"And you really think they have been illtreating him?"
"I saw him before I left... riding through the streets, king again. The bishop and the archbishop, brother of the Earl of Warwick, went down to the Tower to bring him out. Those who were with him said they found him dirty and neglected ... like a shadow, they said, or a sack of wool and as mute as a crowned calf. So they dressed him up in fine clothes and set a crown on his head and they took him to Westminster. They'd made a king of him. But he did not look like one and the people were all talking of King Edward."
My feelings were mixed. I had been so sorry for the queen and now she was in a state of bliss; but I was fearful for myself because this turn of events had brought me closer to what I dreaded more than anything in the world.
And at the back of my mind was the thought of Richard. I could picture his sorrow and anger at seeing his brother driven from the throne. My heart was with Richard, but it was my own father who had brought this sorrow in him. I had been brought up to revere my father. I had been told many times that he was the greatest man in the kingdom. But I loved Richard: I had been enchanted by his brother Edward and I could easily understand why the people loved him and wanted him for their king. How would they like his going and seeing in his place one who was like a sack of wool and a crowned calf?
Something told me they would not and this was not the end of the conflict. And I guessed that the same thoughts were in the minds of the messengers.
I left them then, for no more was to be learned. They had been sent to bring the glad tidings and their duty was done. When they had rested for a night they would return to England.
And what of us, I wondered?
The queen sent for me.
"I confess," she said, "that I did not always believe that your father would do this. I did not trust him entirely. But he has proved himself to be a man of honour."
Had he, I wondered? He had turned from the king and supported his rival. Was that honourable? And he had done it because he had wanted power, and if he could not reach it through one king he would try to do so through another. But little as I knew of state affairs, I sensed in that moment that my father had made a mistake. The people would never accept Henry; and was Edward the man to stand aside and let them?
Margaret went on: "First we must give our thanks to God for this victory and when that is done we will make our plans. As soon as we are in England you shall be married. This I have promised your father and I shall keep my word. Now let us plan. We shall be leaving here for Paris. My son will have heard the good news by now. He will be there. Then we shall go to England to claim our crown. You look thoughtful, child. You must rejoice. This is a happy day for us all. The House of Lancaster is back where it belongs."
We did not leave immediately. The next day messengers arrived at the chateau with the news that the King of France was on his way to Amboise to visit Margaret. She must of course be there to receive him.
More than a week passed before the arrival of the king and in the meantime the chateau was given over to preparation for his visit. It was unthinkable that we could leave at such a time.
In due course he arrived with his queen, Charlotte of Savoy.
He received the queen and me in a very friendly manner and told us that it was a source of great pleasure to him to know that events were going well in England.
Louis was an extraordinary man. I could not trust him. He was quite unlike a king: he had little dignity, was careless in his dress and there was a complete lack of formality in his speech and behaviour. He was amiable, but there was a watchfulness about him, a certain slyness which suggested he might be planning something which was quite alien to his utterances.
I could not get out of my mind the stories I had heard of his vengeful nature and how he had made a particularly gruesome prison of his chateau of Loches where he imprisoned his enemies in the oubliettes there those dungeon-like underground prisons into which men were thrown and left to be forgotten as the name implied. What had impressed me so deeply was that Louis was reputed to pay periodic visits to Loches that he might peer down on those men whom he had imprisoned and then watch as they progressed towards their grisly end. There were also rumours that he imprisoned men in iron cages and reduced them to the state of animals.
Some might say that there would always be those to malign kings and people in high places, but I could believe these rumours of Louis, even while he was displaying such friendship towards Margaret and benignity to me.
I liked his wife, Charlotte; she was a placid woman who was now pregnant. I had heard it said that she was either giving birth or preparing to do so; and it was maliciously hinted that Louis far preferred the society of his mistress, Marguerite de Sassenage, and spent only long enough with Charlotte to impregnate her and so keep her busy bearing the children of France.
I could understand how he had earned the soubriquet of the Spider King. However, Charlotte seemed happy enough, so perhaps she was as eager to be rid of him as he was of her.
He certainly seemed to be pleased by what was happening in England, and was eager to celebrate the victory. That seemed reasonable enough as King Henry was related to him; moreover Margaret was French. Naturally France would support the House of Lancaster against that of York. It was Louis who had brought my father and Margaret together and prevailed on Margaret to make up their quarrel. So this was his victory as it was Margaret's.
It was easy to talk to Louis. I had heard someone say of him that if one had met him by chance one would take him for a man of low condition rather than a person of distinction. There was truth in that, for he was a little slovenly in his dress rare in a king of France so that one did not feel, when talking to him, that one was with the king. It seemed that he preferred to be with the humble rather than the nobility.
"It pleases me," he said, "to contemplate your good fortune. Your father is a man I esteem as much as any man I know. He will rule England wisely with the help of the queen. The poor king is alas in a sorry state. But with the Earl of Warwick to guide him he will be in good hands. We shall be good neighbours, which is what I have always wanted." He smiled slyly and I wondered how sincere he was in this.
"The rightful king will be restored to the throne and one day you, my dear, will be Queen of England. That is what gives me pleasure."
The celebrations were not of long duration, for I had discovered that the king was parsimonious in the extreme, and could not bear to see money wasted.
He spent a good deal of time with Margaret, and I for one could not regret his delaying our preparations to return to England, for I knew what awaited me there.
He was at the chateau for about two weeks, which was a long time for him. He was restless and spent much time wandering about his kingdom.
So far Prince Edward had not come to us and the queen was very eager to make some plans with him. She believed he was in Paris and after the king had departed we set out for that city.
It was now well into November and the weather was not good, which meant that our journey was considerably delayed. We were naturally anxious to know what was happening in England and we were ever on the watch for messengers, but as winter was with us and the sea was so treacherous at that time, it might be difficult for them to reach us.