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Back Cecily Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Author’s Note
  5. Prologue
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. Epilogue
  56. Afterword
  57. Acknowledgements
  58. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘Yes, yes. But Lancaster wasn’t always king. My father crowned Lancaster when he put young Henry’s grandfather on the throne. But to do it he broke his oath of fealty to the king he helped depose.’

‘Was it a sin, do you think?’ Richard has made Ralph his lodestar, can’t bear to think it’s led him wrong.

She slides off and lies beside him. He turns to face her.

‘No.’ Cecily is emphatic. ‘Ask my mother. She’ll tell you. God might anoint kings and bring them to their thrones, but He can’t keep them there.’ Then she whispers, conspiratorial. ‘Only nobles like yourself can do that.’

Richard laughs, but he can’t look at her. He doesn’t remember his own father, only the shame of him, and that Ralph called him a faithless dog. ‘Then God save kings from rebellious nobles.’

‘Yes, of course. Good kings. But if a king is weak, as that one was. If he’s a fool and sets the country at odds.’ When he looks away, grimacing, she reaches a finger, turns his face to hers again. ‘It’s simple. God’s appointed order: king, nobles, the people, each ruled by the other in turn.’

‘And if a king can’t keep God’s order, then the nobles must restore it. I know.’ He shudders. ‘But it’s a desperate road …’

‘That must be walked at times of great need. Or there’s only chaos, and there the Devil reigns. There’s duty in kingship, Richard. Not privilege alone.’

The boy king’s grandfather knew that. He held the nobles in balance with a careful mixture of censure and reward, fear and patronage, for the fourteen years of his reign. Then he passed the banner to his son, the fifth Henry, who united them in conquest and gave them Agincourt.

They’re quiet now, Cecily and Richard, side by side in the loving bed. They are both thinking the thing they cannot say yet; what of young Henry? Can he do it?

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3

September 1435–March 1437

London, England

Bedford warned that France would draw them back. Daily now, Cecily hopes it won’t. Since Henry came home from his crowning it’s been a war of attrition across the Channel. Four years and both sides are exhausted. At last, an offer from Charles; England can keep its French territories if Henry will surrender his French crown. Gloucester spits and curses. Young Henry prays three days for guidance, before declaring that, though he craves peace above all things, God has made him king of France, so fight on. And Bedford does, till he falls from his horse to his sickbed.