There must be more children and most of all there must be a son, and Elizabeth was as confident as the King was, that in due course they would have that boy.
Elizabeth never forgot old scores which she had decided should be settled; and as she rarely acted in haste she was always prepared to wait for revenge.
There was one remark which had been repeated to her by the King himself which she had never forgotten. It was Lord Desmond who had made it before the birth of the Princess Elizabeth, when he had suggested to the King that he should divorce Elizabeth and make a more suitable marriage. Edward had laughed the idea to scorn, but Elizabeth did not forgive it for that reason. He had planted a bad seed in the King's mind and who knew in what dark spot it was sprouting. A little ill fortune, a suggestion which to an ambitious man would be irresistible . . . and before she and her mother could do anything about it, her enemies would be descending on her.
Therefore she was interested when she heard a criticism of Lord Desmond's rule in Ireland. It came from John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester. Worcester said that Desmond's rule appeared to be succeeding because he favoured the Irish. It was natural that the Irish should like him. Of course they did, he was an Irishman himself and Worcester believed that none could be so great a friend of the Irish without being a traitor to the English.
Worcester had always been a staunch supporter of the King. There was a family connection for his wife was the niece of Cecily, Duchess of York. Worcester's character appealed to Elizabeth. He was a man who would calculate long before he struck. In fact, he had a reputation for inflicting unnecessary cruelty on enemies who fell into his power.
He had been a deputy in Ireland and therefore knew what he was talking about. Later he had been sent out to see the Pope on a mission for the King and had stayed for a while in Italy, and his sojourn had had a great effect on him. He was said to have imbibed a great many Italian ways and was as much Italian as English now.
Sure of his loyalty Edward had honoured him, and since there had been criticism of Desmond, the King was considering sending Worcester out to Ireland again.
When the Queen heard this she cultivated Worcester. She invited him to one of the banquets she so enjoyed giving and during it kept him at her side. But it was private conversation that she wished to have and when the opportunity arose she wasted no time in coming to the matter which was of utmost interest to her.
'I am so glad you are going to Ireland,' she told him. 'I know
there are great needs tor reform there. The King has a fondness for Desmond, but I never trusted him.'
Worcester was only too pleased to hear his rival in Ireland denigrated. Any failure which could be attached to Desmond would enhance his own successes. He lent a ready ear to the conduct of Desmond and added something of his own.
'Such men are a danger to the King,' said Elizabeth. 'They should not be allowed to live.'
Worcester was interested. For some reason the Queen wanted Desmond out of the way, and it would certainly suit Worcester's purpose well to remove his rival.
'When I am in Ireland I will discover what traitorous action Desmond may be engaged in', he promised.
'And if you discover. . . .'
'My dear lady, if I discover treachery I will wipe it out. There is only one price that should be asked of a traitor. His life.'
The Queen nodded.
'I fear for the King. He is so easy-going, so blind sometimes to danger. He does not like to hear ill of those for whom he has some regard.
'If he were presented with the accounts of infamy. . . .'
'Even then. . . .'
'Well, my lady, we shall see. I am leaving for Ireland shortly and I swear to you my first duty will be to rout out the traitors.'
'I shall look forward to hearing from you, my lord.'
'It would not surprise me if I soon have news for you. My lady, you are alert to danger, and we say this in no disloyalty to the King but I agree that he is apt to believe the best of people. This gives his enemies the chance thev need. I am speaking too boldlv.'
'My lord, you could not speak too boldly where the King's safety is in question.'
'Desmond is a close friend of Warwick's and, I suspect, my lord of Warwick is not quite the good friend the King believes him to be.'
'I, too, am watchful of Warwick.'
'It is good to know the King has you to look to his interests.'
'You may rest assured I shall do that. And I shall hope to hear from you before long.'
Worcester was as good as his word. He had not been long in Ireland when there was news of an action in a court at Drogheda.
A merchant was accusing Desmond of extorting money and
livery and worse still of joining with the natives in a treasonable action against the English.
'I never trusted Desmond,' said Elizabeth.
Edward laughed. 'My dear, he has always been my good friend. You know what these Irish are. They look for trouble and if they can't find it, they invent it.'
Ts that really so?'
Her eyes were downcast; she was demure again. He must not think that she disagreed with him or bore any grudge against Desmond, for if he did, he would know it was because of that unfortunate remark and, as Jacquetta and she had decided, to have shown resentment about that would have suggested fear. Edward must not think for one moment that she doubted his satisfaction with their marriage.
Walk warily, Jacquetta had said. And Elizabeth's temperament had well equipped her to do just that.
She said no more of Desmond to Edward, but she sent warm thanks to Worcester and waited for the next step.
It was not long before it came. Desmond had been tried on the charges brought against him at Drogheda and they had been proved to be true; he was therefore sentenced to death by the court. All they needed was the King's sanction to his execution.
Edward was in a dilemma. Warwick had taught him that he must have no scruples when dealing with traitors. They must be ruthlessly destroyed. Hadn't the battle cry always been: 'Go for the leaders. Leave the common soldiers.' It was the leaders who made trouble, the leaders who were to be feared. And now Desmond. He couldn't believe it, but according to Worcester's report Desmond had tried to rouse the Irish against English rule there and that was a direct attack on the King.
But Desmond had always been his friend. He liked Desmond. Had he been overfriendly with the Irish? He was Irish himself! But had he conspired with them? Even if he had Edward would find it hard to put his seal on the death warrant.
It was typical of Edward that he shelved the matter. He put the order out of sight and forgot about it. They could not execute Desmond without his seal and if he did nothing the matter might blow over. Then he could perhaps recall Desmond and sift the matter himself. In due course Desmond could settle on his estates and Worcester could take care of Ireland.
It might be true that Desmond was a traitor. Men did turn for
the sake of gain. But it was hard to think of Desmond doing that and in any case, he could forget it. Ireland was far away.
Elizabeth had said nothing of Desmond. But she knew where the death warrant was. She also knew that all it needed was the King's seal.
Edward had other matters with which to occupy himself for he was deeply shocked when he heard that Warwick had suggested to Clarence that he marry his eldest daughter Isabel.
This was one of the matters which he did discuss with Elizabeth.
'What does Warwick mean, think you?' he asked.
'It means that my lord Warwick is an ambitious man,' said Elizabeth.
'That, my dear, is no news. I never knew any man with more ambition. Why have I not been consulted? What does it mean?'