"And you think the king may not give it?"
"Your father thinks it an excellent match and the king will think so, too."
I looked at her disbelievingly. Even I knew that those days had gone when the will of the Earl of Warwick was the king's.
"Isabel is one of the greatest heiresses in the country, as you will be, my child. Your father is, after all, the great Earl of Warwick. Most young men would find that irresistible, but this is particularly agreeable, for it is not as though George and Isabel were strangers. They were drawn to each other from the first, so it is an ideal match. But we have to keep quiet about it."
She paused and sighed. I guessed she was wondering how much it would be necessary to tell me. I know I appeared older than my years and, being my father's daughter, although leading a sheltered life at Middleham, I had been aware of events.
She went on: "You will have heard that the Woodvilles have taken over the court... more or less. There are so many of them. Your father might have been reconciled even to the queen if she had not brought in her numerous relations to take charge of everything. As I said, Isabel is an heiress. It may well be that one of the Woodvilles would seek to marry her and the queen would wheedle the king into allowing this."
"Against his own brother's wishes?"
The queen has her methods of getting her own way. But enough of that. Suffice it that your father and I do not wish this proposed marriage to be discussed until it is ripe to do so. There is another matter which could mean delay. There is a blood relationship, between Isabel and George, so there will have to be a dispensation from the Pope."
"I had not thought of that."
She smiled at me.
"Well, I have made the point. Do not mention this to anyone. It is a secret just as yet. Isabel was very indiscreet to tell you but, dear child, she was so happy. So ... let us rejoice with her and pray all goes well and that soon she will be George's happy wife. You understand?"
"Yes, my lady," I said meekly.
My uncle George Neville, Archbishop of York, arrived at Middleham. He was the most important of my father's brothers and completely dedicated to the advancement of the Nevilles; thus he worked in close contact with my father.
Uncle John, who had recently been so uneasy about the relationship between the king and my father, was torn between his loyalty to the crown and to his family. Not so with Uncle George. He was wholeheartedly for the restoration of power to the Nevilles.
As Chancellor and Archbishop, Uncle George was a very powerful man and he had been asked to Middleham for a purpose.
At the time I was not sure what that purpose was but later I learned that he had come to discuss the dispensation which would be required from Rome before the marriage of George and Isabel could take place.
My uncle was involved in two missions in Rome: one the dispensation and the other his hope of receiving a cardinal's hat. Both must be kept secret from the king, of course, because it seemed likely he would approve of neither.
So during my uncle's stay at Middleham, there were many secret meetings between him, my father and the Duke of Clarence.
I was rather disturbed. I could not help wondering what Richard would think of all this. That he would deplore it, I was sure, but it would mean that these three were not working in unison with his brother Edward.
Isabel, however, thought it was immensely exciting. Whether she was in love with George or the prospect of making a brilliant marriage, I was not sure. Certainly she and George seemed very happy together; and there was no doubt of his charm, but for some reason I could not entirely trust him and I wondered how deep his feelings went.
During that visit there was a great deal of talk about the Woodvilles and their influence at court. George was less discreet than my father and uncle. He told Isabel and Isabel told me that the main trouble with the queen's family was that they flattered the king and fell in with everything he said. He liked that. It made life easy. And then that woman would come along with her request for this and that... and it was the simplest way to give it to her.
"George says that the king is not faithful to the queen." said Isabel.
"She knows it but she never reproaches him. She just treats it as though it is natural. I told George I would never be like that so he will have to be a good husband when he marries me. He says Elizabeth is very clever. All she cares about is having children and getting her family into high places and rich marriages. He says she will think of one for him and one for me ... and it won't be for us to be married to each other but to a Woodville for each of us. That makes us laugh, because we are going to marry each other, says George, and nothing is going to prevent us."
"Oh, Isabel," I cried.
"I hope it all comes right for you."
"Of course it will come right. Our father will see to that." When I look back over that time, I can follow step by step how everything fell into place and how gradually we approached disaster.
Now that I see it all so much more clearly and with the advantage of hindsight, I cannot blame my father. He had worked hard to attain his power but he had simply misjudged his puppet. He had found it difficult to understand the nature of Edward and it was imperative for him to do so if he were to succeed in his schemes. He had dismissed Edward as a light-living luxury-loving young man which he was but there was another side to his nature.
From the beginning Edward had the making of a king who was determined to become one and remain one. This my father failed to see. Edward was a great soldier and so far had never been beaten on the battlefield. He had avoided conflict, was not in the least vindictive, and was inclined to forgive his enemies and bear few grudges, and this, in some ways, added to his strength. He knew what he owed to my father; he realised he could be a powerful enemy; but Edward was determined to rule in his way and no other man's. When he had sought the crown and Warwick had helped him attain it, he had listened and obeyed his mentor the earl because he recognised his power at the time to make or break him; but he was now made; he was the king and all must be made aware of it.
I think that was the true state of affairs and who could blame Edward? My father had agreed to accept him as king, to work for him and serve him. The quarrel over Edward's marriage could have been forgotten and the king would have borne no rancour. They could have resumed their normal relationship and have been of inestimable help to each other. It was my father's pride -and that only which stood in the way of a reconciliation.
There was a difference of opinion between them on foreign policy. My father had been wooed by the King of France who had seen in him the real ruler of England, which had been true in the first period of Edward's reign. My father greatly valued the friendship of France. For many years there had been conflict between the royal house of France and that of Burgundy; and both the French and the Burgundians would be watching what was happening in England and would be aware of the coolness between the king and the Earl of Warwick. Therefore Burgundy decided to woo Edward.
Since he had come to the throne, Edward had matured considerably and he would have realised that my father's power was increased by the support of the King of France. He had given my father the chance to patch up their quarrel, but Edward would know that the resentment still smouldered and would grow when Warwick fully understood that Edward was no longer prepared to be led.
He may well, at this time, have come to think of my father as an enemy. My father was a little careless and so was the archbishop, for when the Pope's emissary came to England, he did not present himself to the court in the customary manner, but went straight to The Moor in Hertfordshire which was the archbishop's residence in the South of England.