第93章 ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH(1)

THE late King's eldest son,the Prince of Wales,called EDWARD

After him,was only thirteen years of age at his father's death.

He was at Ludlow Castle with his uncle,the Earl of Rivers.The prince's brother,the Duke of York,only eleven years of age,was in London with his mother.The boldest,most crafty,and most dreaded nobleman in England at that time was their uncle RICHARD,Duke of Gloucester,and everybody wondered how the two poor boys would fare with such an uncle for a friend or a foe.

The Queen,their mother,being exceedingly uneasy about this,was anxious that instructions should be sent to Lord Rivers to raise an army to escort the young King safely to London.But,Lord Hastings,who was of the Court party opposed to the Woodvilles,and who disliked the thought of giving them that power,argued against the proposal,and obliged the Queen to be satisfied with an escort of two thousand horse.The Duke of Gloucester did nothing,at first,to justify suspicion.He came from Scotland (where he was commanding an army)to York,and was there the first to swear allegiance to his nephew.He then wrote a condoling letter to the Queen-Mother,and set off to be present at the coronation in London.

Now,the young King,journeying towards London too,with Lord Rivers and Lord Gray,came to Stony Stratford,as his uncle came to Northampton,about ten miles distant;and when those two lords heard that the Duke of Gloucester was so near,they proposed to the young King that they should go back and greet him in his name.The boy being very willing that they should do so,they rode off and were received with great friendliness,and asked by the Duke of Gloucester to stay and dine with him.In the evening,while they were merry together,up came the Duke of Buckingham with three hundred horsemen;and next morning the two lords and the two dukes,and the three hundred horsemen,rode away together to rejoin the King.Just as they were entering Stony Stratford,the Duke of Gloucester,checking his horse,turned suddenly on the two lords,charged them with alienating from him the affections of his sweet nephew,and caused them to be arrested by the three hundred horsemen and taken back.Then,he and the Duke of Buckingham went straight to the King (whom they had now in their power),to whom they made a show of kneeling down,and offering great love and submission;and then they ordered his attendants to disperse,and took him,alone with them,to Northampton.

A few days afterwards they conducted him to London,and lodged him in the Bishop's Palace.But,he did not remain there long;for,the Duke of Buckingham with a tender face made a speech expressing how anxious he was for the Royal boy's safety,and how much safer he would be in the Tower until his coronation,than he could be anywhere else.So,to the Tower he was taken,very carefully,and the Duke of Gloucester was named Protector of the State.

Although Gloucester had proceeded thus far with a very smooth countenance-and although he was a clever man,fair of speech,and not ill-looking,in spite of one of his shoulders being something higher than the other-and although he had come into the City riding bare-headed at the King's side,and looking very fond of him-he had made the King's mother more uneasy yet;and when the Royal boy was taken to the Tower,she became so alarmed that she took sanctuary in Westminster with her five daughters.

Nor did she do this without reason,for,the Duke of Gloucester,finding that the lords who were opposed to the Woodville family were faithful to the young King nevertheless,quickly resolved to strike a blow for himself.Accordingly,while those lords met in council at the Tower,he and those who were in his interest met in separate council at his own residence,Crosby Palace,in Bishopsgate Street.Being at last quite prepared,he one day appeared unexpectedly at the council in the Tower,and appeared to be very jocular and merry.He was particularly gay with the Bishop of Ely:praising the strawberries that grew in his garden on Holborn Hill,and asking him to have some gathered that he might eat them at dinner.The Bishop,quite proud of the honour,sent one of his men to fetch some;and the Duke,still very jocular and gay,went out;and the council all said what a very agreeable duke he was!In a little time,however,he came back quite altered-not at all jocular-frowning and fierce-and suddenly said,-

'What do those persons deserve who have compassed my destruction;I being the King's lawful,as well as natural,protector?'

To this strange question,Lord Hastings replied,that they deserved death,whosoever they were.

'Then,'said the Duke,'I tell you that they are that sorceress my brother's wife;'meaning the Queen:'and that other sorceress,Jane Shore.Who,by witchcraft,have withered my body,and caused my arm to shrink as I now show you.'