Free The Star of Lancaster by Jean Plaidy Page B

not?’
    She had only been able to nod, being too full of emotion for speech.
    ‘And then,’ he had gone on, ‘the door flew open and there was one of them; he had a billhook in his hand and I thought he had come to kill me. He called me “My lord” and spoke urgently and told me that he had come to conduct me to safety for my life was in great danger. He told me what to do, and I put on some rough clothes which he gave me. He had a wooden stick for me and he bade me follow him shouting abuse on the rich and so did I and we ran out of the Tower and through the streets of London shouting all the while until we came to the Wardrobe which is the royal offices in Carter Lane and there I joined the Queen Mother and others who had managed to escape from the Tower.’
    She had only been able to cling to him and marvel with horror that while this had been happening she had been calmly sitting at her needlework with no hint of the tragedy which had nearly ruined her life.
    ‘I shall be grateful to that man who saved you for the rest of my life,’ she said fervently.
    ‘And so shall I,’ Henry had replied. ‘His name is John Ferrour and he is from Southwark. He has been well rewarded. He must have done it out of love for my father for I had never heard of him. But there is no doubt that but for him there would have been the end of Henry of Bolingbroke.’
    Later she had heard much of the Peasants’ Revolt and the young King’s bravery and everyone said that Richard wouldbe a great king like his grandfather. The Peasants’ Revolt had been Richard’s triumph, so it seemed at first; but as she saw it he had won by false pretences. He had promised to give them what they wanted and what they had received was cruel death for their leaders and their grievances had remained.
    Henry had tried to explain to her that there could have been no other solution. The revolution had to be stopped and Richard stopped it; and the only way it could be done was by promising them what it was impossible to give.
    ‘We were fortunate,’ said Henry. ‘It could have been the end of England, the end of us all.’
    But what lived on in her memory was the danger that could beset her husband; and it was impossible to know real peace except when he was with her.
    She was avid for news from Court. Henry gave it on his visits and those were the highlights of her existence. When she heard visitors arriving her heart would leap with joy. Alas, often she suffered bitter disappointment. But those occasions when he came were wonderful. She longed for the time to pass that she might reach that stage when she would be considered old enough for marriage.
    Henry longed for it too. That was another anxiety. What if he were to love someone else? His father was married to Constanza of Castile but everyone knew that he loved Lady Swynford. Marriage was no certainty of love.
    When the young King was married there was great excitement throughout the country. It was said that Anne of Bohemia was not very beautiful and what good looks she had were marred by the hideous horned head-dress she wore; but the King liked her and very soon horned head-dresses were the fashion in the highest circles. ‘You must have one,’ said her mother.
    Henry spent a great deal of time with his father and it was clear to Mary that to Henry no one could ever quite compare with John of Gaunt. There was a great bond between them which pleased her and she knew that Henry was very fond of Lady Swynford, who was treated by all – on pain of the Duke’s displeasure – as the Duchess of Lancaster. It would not be long, said Henry, before they were together. As soon as she reached her fifteenth birthday he was going to overrule her mother’s objections; and his father would help him, he knew.
    Meanwhile he brought news of the outside world. The King was devoted to the Queen and she was friendly with his friend Robert de Vere, whom, some said, Richard loved more than anyone, so that it was