'Yes, my lady. None knows of what they speak. They have been closeted these last two hours and there are guards outside the door.'
'Of what could they be speaking to Randolf?'
Everyone was silent. They bent their heads over their work. What does it mean? the Queen asked herself apprehensively.
They were startled by a clatter in the courtyard. One of the women dropped her work and ran to the window.
'What do you see?' asked the Queen still sitting with her needle in her hand.
'Some are leaving.'
'Bedford's men?' asked the Queen with evident relief in her voice.
'No ... no ... my lady. It is ... Yes, it is. Randolf. He and two others are riding out of the courtyard.*
Joanna put down her work and with the others went to the window.
She saw John Randolf riding out of the castle with two men.
'They are taking the road to London,' said one of the women.
Joanna stared. Why? What could it mean?
She was soon to discover.
Later that day the Duke of Bedford arrived. Joanna went down to the courtyard to meet him. He was very like his brother the King and was said to be Henry's most loyal and fervent supporter. He was more highly coloured than Henry, with a prominent arched nose, well marked chin and slightly receding brow. He was a man who would not shirk his duty; and like his brother did not practise cruelty for its sake yet had no compunction in taking a severe action for the furtherance of a cause which he believed to be right.
A good meal was served and during it Joanna sat beside her guest and he talked to her of the war and the glories of Agincourt, of the King's valour and the genius he was displaying in the conduct of the war. He regretted that he was not with his brother in France; but the King had assigned to him the task of keeping law and order in England during his
absence and that was a task which he was pursuing to the utmost of his capabilities.
'We shall let nothing ... but nothing ... stand in our way, my lady, no matter what has to be done it shall be done/
Ominous words perhaps.
She was right.
As soon as the meal was over he said he had matters of which he wished to speak with her, and she took him to an ante-chamber and began by asking him: 'Where is my confessor?'
'He has gone to London.*
*I did not give him permission to go.'
'No, my lady. He went on my command which is the King's.*
'For what reason?*
'This is a painful subject and I would rather speak to you of it than let others do it. You are my stepmother and there has always been amity between ourselves.*
'And still is I trust,' she said.
Bedford was silent, and she looked at him in alarm. 'Pray tell me without more delay what this means,' she said.
'That I will. You have two sorcerers in your employ, my lady. Their names I learn are Roger Colles and Petronel Brocart.*
'These men are my servants. I would not call them sorcerers.*
'What then, my lady?*
'They are men with a knowledge of the stars ... they predict the future.*
'And on occasions arrange the future.*
*I do not understand what you mean, my lord.*
*It should be clear. You wish for some event to take place and ... these men arrange it.*
'How could that be! The future is in God*s hands.*
'But it can often be helped by certain methods.*
'You are talking in riddles.*
'Forgive me. Your confessor has told us much. He says that these two men at your command work with the powers of evil.*
'The man is a fool and a liar.'
'My lady, he is a Minorite Friar.'
'I would say he is a liar were he the Archbishop of Canter-
bury. He has always been of a jealous nature. He hated the friendship I showed for the astrologers/
*He says they were with you when the late King suffered from his illness/
*0h God help me/ murmured the Queen.
*My father's disease was a loathsome one. Many said it had witchcraft in it.'
'I was with your father. I nursed him. He loved me till the end.'
'That does not prove that you had no hand in illwishing him.'
'This is nonsense. What good has his death brought me? It was better for me when he lived. He would never have allowed me to be treated as I am being now.'
*If you were guilty of what some say you are, he would have wished you to answer for your sins.*
Joanna covered her face with her hands. *I loved the King/ she murmured. 'I nursed him through his sickness. He wanted me near him all the time.*
Bedford was silent.
'He suffered greatly/ she went on. 'Not only with the pain but the fearful disfigurement.'
'What was the disease W'hich overtook my father?' said Bedford. 'It was said at the time that it was brought on through evil influences.'
'That is a lie. Your father would have been the first to declare it so. He knew that I loved him, that I could tend him better than anyone.'
'So we thought then, Madam.'
'Of what else have you come here to accuse me?' she demanded.
'Of practising witchcraft, of working against the King.'
'Working against the King! How could I do that? He is my friend. He has always been my friend.'
'You did not show much friendship when you gave so niggardly to him in his need to pursue the war in France.'
'I gave what I had to give.'
'My father left you rich. You are said to be one of the richest women in the country.'
Now she saw it all. It was her money they sought. What a fool she had been not to have given the King what he wanted when he had come to see her. His brother was his lieutenant.
Extortion was their plan. She felt a faint relief. If it was her money they wanted, they might spare her life.
Of course they would. They dared not take that. Henry could not afford to offend the Duke of Brittany nor the royal House of France to that extent. To make war was one thing but to murder members of the family another.
*So you will believe the word of a treacherous priest against mine, my lord?' she asked.
'We shall investigate, of course. In the meantime I have decided to put you under guard.*
'Here in Havering?'
*No, you will go to Pevensey Castle. There Sir John Pelham will be your host.*
Tou mean my jailer?*
*He will take good care of you and treat you as your rank requires.*
'But I shall be his prisoner.*
'And if you are guilty, my lady, your goods will be confiscated to the crown.*
*Ah,* she said, *I understand. They will be of some help to the King in pursuing the war in France.'
Bedford was silent.
She was resigned. She knew her stepsons. They could make themselves believe that they were acting justly and all they cared about really was bringing money into the exchequer. She should have know^n better.
'There is one request I have to make,* she said. 'My son Arthur is in Fotheringay. He is Henry's prisoner as I shall be. Could we share our imprisonment?'
Bedford looked horrified.
She saw the thoughts chasing each other through his mind. Two of them in one castle! What plots they might fabricate.
'You will go to Pevensey,' he said stonily. 'And now, my lady, you will wish to prepare. You leave tomorrow.'
He bowed and feft her. She looked about her. Soon this place where she had lived during her widowhood would be a memory. She thought then of Colles and Brocart. Perhaps they should try to escape to France. Would it be wiser for them to go or stay? If they were caught something might be proved against them, innocent as they were. Yet if they fled that would be taken as an assumption of their guilt. She must warn them and leave them to make the decision.