The Lost King Read Online Free PDF Page B

they had to make sure he believed it. Little boys can betray secrets without meaning to. Perhaps that is why he was sent to Rivers at such an early age, to be kept in careful seclusion where he could hear no rumours. The only people he saw at Ludlow either knew nothing, like the archers and sportsmen, or could be relied on, like Dr Alcock and Uncle – heavens! I gasp as it hits me.
    â€˜Uncle Richard! He’s the last royal brother. If the boys can’t inherit the throne,
he
must be the king.’
    Annie looks at me wearily.
    â€˜Have you only just seen that? Silly girl – of
course
he must. But Richard is Elizabeth’s worst enemy. She’ll do anything to keep him from being crowned.’
    â€˜They will try to kill him,’ I say with cold certainty.
    â€˜Yes. Richard knows that. He’ll make sure he is well guarded. But this won’t get the packing done.’
    Annie gets to her feet and pushes her sleeves up then gives me a stern stare.
    â€˜And listen, young Lisa – you will not repeat a word of this conversation to anyone.’
    â€˜Of course not.’
    I’d be too terrified.
21 st April 1483
    We started on the long journey to London this morning. Horses, riders, baggage carts – and masses of heavily armed soldiers. People say there are two thousand of them. Two
thousand
! They have carts piled with guns, some of them so heavy that they need teams of four horses. Looking back and forward along the procession, I cannot see its end or beginning. It is as though we are marching to war.
    All the important people from the castle are with us, Earl Rivers, Dr Alcock, John Vaughan who is the castle treasurer, Elizabeth Woodville’s two sons from her first marriage. The older one, Thomas, is entrustedwith much of the castle’s management. Elizabeth herself is in sanctuary with young Richard and her daughters, in Westminster. Uncle Richard is to meet us at a place called Northampton. Messengers say he left York on the 24 th , so he must be getting quite near.
30 th April 1483
    We did not stop at Northampton, though we’d been looking forward to unsaddling the horses and getting something to eat. Rivers apologised for the extra hours of riding. He said the Queen had ordered the change. As Elizabeth is in London, I think this cannot be true. It must have been planned. Anyway, we continued on to this place called Stony Stratford and settled into various inns for the night. Then Rivers and Thomas Grey took fresh horses and rode back to Northampton to wait for Richard.
    They came back this morning. Richard was with them, and so was Henry Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, who had come from London to meet them in Northampton, with a troop of three hundred men. Buckingham is married to Elizabeth Woodville’s sister, Catherine. It was he who signedGeorge’s death warrant. He is a thick-lipped, narrow-eyed man. Annie said she would not trust him with a pet rat. But he is on Richard’s side – at least, for now. He told him that Rivers, Grey and Vaughan were hatching a massive plot against him.
    Buckingham’s servants told us what happened last night. There was a grand dinner in Northampton, as you would expect. Wine was drunk and everyone had a good time. Afterwards, Buckingham and Richard talked together for most of the night. At dawn, Buckingham’s men arrested Rivers and the other two.
    I still can’t believe it. They got Rivers out of a cart with his hands tied, hustled him into an upstairs room and locked the door. Vaughan and Grey as well. They will be taken to Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, to stand trial. People say they will be executed.
    There must be some reason why Rivers brought us to Stony Stratford then rode all the way back to Northampton. I think it can only be because he did not want Richard to see the carts laden with guns and armaments. We know now that Rivers, Grey and Vaughan were secretly on Henry Tudor’s side,