LADY MARGARET, COUNTESS OF Richmond and her husband Sir Henry Stafford were adept at playing the allegiance game. So successfully had they convinced Edward of York of their loyal support for his reign that not only had Margaret been appointed a lady in waiting to his queen but he had also granted the couple the use of Woking Palace in Surrey and Coldharbour Inn in the City of London. The inn had previously been the property of the Duke of Exeter, the man who had abandoned and defrauded his mercenaries at Harlech Castle and been thrown out of Queen Marguerite’s court-in-exile. Exeter remained what might be termed a faithful liability to the Lancastrian cause, attainted and deprived of all his properties in the same Yorkist Parliament as myself. There was little doubt that when King Henry’s new Parliament reversed this Act of Attainder, he would claim Coldharbour Inn back, just as I would claim Pembroke Castle from the Herberts, but in the meantime Margaret still had the use of it and so it was there that I took Harri to be reunited with his mother.

He had been ten when Margaret had last seen him at Raglan Castle. Now approaching fourteen, he was no longer a little boy but a serious youth with a friendly charm, which disguised a keen intelligence. Not having seen him myself since he was taken from my wardship as a small child, I had been impressed during some long conversations on the ride from Weobley by both his physical and intellectual advancement. He had been particularly anxious about earning his mother’s good opinion and more than once I had had to assure him that his mother would be as proud of him as I was.

Once we reached London I took rooms at the Kings Head in Cheapside, where Harri and I made ourselves presentable and set off for Coldharbour Lane, while Jane elected to stay behind with the girls. ‘Harri needs to spend time alone with Lady Margaret,’ Jane reminded me. ‘You should not stay too long.’

Coldharbour Inn was the largest and most imposing building in the parade of impressive houses that ran west along the north bank of the Thames above London Bridge. To protect the house from floods it had an extensive walled garden, which led down to a private pier and water gate. We left our horses and Harri’s baggage with grooms in the courtyard and were shown to a long high-beamed hall at the centre of the mansion.