‘And the Woodville bitch?’ Buckingham swept to a tall chair and sat, stretching out a plump leg. ‘Don’t tell me she wasn’t behind the Hastings plot. Not Dorset – he’s less brains than a scullion. It was that damned matriarch, crouching in sanctuary like a spider in her web. She was the instigator, I’ll warrant, and hatched the plot to lure Hastings in.’
Gloucester leaned back against the wall. ‘Perhaps. Without Earl Rivers, her power is much diminished and she needed a new ally. But it is more to me that she holds the younger prince hostage. He must be released, and sent to his brother.’
‘Those negotiations have already been dragging on for weeks. The wretched woman is too stubborn.’
‘So can I be, my friend.’ Gloucester smiled. ‘My two nephews must be united before the change of rule is announced. They will be a target for every ambitious man with treachery on his mind. The French will want the boys dead. So will the exile Tudor. His mother still plots and schemes. She was also involved in the Hastings debacle, as you heard. I accused her husband, but Stanley is too careful to ever put his name to such a risk. I shall let him seethe a day, and then order his release.’
‘And the bastard princes,’ Buckingham demanded. ‘What of them at the end of it all? Yes, there’s those who’ll want them dead. But there’s others will use them against you. Your enemies will proclaim young Edward the rightful king, bastard or no. Every damned traitor under the sun will rally either to kill the brat, or to crown him.’
Gloucester sighed. ‘Indeed, but the country is not entirely peopled with traitors, Harry. Most men dream of quiet prosperity under a strong leader. The Tower is the safest stronghold in all England and I shall keep the boys here. In time, when sweet peace returns, I’ll arrange to send them north where my other nephews are lodged at Sheriff Hutton, and Edward’s children can join them there in comfort. But if the risk grows? Well, then I’ll arrange for both boys to be sent to a place of greater safety and in secret. But there is time for that, and first I have other considerations.’
‘So, you’ll execute no one else?’ Buckingham pouted. ‘Though it seems this conspiracy was widespread and you’ve had others arrested.’
‘Beyond the Woodvilles, hardly widespread. Meddlers. Small men aiming higher. For those who resent their lack of power, there are only two ways up. The lazy and the stupid choose treachery.’
Buckingham frowned. ‘And that Shore woman? I believe you arrested your brother’s whore.’
‘A king’s mistress misses both power and indulgence when her lover dies. So, Mistress Shore jumped from bed to bed, unwisely choosing those of both Dorset and Hastings, the two most powerful she could find, since I was not available myself.’ He laughed softly. ‘So, she carries messages and dabbles in dangerous mischief.’
‘And the other villains?’ Buckingham persisted.
‘They’ll remain in custody for the time being.’ Gloucester was again watching the raven, now preening her breast feathers in the sunshine. His back to Buckingham, he said, ‘What say you, Harry – will you keep Morton safe for me?’
‘The Bishop of Ely? Not a man I admire.’
‘Nor should you, my friend. He’s a creature of dark hatreds, and he hates me amongst others. But I can’t take his life without causing uproar from Canterbury to Rome, though his affiliation to the church is hypocritical at best. So, I shall keep him out of the way for as long as possible. He’s too clever to leave free. I’ll entrust him to your safekeeping, Harry, but don’t try making friends with him or turning him to our ideas. He’s wily. Lock him up at Brecon, and forget the wretch.’
‘I shall. And throw away the key.’
The duke leaned on the stone window ledge, still gazing out. He could see nothing, but knew without doubt that his orders had been obeyed, his instructions carried out, and that it was over. The raven had flown.
The three windows at Cobham Hall shattered simultaneously in a bright splintering of sunlit glass. Shards scattered across the boards. Three boulders hurtled high to the beams, then crashed to the ground, rolling and spinning. At the same moment long shadows appeared at each of the windows. Three arrows arched through the broken panes. One embedded in the far wall, its shaft quivering. The other two fell useless, for there had been no one at which to aim.
Everyone stood in startled silence, waiting for the next onslaught. It did not come. Eventually Andrew stepped forwards and picked up one of the fallen arrows. He brought it back to the fireside, holding it up in the light. It was fletched in goose and tipped in copper. ‘It is well made,’ he said, turning it over between his fingers. ‘An expensive toy to waste. They are becoming desperate.’
‘Desperate?’ Felicia shrank back. ‘But they have bows, and we do not. They have the advantage.’
‘We have the advantage,’ Andrew repeated. ‘Unless they smoke us out, we can stay here until they’re forced to give up and leave.’
‘Fire?’
‘Doubtful,’ Andrew said. ‘The house is surrounded by greenery. Any fire would become immediately uncontrollable. The houses nearby are built of wood and thatch. Burn us, they burn Portsoken and beyond.’
Elizabeth looked up. ‘Would they care about that?’
Andrew shrugged. ‘Perhaps not. But they’d care about catching fire themselves. They could run off before the flames take hold, but could not then pick us off as we’re forced outside.’
‘But why, Drew?’ Tyballis said. ‘What are they after? Because of Throckmorton? But what good will this do?’
He looked down at her, then to the others standing behind. ‘They called my woman a murderess, therefore whoever they are, they knew Throckmorton, know he had taken you captive, and now know of his death. But he had no trained archers in his employ, nor could afford a private army. And how did they know to come here? Throckmorton’s retainers can have no idea where I live. But this house was attacked before, when Marrott tried to have me killed. So, I’d guess Marrott is after revenge.’
‘Hetchcomb,’ whispered Tyballis.
‘It seems likely,’ Andrew nodded. ‘But on the first occasion, Dorset and the queen dowager had taken control of the entire capital. They held power. Marrott suspected me and sent his people to kill me off. How many men were there under Hetchcomb? Twenty? More? Well, times have changed. And as I’ve said, I doubt there are more than five men out there now.’
‘You always think you know everything, Drew. But you can’t be sure,’ Luke was muttering from his corner in the shadows.
‘No. I can’t be sure. But I make a habit of being right. It is my job.’ Andrew looked down with a sudden smile and handed the arrow to Harry. ‘Keep it,’ he said. ‘You want to be a spit-boy all your life? Or train at the butts, and be an archer in the new king’s service?’
Harry grabbed the arrow and grinned. ‘I will. I reckon I’d be a good archer. And the little king’s much the same age as me. Reckon I could look after him.’
‘As it happens,’ smiled Andrew, ‘I believe a great deal is about to change, Harry, but any king will welcome those ready to fight for him. Perhaps I shall find you a suitable place in the royal household, once trained.’
Harry remained open-mouthed and Ralph said, ‘You can arrange that, Mister Cobham? We know nothing of this.’
Andrew leaned his elbow back against the lintel, one foot to the grate. ‘It is like this, my friends. We are under attack from a parcel of fools hoping to entice us outside for immediate slaughter, and will risk their own small numbers while believing they will soon be reinforced. They have made one important mistake, however. Clearly they know of the conspiracy I have been investigating for the past weeks, and were presumably a part of it. But whereas I know the Woodville plot has utterly failed, they still believe in its success. They are unaware that today the Duke of Gloucester called a meeting at The Tower, and disclosed this treachery. I had already presented his grace with proof of the Lord Hastings’ guilt, which Harry here had obtained for me.’ Turning to Tyballis, he added, ‘Casper and Ralph have also been assisting me.’