As I followed the steps of a stately gavotte, I found it hard to take my eyes off my partner’s slender form. Even in the rather severe grey gown they had dressed her in that day she still managed to remind me of a graceful falcon gliding between tall trees as she wound her way between the other dancers in the set. The more I saw of Margaret Beaufort the more she resembled the Honoured Lady of Arthurian chivalry and the more I saw her as a potential wife, one day. There seemed to emanate from her a noble grace, which entirely outshone the lush temptations offered by other ladies on the floor.

* * *

A few days later we had each received a written summons to attend the Royal Council. ‘I cannot contemplate sitting around a table with a bunch of greybeards discussing the king’s finances,’ Edmund grumbled. ‘I must look to my own affairs and that means inspecting the meagre estates as yet granted to me. I will leave tomorrow for Leicestershire, as planned.’

‘It is our first summons from the king, Edmund – an honour. He will expect us to attend.’ Despite my warning I understood his wish to visit his new estates. I, too, wanted to go to Wales but a series of disputes over lordships connected to the Pembroke earldom were hampering my possession of many of its manors. I had to wait for the Council to settle these.

‘You have business there anyway, Jas, so you can keep me up to date with what happens and make my excuses. There is no need for us both to go.’ Edmund flashed one of his disarming smiles, slapped me on the back and departed, leaving me irritated but resigned.

As it turned out the retrieval of the Pembroke lands was achieved without difficulty and no comment was made about Edmund’s absence. He returned in time to take his seat with the Lords and hear the petition read in which the king publicly proclaimed us as his brothers, although since we were related through our mother and bore only French royal blood, we were barred from any succession to the English throne. Once passed, the same Act of Parliament also established that our earldoms were not just for life but could be inherited by our legitimate male heirs. I should have been a proud and happy man, had it not been for Edmund’s muttered remark after hearing the Act read.

‘Well, if a son of mine can inherit my earldom of Richmond, it surely follows that he can also inherit his mother’s titles and honours, including any line of succession she may have to the English throne.’

PART TWO

The Tudor Earls

1453–1459

6

Jane

Tŷ Cerrig, Gwynedd, North Wales