I nod. “He walks with us. You show him.”

“Yes.”

“And when everyone has seen him, they know that he is not raising his standard in Warwickshire.”

“Yes.”

“They know that he is alive.”

“Yes.”

“And these rumors die down . . .”

Henry waits.

“Then after that he can live with us as a member of our family,” I rule. “He can be as he seems to be. We can show him as our beloved cousin and he can be our beloved cousin. We show him going to Mass with us freely, he can live with us freely. We can turn the show into the reality. That’s what you want to do, as king. You show yourself as king and then you hope to be accepted as king. If I take part in this play, in this masque of Teddy being beloved and living with us, then you will make it true.”

He hesitates.

“It is my condition,” I say simply. “If you want me to act as if Teddy is our beloved cousin freely living with us, then you have to make the act into reality. I’ll walk with you in procession on Sunday to show that Teddy and all the Yorks are loyal supporters. And you will treat me, and all my family, as if you trust us.”

He hesitates for a moment and then, “Yes,” he says. “If our procession persuades everyone, and the rumors die down and everyone accepts that Teddy lives at court, as a loyal member of the family, he can come out of the Tower and live freely at court.”

“Free and trusted like my mother,” I insist. “Despite what anyone says.”

“Like your mother,” he agrees. “If the rumors die down.”

Maggie is at my side before dinner, rosy with joy at having spent all afternoon with her brother. “He has grown! He is taller than me! Oh! I have missed him so much!”

“Does he understand what he has to do?”

She nods. “I have told him carefully, and we practiced, so that he should make no mistake. He knows that he is to walk behind you and the king, he knows that he has to kneel to pray at Mass. I can walk beside him, can’t I? And then I can make sure he does it right?”

“Yes, yes, that would be best,” I say. “And if anyone cheers for him, he’s not to wave or shout a reply, or anything.”

“He knows,” she says. “He understands. I have explained to him why they want him to be seen.”

“Maggie, if he shows that he is a loyal member of the family, I believe that he can come back to live with us. It is essential that he does this right.”

Her mouth, her whole face trembles. “Could he?”

I take her in my arms and find that she is shaking with hope. “Oh, Maggie, I will try my best for him.”