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Contents (61)
  1. The Lady of the Rivers
  2. CASTLE OF BEAUREVOIR, NEAR ARRAS, FRANCE,
  3. ROUEN, FRANCE,
  4. CASTLE OF ST POL, ARTOIS,
  5. PARIS, FRANCE,
  6. CASTLE OF CALAIS, FRANCE,
  7. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  8. PENSHURST,
  9. PARIS, FRANCE,
  10. GISORS, FRANCE,
  11. ROUEN, FRANCE,
  12. ENGLAND,
  13. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  14. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  15. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  16. LONDON,
  17. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  18. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  19. NANCY, FRANCE,
  20. TITCHFIELD ABBEY, HAMPSHIRE,
  21. LONDON,
  22. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  23. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  24. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  25. LONDON,
  26. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  27. PLYMOUTH,
  28. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  29. LONDON,
  30. THE WEST OF ENGLAND,
  31. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  32. PALACE OF PLACENTIA, GREENWICH, LONDON,
  33. THE TOWER OF LONDON,
  34. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  35. CLARENDON PALACE, WILTSHIRE,
  36. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  37. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  38. WINDSOR CASTLE,
  39. WINDSOR CASTLE,
  40. THE PALACE OF PLACENTIA, GREENWICH, LONDON,
  41. HERTFORD CASTLE,
  42. GROBY HALL, LEICESTERSHIRE,
  43. HERTFORD CASTLE,
  44. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  45. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  46. KENILWORTH CASTLE, WARWICKSHIRE,
  47. ROCHESTER CASTLE, KENT,
  48. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  49. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  50. ON CAMPAIGN,
  51. SANDWICH, KENT, AND CALAIS,
  52. COVENTRY,
  53. NORTHAMPTON,
  54. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  55. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  56. ON THE MARCH,
  57. ST ALBANS,
  58. YORK,
  59. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  60. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  61. BIBLIOGRAPHY

‘The pardons,’ he says, through his clenched teeth. ‘Those damned pardons. Those hundreds of pardons.’

‘Yes?’

‘Jack Cade took his pardon in the name of John Mortimer. The name he used in battle.’

‘So?’

‘So they chased after him, despite his pardon, and they have captured him, despite his pardon. He showed them his pardon, signed by the king, blessed by the bishop, written fair in the name of John Mortimer. But they are going to hang him in the name of Jack Cade.’

I pause, struggling to understand. ‘The king gave him a pardon, he can’t be hanged. He just has to show his pardon, they cannot hang him.’

‘The king’s pardon is in one name, which they know him by. They will hang him under another.’

I hesitate. ‘Richard, he should never have been pardoned in the first place.’

‘No. But here we show everyone that his very cause was just. He said that there was no rule of law, but that the lords and the king do as they please. Here we prove it is so. We make a peace on the battlefield while he is in arms, while he is strong and we are weak; when he is near to victory and we are trapped in the Tower. We give him a pardon, that is our word of honour, but we break it as soon as he is a fugitive. The king’s name is on the pardon, the king gave his word. Turns out that means nothing. The pardon is worth no more than the paper, the king’s own signature nothing more than ink. There is no agreement, there is no justice, we betray our own cause, we are forsworn.’

‘Richard, he is still our king. Right or wrong, he is still the king.’

‘I know, and that is why I say that we will come back to court and serve him again. He is our king, we are his people. He gave us our name and our fortune. We will come back to court in the autumn. But I swear to you, Jacquetta, I just can’t stomach it this summer.’

GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,

SUMMER 1450

We arrive at our home at the height of the year with the harvest coming in, and the calves weaned from the cows. In the loft the apples are laid in rows, strict as soldiers, and one of the tasks for Lewis, now twelve, is to go up every day with a basket and bring down eight apples for the children to eat after their dinners. I am feeling weary with this baby and as the evenings are cool and quiet I am happy to sit by the fire in my small chamber and listen while Richard’s cousin Louise, who serves as governess to the older ones and nurse to the babies, hears them read from the family Bible. Anthony at eight has a passion for books and will come to me to look at the pictures in the volumes of Latin and old French that I inherited from my husband, and puzzle out the words in the difficult script. I know that this autumn he and his brothers and sisters can no longer be taught by the priest but I must find a scholar to come and teach them. Lewis especially must learn to read and write in Latin and Greek if he is to attend the king’s college.