But Henry would not say who had whispered, except Cade who was dead and, in truth, had said no such thing. When Richard begged the right to answer his accusers, face-to-face before his king, Henry waved it away.

‘It doesn’t matter now,’ he said. ‘Just the general crowd. My kingdom is full of violence and so many wish me ill. Ask Beaufort here, he’ll tell you. He watches them all.’

‘It’s why I am come to you out of Ireland,’ Richard told him. ‘To stand by your side. To oppose your enemies and restore your justice.’

Then Beaufort broke his silence. ‘Is that Jack Cade’s idea or your own?’

‘It’s hard for me to know Cade’s purpose, for I never knew the man.’

‘Go ask him. His head was still on London Bridge when last I passed.’

‘Then he will give me scant answer. But if he stood before us now and spoke against my king, then I would have his head again.’

He turned back then to Henry, who was smiling and whose eyes had never left him. ‘I’ve heard the rumours, Your Grace. That I stood behind Jack Cade and spurred him on—’

Henry held up a hand. ‘That he was your man, Richard, and did all he did at your order.’

‘I swear to you, on my honour, he did not.’

Henry leaned to him then, close to his ear. ‘I believe you, cousin.’ Then the King’s hand was upon his breast, and the smile was gone. ‘For to believe otherwise would grieve me bitterly.’

‘Did he believe you, do you think?’ Cecily asks now, lying beside him, while the candles waver and the fire shifts in its grate.

Richard takes her hand and pulls it to his breast. ‘I truly have no idea.’ He shakes his head as though puzzled. ‘In that instant? Yes. Perhaps. But the next?’

‘Pah! He is playing games with you.’

‘And sometimes I believe him cunning enough to do that, to cajole, to flatter, to threaten with intent. But at others …’ He shakes his head again. ‘It’s as if he is a child that others play upon. From one moment to the next I never know.’

‘Sure Beaufort plays upon him.’

‘And the Queen. I know well enough it is they who rule England now. Not Henry.’

‘They still keep close then, Beaufort and the Queen?’

‘Like snakes in a basket. Do you know he’s now in her pay, too, as well as the King’s? For his especial good counsel, I’m told. She pays him a salary.’

She is incredulous. ‘For his counsel? I wonder what other services he offers for a salary.’

‘Ha!’ He squeezes her hand.

‘The Queen is not with child?’

‘No.’

‘Does the King go often to her bed?’

‘God’s blood, Cecily, ask her women!’

‘Were I there, I would.’ She stares at him, wide-eyed.