“I met Martin Haute when I was in London last summer,” he began, pretending to focus on cracking a filbert instead of the Haute family. “He is your neighbor, is he not? A pleasant gentleman, I found. I told him how his daughter-in-law had rescued Rob and me in the forest last autumn. You remember the day you went to Ipswich, Jack? His son is in your service, I believe.” Whatever he was he blathering on about, he could not seem to stop.

Jack appeared not to notice and unwittingly pursued the topic. “Aye, young George Haute is, like you, a knight in training under the duke of Suffolk’s banner. His grace was decent enough to have taken him in at my behest.” Then he shook his head. “I fear he is not made for soldiering like his father was—seems to enjoy gaming more than tilting, but out of respect for Martin, I cannot bring myself to dismiss him.” This tidbit was music to Richard’s ears. Thanks be to the Virgin, George Haute is no paragon and so does not deserve a faithful wife like Kate, he thought. It also helped Richard’s dislike of the fellow that he had the same name as his least-favorite brother.

“Besides,” Jack went on, patting his wife’s plump hand, “Kate, George’s wife as you know, was a blessing at the time of my little Cat’s delivery last October. Martin, George and Kate were here when our babe came early, and Mistress Lackseat’s way with herbs and kind heart saw Margaret through. We are forever grateful, are we not, my love?” Margaret nodded, her mouth full of venison.

“Mistress Lackseat?”

Jack regaled Richard with Kate’s ignominious arrival in London at the time of the coronation, when her horse had unseated her right at Jack’s feet. “Such a bold-faced wench, I have to say,” Jack said, chuckling. “Upon our short ride to her accommodations in the Chepe, I gained a hearty respect for her spirit.”

“Aye, I, too, noticed it,” he said a little too enthusiastically for sharp-eared Margaret. It sounded to her as though Richard of Gloucester had a great deal of interest in young Kate Haute. Embarrassed by his own fervor, Richard hastily added: “Rob Percy and I both noted it.”

Later, behind the heavy curtains of their tester bed, Margaret said to Jack: “We should invite young Mistress Haute for a visit, don’t you think? There is no one here of Richard’s age, and he must be bored with us old folks.”