“I wonder if she will be allowed to reside with Henry in the Tower,” Richard mused aloud. “She needs to be locked up on a remote island somewhere and the key thrown in the sea. As for poor Henry, he will never be a danger to anyone as long as Margaret is under lock and key.”

“I do not pity the man,” Herbert said. “He was good for nothing.”

Richard nodded. “He should have been a monk. He told me so himself. My wish for him is that he may while away the rest of his days in prayer.”

“Amen to that,” Earl William replied, smirking.

“Are you certain, Your Grace?” Richard tried to steady his voice, but he knew it wavered. “You are commanding me to order regicide—and indeed to commit my soul to the devil.”

Edward glared at him, his mouth set in a tight, straight line, his fingers gripping the arms of his throne. “You are constable of England, are you not, my lord of Gloucester? I seem to remember your having no qualms about accepting that honor.”

“I am, Your Grace,” Richard replied, quickly organizing his thoughts, “but I understood my duty is to bring the accused to trial and, upon that person being found guilty, to mete out an appropriate punishment. May I ask the nature of Henry’s crime, and how long will I have for a fair trial?”

It was a bold rebuttal to Edward’s appalling command to rid England of Henry and the Lancastrian line. Richard could not believe his brother’s request, and although the others in the small, secret council nodded, they would not lift their eyes from the floor. Even Archbishop Bourchier did not condemn the order. What a lickspittle, Richard thought angrily, and a hypocrite. He looked at George to see if he perhaps would stand up to their brother, but of course George had every reason to acquiesce. Nay, George was not going to risk provoking the king again. Richard’s only hope was Will Hastings, but he seemed to have found a wayward thread on his elegant sleeve and was busy trying to break it off. Besides, Will had possibly suggested the outrageous solution. Richard was on his own. How he pitied the former king. He had been saddened by the grief Henry had expressed upon learning of his only child’s death. In truth, what does he have to live for, Richard thought now.