Chapter Thirty-Four

An Old Scandal Resurrected and a New One Born

Cecily, Dowager Duchess of York, to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk

Written from Baynard’s Castle, June 1483

Kat,

I have inadvertently discovered a document, carelessly left with a pile of tenancy agreements. It is written by a clerk but is signed in Gloucester’s hand. Since reading it I have been unable to sleep. My appetite has fled. It is not a document that Gloucester would wish me to read.

Or perhaps he does not care.

Or perhaps he wished me to do so.

In my darkest of moments, when I suspect my son of deep dealings, I think that it was left deliberately for me to read.

The years rolled back to my finding that altered family tree in Hereford, when Richard began to consider the throne to be his. The raw reek of fresh ink and paint. There it was again. The planning, the black writing, plotting a dangerous path for our family.

Oh, Katherine, the worst of it all is that I fear I can do nothing to deflect what is to come. I remember so long ago, when the children were still young, showing Margaret and George and Diccon the painted depiction of the House of Lancaster, in which we had no part.

Gloucester is about to put this hand to a re-spinning of the fatal Wheel of Fortune. My reputation is once more to be trampled in the political dust, and I know nothing about a contract with Eleanor Butler, the Earl of Shrewsbury’s daughter. A lady I believe is now dead. Did Edward marry her? Did he promise her marriage? I should be shocked at the possibility of such duplicity, but these days I am beyond shock. Edward proved himself quite capable of such momentous deceit.

I thought of sending you a copy but it is not a document I would wish to fall into hostile hands. Except that I fear that Gloucester proposes to make it all public anyway.

The hurt is beyond bearing.

Why has he done it? Are his ambitions so grandiose? Does he believe that he is being excluded from his birthright? Yet I would say that it was never his birthright to take.

Pray for me, Katherine. I need consolation and strength of will.

Another question. Will Hastings and Buckingham support him in this risky venture? He has worked hard to shackle them to his side in this new reign.

Your sister, whom it seems will once more, for the sake of the political repercussions, be humiliated in the eyes of the world,

Cecily

Written at the direction of the Duke of Gloucester: the case for the barring of Edward of York, Prince of Wales, from the throne

This is based on the following two premises, both appertaining to the fact that illegitimacy is a bar to inheritance.

The rumours, that have never died away, that Cecily, Duchess of York, committed adultery during her marriage to Richard, Duke of York. While in Rouen, as a young woman in her husband’s absence on military matters, she had an affair with one of the archers of the Duke’s household, a man named Blaybourne. Given the timing of this birth and the Duke’s absence, it would seem a fair premise. It has been much the talk of the French Court for years. It was believed by the Earl of Warwick and the Duchess’s own son George, Duke of Clarence, that the Duchess was not chaste within her marriage.

If King Edward the Fourth was thus baseborn, he should never have been King. Nor, then, does his son, King Edward the Fifth, have that right.

It is now widely believed that the Duke of Clarence was also baseborn, as well as his brother King Edward the Fourth. Neither resembled Richard, Duke of York, both being tall and fair, broadly built and well favoured. The Duke of York was smaller of stature, more finely made and conspicuously dark of hair.

It should be noted that Richard, Duke of Gloucester, much resembles his father.

The second premise is more substantial in our eyes.

We hold to the evidence that the marriage of Edward the Fourth to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid from its conception.

King Edward had been contracted to another woman, Eleanor Butler, daughter of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Contractual alliances are a lawful agreement. The witness to this legal pre-contract is Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was present, as were two other witnesses. Such a pre-contract is as binding as a marriage ceremony. Thus the marriage between King Edward and Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous.

Since this marriage between the King and Elizabeth Woodville was not legal, the children of that marriage have no claim to legitimacy. The child Edward, who many regard as the future King Edward the Fifth, has thus no claim to the crown of England.

It is therefore presented herein that the legitimate ruler of England is Richard, Duke of Gloucester, legitimately born of the marriage of Richard Duke of York and his wife Cecily.

Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, to Cecily, Dowager Duchess of York

Written from Epworth

Sister,

You need to talk to him.

Only you know the truth of his claim. Only you know your honesty and chastity within your marriage. Only you know where your loyalty in the future might lie.

I am presuming that Gloucester cannot be dissuaded from making use of this inflammatory information.

I note that you have accepted that he is no longer the youthful Diccon. Nor even the more dignified Richard. He is Duke of Gloucester, and his own man. You must perforce accept it.

Katherine

Cecily, Dowager Duchess of York, to Richard, Duke of Gloucester

Written from Baynard’s Castle, the thirteenth day June 1483

Gloucester,

Do we live in the same household? I find it impossible to meet with you. Our paths never appear to cross, not even at Mass, which I have noted. I wish to speak with you. Since you live in my house, I expect you to at least break your fast with me.

Is the news from the Tower true? It is beyond my belief. Lord Hastings was the most loyal friend that Edward ever had. And yours, too, I would have surmised.

Your mother,

Cecily

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to Cecily, Dowager Duchess of York

Written from the Palace of Westminster

Madam,

With utmost regrets I am unable to be at Baynard’s Castle today. There are perilous matters of state that must be dealt with.

The recent disaffection of Hastings is true, as is his punishment.

I know that you will understand the need for my precipitate action against him.

Your most humble son,

Gloucester

England’s Chronicle, June 1483

Blood and drama.

We cannot believe our ears. Or our eyes. We would deny it, but have witnesses to this astonishing deed.

Lord Hastings, that most prestigious of men, a man of repute in his loyalty to the House of York, arrived at the Tower of London for a Council meeting. Wherein he was charged with treason and summarily executed, without trial or legal judgement. The execution was at the will of the Lord Protector.

Never was there so loyal a man, so staunch a friend to the late King as Lord Hastings. Never was there such benevolent support for the young King Edward the Fifth, or we had presumed for the Lord Protector himself.

Who would seek his death?

Who would benefit most?

There is one, who we will not yet name, who might fear that Hastings’s fealty to King Edward the Fourth, and so to his son the young King, would cause him to be an uncomfortable bedfellow in the present circumstances.

We await events. We still do not yet know the fate of Earl Rivers and Sir Richard Grey, incarcerated in a Yorkist fortress in the north. We do know, however, that Bishop Morton of Ely has been arrested for treason.

The Queen remains in Westminster Abbey with her younger children. In the circumstances it might be difficult to find fault with her choice.

Duchess Cecily is remaining ominously silent. We hear that the Duke of Gloucester has sent, as a gift to his Lady Mother, a basket of strawberries, grown by the apparently treacherous Bishop Morton who is famous for such delicacies. Do we detect the hint of a guilty conscience in this gift from her son?

We understand that Duchess Cecily spends much time on her knees in her chapel. Some would agree with her that there are a multitude of souls that need praying for.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to Cecily, Dowager Duchess of York

Written from the Palace of Westminster

Madam,

I understand your grief at Hastings’s betrayal of our family.

A plot has been discovered to have me killed. Hastings was named as the perpetrator of the plot. The penalty of treason is death. As I am Constable of England as well as Protector of the Realm, I have the power to so condemn him and oversee the execution.

I know that you will be as sorrowful as I at this harsh evidence of perfidy.

Your humble son,

Gloucester

By an anonymous hand, sent to the Dowager Duchess of York at Baynard’s Castle

This is what you should know about your only living son.

He seeks the throne for himself.

Lord Hastings was executed because he would never countenance the deposition of the young King. Lord Stanley, Bishop Morton and Archbishop Rotherham, previously Lord Chancellor, are all under arrest. What would you wager on their continuing existence? All were known for their fidelity to the late King. Earl Rivers (a Woodville) remains in captivity but still, for now, owning his head.

Where is the evidence of Lord Hastings’s treason?

Perhaps you should ask your son.

Will you expect him to offer you veracity or falsehoods?

As for the young King, not yet crowned: ‘Bastard slips shall not take deep root.’

A forceful sermon to be preached at this dangerous time, denying the boy his birthright.

Look to see your son Gloucester seize the crown for himself. We doubt you have any influence to deflect his intentions. What will become of the young King, your grandson, then?

Fall on your knees, Duchess of York, and pray most heartily.

Duchess Cecily’s intercession to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Hail Mary, full of Grace, Our Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Is my son of Gloucester guilty as charged?