Why was it, I wondered, that the vision of Warwick storming Castle England put me in mind of the panel of the Apocalypse Tapestry hanging behind Marguerite’s throne, in which the army of Unbelievers was shown attacking the gates of the Heavenly City, led by the seven-headed Beast of Satan, only to be vanquished by holy fire descending from the sky. When I returned my gaze to the group around the throne I noticed that the young Duke of Clarence’s eyes were riveted on that very same scene and narrowed in intense thought, as if he was now pondering his own place in this conspiracy of adversaries.

PART FIVE

The Return

1470

40

Jane

Tŷ Gwyn, Tenby, Pembrokeshire

Although it was not signed I knew the message was from Lady Margaret and would have to be burned but first I wanted to commit what it said to memory. The content was cryptic in the extreme.

The bear and the daisy have united and our greatest hopes may be realized. Let the portcullis be raised, the red dragon unleashed and the greyhound returned to its dam. The martlet is due to land and then the sun will set.

I was no expert in heraldry but I knew that the portcullis belonged to Beaufort, the red dragon to Wales and the greyhound was the symbol of Richmond. Margaret was a mother who was desperate to have her son back and Jasper was on his way. King Edward’s splendid sun was sinking. As I set the paper to the fire and watched it burn, my spirits rose with the flames. Then I started in sudden fear when Elin’s elfin face appeared round the door to announce that a stranger was at the entrance wanting to see me.

Elin was not supposed to answer any knocking; stranger at the door could be a Yorkist agent who had tracked us down. Huw or Eithne should do it, Huw being a local lad hired to help with the heavy chores and Eithne his mother who insisted that I could not manage without her interference. I paid her since she was a great help with cleaning and shopping although she protested that she was only doing me a kindness. I think she wanted to keep tabs on her son and her disciplinary presence in the house was a blessing, when she was there. Where was she now though, when she should have been answering the door?

‘She says she knows you,’ Elin was saying. I felt a prickling in my spine even before she added, ‘Bit witchy, starey black eyes, lots of shiny beads.’

‘I will deal with her myself. You go back to your sewing.’

Myfanwy.

The ‘shiny beads’ were not beads at all but jewels. She looked like a wealthy woman and still a very beautiful one. She fell into my arms when she saw me. ‘Sian, thank Jesu I have found you. May I come in? People have been staring at me.’