The Rose of York: Crown of Destiny Read Online Free PDF

himself up to his full height. “I have made my decision.”
    ~*^*~

Chapter 4
    “Rain, rain, and sun! A rainbow in the sky!”
     
     
    At the end of September Richard returned to a hero’s welcome in England. All the way from the Cinq Ports north to Middleham, people lined the roads, flinging flowers in his path. They had heard how he had been the only one of Edward’s councillors to refuse the French king’s gold; how he had called it a bribe to his face. Richard rode along, nodding to the cheering crowds, his thoughts straying back to France. Louis’s eyes had narrowed like those of a fox during their private dinner at Amiens when Richard had refused his bribe and cut the evening short. From henceforth he knew he would be marked as an enemy of France. That sat well enough with him. He would not parley with the man who had wed Anne to Edouard of Lancaster. Nor would he compromise his honour. As Edward had.
    He compressed his mouth. Not only had Louis agreed to pay Edward an exorbitant annual sum, but he had betrothed his son and heir, the Dauphin, to Edward’s daughter, seven-year-old Elizabeth. Since Richard had resolutely opposed the treaty, he didn’t attend the signing, choosing instead to watch from his tent on the river bank as the two kings met. And a strange sight it made; one he would never forget.
    The ceremony had taken place near the village of Picquigny on a special bridge that had been hastily erected over the River Somme. Edward, majestic in a black velvet cap gleaming with a jewelled fleur-de-lis and a gown of cloth of gold lined with red satin, strode across to meet Louis midway. The King of France, who cared nothing for the trappings of power, wore a grey coat, a shabby black hat, brown hose, and old black boots. He was followed by a dog. Edward had called the French King a gnat, but Richard thought that Louis embodied his nickname: Spider. A menacing black spider clever enough to brighten his web with the gold that had lured in a splendid fly . From the distance Richard thought he saw Louis gazing at Edward with the rapture of a spider permitting a fly to buzz helplessly, knowing his doom lay close at hand.
    Edward’s voice had held an eerie note as it floated to Richard over the water. “ Peace to this meeting and to our brother France! ” Then came Louis’s voice, nasal, heavily accented, and somehow ominous. “ Most worthy brother England! ” They sat down on either side of a wooden barrier and conversed. A splinter of the True Cross was brought. Edward and Louis each knelt and kissed it, swearing to uphold the treaty. With a flourish of the plumed pen, they signed. Motioning their attendants away, they sat and conversed amiably with one another for several minutes. Richard had heard his brother roar with laughter and saw him embrace the French king in farewell. He remembered that a flock of geese swam past, quacking loudly, and at that moment a crane dove for a fish, caught its prey, and flew off. An omen?
    On the following day Charles of Burgundy stormed into Edward’s tent. A short, podgy, arrogant man with a bad temper, Charles had accused Edward of jealousy and double-dealing. “Jealousy?” Edward had inquired with raised eyebrows. “Aye, for I am descended from John of Gaunt and my claim to the English crown is better than yours!” declared Charles. “When I’ve finished with Neuss, I shall invade England and the people will rise up to place me on the throne, for they hate you and love me!” With that, he had stormed off. Edward had thrown his head back and roared with laughter. “Warwick was right about one thing—Charles is mad.”
    Richard grinned, remembering. Then his grin faded. His poor sister Meg; this was her husband.
    No, the treaty did not bode well for England now that Louis owned Edward. Only one benefit had come of the miserable pact. Whether over guilt at the treaty he had made, or to pacify his angry brother, no one knew, but Edward finally granted