She was already aware of the arrival.
"Your father has come," she said.
We were in the courtyard when my father rode up and there was someone riding with him, a tall regal figure. I stared. I could not be mistaken. No one else was as tall and commanding in appearance. It could only be the king, He had dismounted, my father with him. My mother was about to kneel but the king put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek.
"My lord ..." began my mother.
The king has come to visit us for a while," said my father.
The king smiled and said what a pleasure it was to see the beautiful countess and her charming daughter.
"I do not see my dear sister-in-law."
"She is resting, my lord. Her condition."
The king raised his eyebrows and said: "What good news! My brother is indeed a fortunate man."
Preparations for the arrivals were already in progress. The servants always went into action at the first appearance of visitors.
My father led the king into the hall. That something strange was going on was apparent. There was about my father a certain triumphant air. And where were the Icing's attendants? But the king was smiling and affable, as though there was nothing unusual in arriving thus. There was one chamber in the castle which was kept for royal visitors and here the king was installed. Through the castle there was that excitement which a royal visit always generated; but this was something different. Why had we not been warned?
It was some days before I realised that the king was my father's prisoner.
It was all so bewildering. We were in the dark, groping through it for understanding, and it was not until much later that I learned from Richard what had really happened. Richard spoke of it even then with great resentment.
The king had been marching northwards to quell the rebellion when news of the defeat at Edgecot reached him; and when the army knew what had happened they deserted in large numbers, with the result that the king found himself alone apart from a few friends Richard among them. They were at Olney when George Neville arrived.
"He did not come as an archbishop," said Richard when he told me of this, "but in armour. I was with my brother and I feared what this meant, for I knew that my brother was conspiring with your father and had done so ever since he married your sister Isabel. I had a feeling that George meant Edward no good, for he had always been jealous of him and resentful because Edward was more gifted, and the elder. George Neville was very respectful to the king and asked him if he would join him and his brother in Coventry for the Earl of Warwick was anxious about the king's safety.
"My brother said: "Why is the earl so concerned for my safety when a short time ago he was righting against me?"
"Never against you, my lord," said George Neville, "but against those who seek to destroy the realm." I was so angry that I called out to my brother not to listen to the man. But you know how forgiving Edward is. If he has a fault, it is being too ready forgive his enemies and to believe the best of them. Edward put his hand on my arm and said lovingly to me: "We are in their hands, brother. Just for this while." And then he turned to the archbishop and said, "I see I am your prisoner. What do you ask of me?"
"That you come with me to my brother," answered the archbishop. And so we went to the Earl of Warwick."
I told Richard how sad I had been when I had heard a garbled version of this. It was heart-breaking for me to think the friendship between our two families was over.
"I was with him," went on Richard, "at the meeting with Warwick. I think your father was more embarrassed than my brother. The earl impressed on Edward that he wished him no harm and talked of his holding him for his own protection. That was not true. The earl had never forgiven him for marrying the queen. There were many of us who thought that was a mistake. But my brother is impulsive in his affections. He gives love without thought of gain. I suppose the marriage was good for him if not for others. It was her rapacious family which caused all the trouble. Oh, Anne, what mistakes have been made! It is true that your father helped to put Edward on the throne, but Edward is a king who will govern; he will not be led. And your father is a man who wants to rule through the king he has set up. It was doomed to fail."
How right he was!
The king was the most agreeable guest and none would have believed he was with us against his will. The servants vied with each other to receive his attention. I never saw a man so lacking in arrogance and self-importance and yet who could convey such a kingly air.
My father was in a state of elation at this point. He believed he had won the battle. He had shown the king that he could not reign without him. But after a while the euphoria began to fade. Edward might be pleasure-loving, seeking the easy way of life by refusing to look at unpleasant facts, but that exuberant personality, those kingly smiles, were what charmed the people. They did not want to lose their genial king. This was Edward's strength. It was nearly ten years since my father had set him on the throne and during that time he had made the people love him. They wanted Edward, and there was unrest throughout the kingdom.
It was known that the king was somewhere in the north, a captive of the Earl of Warwick, which was a signal to some to defy the law. Rioting broke out. This was a situation which could not be allowed to continue and my father realised that the king must be moved to a stronger fortress.
It was a sad day when Edward left Warwick Castle for Middleham. How we missed him! There were doleful faces in the castle. Apprehension returned. Our father had left with the king and there was further trouble. Rumour reached us that my father's supporters, assuming that the war was over since the king was the earl's prisoner, had returned to their homes, so his army was disbanded.
"Where is the king?" the people were asking.
"Who is ruling the country?"
As the violence increased and many were defying the law, my father thought that the people should be shown that Edward was still the king, and he allowed him to make a ceremonial visit to York where he was given a tumultuous welcome.
Richard told me that when he heard this, with Lord Hastings, a trusted friend, he gathered together an army and marched to York; but before they reached that town they heard that the king had taken matters into his own hands and announced his intention of going to London.
My father then realised that he had gone wrong somewhere, and if he attempted to stop the king there would be many to rise against him.
The welcome Edward received in his capital city was enough to convince my father that he had failed. He had won in the field but his victory had been turned to defeat.
He must have realised then that he was never going to gain control over Edward and there was one project left to him.
That was to set Clarence up in his place.
Isabel was now heavily pregnant. In a little more than a month her baby would be due. It was a bright April day. My mother was making the last arrangements for the birth.
"Children have a habit of arriving before the appointed time." she remarked to me.
"I am so glad that Isabel is with me. I am not completely ignorant of these matters, you know."
"I have realised that, my lady," I said.
"And I rejoice, too. I suppose everything is all right?"
"What do you, mean?"
"Isabel seems a little listless."
"My dear, she is tired. Can you imagine what it is like carrying a baby around with you?"
"But Isabel seems rather frail."
I saw the look of fear cross my mother's face, and I wished I had not said that. I knew she worried a great deal about our health. She herself was a strong woman; she should have had big healthy sons instead of two rather delicate girls. Indeed, it was because I had fancied she was a little worried about Isabel now that had made me so. But I must not talk of my fears to my mother, so I talked of them to one of Isabel's maids.