Free B008257PJY EBOK by Sandra Worth Page A

predicament during the troubles with Warwick. He’d been seventeen, forced to choose between his brother and the girl he’d loved, and she had not spared him a thought in his misery.
    Yet in spite of everything—in spite of her disregard for him, and though treachery was the most heinous crime a man could commit—he could still have forgiven St. Leger, if St. Leger had had his excuse. What made his treason more heinous was that he was kin, without cause to turn against him. Like Buckingham—
    “Never did I wrong St. Leger! Never did I deny him favour. Always he was welcome and honoured in my court. He chose to be a traitor, and for no good cause—certainly no cause that I ever gave him. Such a man does not deserve to live!”
    For a bare instant his sister said nothing, didn’t even move. Then she lunged at him, screaming and pounding wildly against his breast. He seized her wrists in an iron grip and turned her over to Gower. Adjusting his velvet cap with the boar badge and straightening his doublet, he strode past her. In a voice low with disgust, he said, “Where is your dignity, sister?”
    “Where is your heart?” she shrieked. Shaking Gower off, she ran after him. “I’ll not call you ‘brother’—you boar, you beast—you vile murderer of innocent babes! May God destroy you for what you’ve done— Usurper! ”
    Richard froze in his steps. Though he kept himself under rigid control, inwardly he felt as if a stake had been driven through his heart. It was not her curse that affected him as much as her words, which had scratched the secret core deep within his soul where he had buried the doubts, guilts, and fears of a lifetime. He clenched his fists and fled the chamber.
     
    ~ * ~
     
    In late November Richard returned the Great Seal to Chancellor Russell in the Star Chamber at Westminster. The business of the rebellion was concluded; rebels punished, loyalty rewarded. Richard dealt with the rebels with a light hand, executing only ten men and offering pardons to most of the leaders of the conspiracy, including Morton and Dorset. Even Sir John Fogge, who had repaid Richard’s kindness with treason, was pardoned and promised restoration to his estates. With Stanley’s wife, Margaret Beaufort, the prime mover of the rebellion, he was exceptionally lenient. Though she was stripped of her titles, he gave them to her husband to enjoy. As for Stanley, Richard rewarded him so lavishly that he raised eyebrows even among those who knew him well.
    “Is it wise, my lord?” asked Anne who came down to Westminster to be with him. Swathed in furs against the cold winter wind, they strolled along the garden walk to the river in the fading twilight. “Twice you’ve not only forgiven the Stanleys their treasons, but have granted them more power.” She spoke softly, taking care to fall silent when others passed. “Stanley’s brother, Sir William, is Chief Justice of North Wales, and Stanley himself is Constable of England, as Buckingham was. Everyone knows he’s a man of uncertain loyalty, this ‘Wily Fox.’ You’ve placed him in a position to do you great harm if he chooses.”
    Richard looked at her delicate face, at the lovely violet eyes wide with concern for him. It was a joy to see her again after so long, but it troubled him that she had been ill with more frequency than usual this winter and had not regained the weight she’d lost the year before. He felt a stab of guilt; the disruption of their happy life at Middleham, the trauma of events and the enforced separation from their beloved Ned was to blame. If he hadn’t taken the Crown—
    He banished the thought. He’d had no choice. “I must keep Stanley’s support. The only way to do so is to load him with wealth and titles so that he has too much to lose by supporting Tudor.”
    “That didn’t work for Buckingham.” Anne saw Richard flinch and instantly regretted her words. Yet they needed to be said. She spoke frankly nowadays. Grateful