He was speaking to someone on the other side of the table, out of my line of vision, but who, I knew, must be Albany. As far as I could make out, they were alone in the room.
‘I have done my best for you, Cousin.’ He threw out his arms. ‘You know that! You must have heard me, but they won’t accept you as king.’
‘You and Edward promised-’ Albany began hotly in that whining voice that always made him sound like a thwarted child.
‘I know what we promised,’ my lord Gloucester interrupted. ‘But things haven’t gone according to plan. There’s been no battle, no conquest! We aren’t in a position to impose our will. Your brother isn’t dead. He’s a prisoner, it’s true, but he isn’t our prisoner. And your uncles and the other lords are willing to make peace on honourable terms. But they won’t have you as king.’
Albany moved round the top of the table so that I could just see him, illumined by the light from the window. His face was nothing but a pale oval, but I could easily picture its petulant expression.
‘Then let’s withdraw,’ he urged, banging his fist on the back of the nearest chair. ‘Let’s withdraw on some pretext or another and then lay siege to the place.’
‘You think that would be honourable?’ Gloucester’s tone was mocking. Albany shrugged. The candlelight shimmered across his satin sleeves, turning the scarlet to plum. Prince Richard continued, his voice persuasive, almost wheedling, ‘You have been offered a great position, Cousin. Lieutenant General of Scotland.’
‘Lieutenant General!’ Albany exclaimed scathingly. ‘Is that any substitute for a crown?’
Gloucester made an impatient movement with his arm. ‘You heard your countrymen yourself. They refuse to force your brother’s abdication. It’s true, I grant you, that many of them don’t like him; don’t trust him-’
‘But they dislike and mistrust me more, is that it?’ Albany gave a sour laugh.
‘They won’t dethrone an anointed king.’
‘And you agree with them!’ The accusation sounded like a statement, not a question. ‘What about your own Richard II?’
The Duke of Gloucester smiled. ‘You choose your example badly, Alexander. We of the House of York spent decades fighting for the succession that was rightfully ours. You can’t accuse me of approving of the deposing of a crowned and God-anointed king.’
‘What hypocrisy,’ Albany snarled. ‘You and Edward were willing enough to try to depose James by killing him in battle.’
‘That would have been an indication of God’s will,’ Gloucester replied sternly. ‘But now that God has shown his will in a different way, it is not for me or any man to dispute it.’
‘What you really mean is that you and your brother are going to get all you want, all you set out to get — the return of Cicely’s dowry and the surrender of Berwick — without having to fight for it.’ Albany’s voice rose shrilly.
‘If lives are saved on both sides, what is there to condemn in that?’
‘You think God condones broken promises?’
‘Not if they are made under oath, no. But neither Edward nor I swore to make you King of Scotland. Such a contingency always depended on the outcome of the invasion.’
‘You fooled me!’
‘No, Cousin.’ Gloucester moved restlessly, holding out a hand to Albany, the rings glittering on his fingers. ‘Come, my dear fellow, be friends! Take what has been offered you. A prime position in the government of Scotland. Lieutenant General is a generous offer. Much more than might have been expected in the circumstances, you must agree.’
‘And what about my brother, Mar? Is his death to go unavenged?’
Duke Richard put up a hand and brushed aside a lock of hair that had strayed across his forehead. I was struck anew how dark it was — in some lights almost black — and how olive-coloured his skin compared to the king and his other brother, the late Duke of Clarence. They were tall and fair-haired, and in the king’s case, blue-eyed (although now I came to picture him, perhaps George had been less of a blond giant than Edward). Nevilles both, whereas Richard favoured his father. Or, at least, so said people who could remember the long-dead Duke of York.
Gloucester spoke wearily, tiring of an argument he must by now have realized he was unlikely to win. ‘You have no proof that John was murdered.’
‘Of course he was murdered! He was accused of witchcraft. James wouldn’t tolerate that.’ Albany laughed. ‘He’s almost as pious as you are, Cousin.’
‘You speak as if piety’s something to be deplored.’
‘Perhaps it is. It depends on your gods.’
‘You’re close to blasphemy, Alexander. Consider what you’re saying, man!’
Albany hesitated for a moment as though he would argue further, but then seemed to think better of it and flung out his hands in a conciliatory gesture.
‘Forgive me, Dickon. My disappointment is making me stupid. You’re right, of course. I should be grateful that my uncles haven’t made one of their conditions that I should be clapped in the dungeons in chains. I don’t doubt that there are many of my relatives and enemies who’d like to see me get what they think are my just deserts. Lieutenant General, eh? As you’ve pointed out, a position of influence.’
My lord Gloucester nodded eagerly, plainly thankful that Albany was prepared to see sense at last.
‘And I trust that you will use your influence for good,’ he said.
Albany grinned. ‘For England’s good you mean, Coz.’
They both laughed at that and Duke Richard made a gesture of acknowledgement.
‘When do you leave?’ Albany asked.
‘As soon as all the negotiations have been completed. A day or so I should reckon. Three at the most. I understand that the City Magistrates are undertaking the refund of my niece’s dowry. There may be a little haggling with them which may prolong matters a trifle. What of your estates? Are you to get them back intact?’
‘Oh, yes. And a full pardon for what is seen as my treasonable behaviour.’ Albany’s tone had turned bitter again. ‘No mention, naturally, that my life was in danger and that was the reason I had to flee the country three years ago.’ He started to bite his left thumbnail, a habit he had when disturbed.
It was at this moment that a sudden tickle at the back of my nose caused me to sneeze, and although I tried to suppress it as best I could, the two men heard it and immediately swung round.
‘Who’s there?’ Albany demanded, while my lord Gloucester, not wasting time on words, strode towards the door and pulled it wide open.
‘Roger!’ he exclaimed without any hesitation, recognizing me at once by my height.
‘What are you doing? What do you want?’
I tried to look innocent and breathed heavily as though I had only just arrived instead of having been eavesdropping for the past ten minutes.
‘I’m looking for my lord Albany, Your Grace. I was told he might be here.’