George! My George is very angry with his brother. He says the Woodvilles have ruined him and he is too weak to resist them. What sort of a king is that?”
    â€œBe careful what you say.”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “George says that Edward is showing himself unworthy to be king. George says…”
    I turned away. George was a very indiscreet young man. I had always suspected that, and now I knew it was true.
    When Isabel and I were alone with our mother, she said, “I want to talk to you girls very seriously. You