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wish you weren’t going to London.’
    â€˜So do I.’
    And it is true. I love Tom, though I tried hard not to. I want so much to stay with him – but I cannot desert the boys. Their Uncle Richard’s motto is ‘Loyauté Me Lie’, which Dr Alcock said means ‘Loyalty Binds Me’. I, too, feel bound.
    â€˜Things are so uncertain. And the boys are still young. It would be an unkind time to leave them.’
    â€˜Lisa, their world is not our world,’ Tom says. ‘Their wars and deaths and riches are nothing to do with us. I want you to marry me. Let the boys go. Please. We can have children of our own.’
    I feel torn in half.
    â€˜I love you, Tom, I really do. I want to marry you. But can we wait just a little longer?’
    â€˜Anyone who waits for things to be safe and certain is a fool,’ he says. ‘And I hope I am not a fool.’ He sighs. ‘But yes, I will wait for you.’
    â€˜Oh, Tom! Thank you, thank you. It won’t be long, I promise. I’ll come back as soon as I can.’
    We kiss again. I wish we could stay here longer, but the sun is low in the sky behind the trees.

Packing up
    Annie sits down on the box we have just tied with rope, hands in her lap.
    â€˜The wolves are out, Lisa,’ she says.
    â€˜Wolves?’
    â€˜Enemies.’
    â€˜But – things are all right now, aren’t they? The Lancaster side is beaten. It doesn’t have an heir to the throne.’
    â€˜Oh, yes, it does,’ Annie says grimly. ‘They’ve found themselves a new one. Henry Tudor. He’s lived in France most of his life. Claims to be descended from the ancient Welsh king, Cadwalladr, which means nothing at all. Any Welsh person could say the same.’
    â€˜Isn’t he royal, then?’
    â€˜Only through a bastard line. His grand-da was a page in the court of Henry the Fifth. He seduced the king’s widow, who bore him a son called Edmund Tudor. That Edmund was this Henry Tudor’s father.’
    â€˜So why do they think he should be king?’
    â€˜You may well ask. The thing is, Henry Tudor’s mother is now married to Lord Stanley, and he’s as two-faced as Warwick was. Everyone says he’s going to help Henry Tudor to invade England and take the throne by force.’
    I’m horrified.
    â€˜But he can’t! Young Edward is the king!’
    Annie frowns down at her hands, and makes no answer. I’m suddenly afraid.
    â€˜Annie, what is it?’
    She sighs.
    â€™I’ve never told you this, Lisa. There’s an old secret – but it won’t stay secret much longer, the way things are going. The King’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville wasn’t his first one.’
    That’s an old tale, so I’m relieved.
    â€˜Yes, he was engaged to someone else, they say. But isn’t it just gossip?’
    â€˜No. It’s true. And it wasn’t just an engagement. Edward married Lady Eleanor Butler, months before Elizabeth grabbed him.’
    â€˜Actually
married
her?’
    â€˜Yes. And the wolves are hunting around to prove it. They want it known that the King’s marriage to Elizabeth broke the law. I know this is hard, Lisa, but – Edward’s children are not legal. Your lovely boys have no more claim to the throne than their illegitimate brothers and sisters that nobody knows about.’
    My hands are over my mouth in a long gasp of horror. ‘Annie! No!’
    â€˜I’m sorry. I know what they mean to you.’
    â€˜How long have you known?’
    â€˜I’ve always known. Some things are best not talked about.’
    Coming from Annie, that would be laughable, were it not so frightening.
    â€˜Does Uncle Richard know?’
    â€˜Of course he does.’
    No wonder he looks wary.
    Annie goes on, ‘Richard is the youngest brother, so he never dreamed of being king. But Clarence,the middle one, was second to Edward, and he