“And so, with your blessing, we shall name him for his royal uncle,” Anne declared, and addressing her son, added, “How do you like it, Edward of Middleham?”

There, snuggling into the richly hung tester bed, the fire crackling in the hearth, Richard held his wife and son. He had never been happier, but he did not dare to hope God had smiled on him.

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

1475–1476

Usually a bucolic spot dotted with sheep, Barham Downs was now teeming with soldiers, horses, carts piled high with harness, artillery, and tents as far as the eye could see. Richard arrived with his army from the north, an army he had been mustering for several weeks now. He gazed south to the coastline and the silvery sea. On a clear day one could see the faint line on the horizon that was France.

Edward was going to war with Louis. Over what, Richard had not quite understood when he had received the command to bring troops to Kent to support an invasion of their long-time adversary. He had been pleased to have raised three hundred more men than Edward had demanded. Richard might not have admitted it, but it spoke highly of his popularity in the north country.

For close to three years, he had been content to carry out his administrative duties as Lord of the North, hear petitions, mete out justice and settle land disputes, as well as maintain good relations with the northern nobles and keep a watchful eye on the Scots. It may have been coincidence, but Richard’s good governance of the north paralleled his father’s ability to bring the rival Irish factions together during his lieutenancy in Ireland twenty years earlier. By only rarely moving among his castles of Middleham, Sheriff Hutton, Richmond, and Pontefract, Richard was able to be an attentive father and faithful husband. Young Ned was the joy of his parents’ life, a happy, energetic toddler beginning to babble his first words. Standing on the steps of Middleham, it was with reluctance that he bade his son and anxious wife farewell to go to war.

“Come back to us, Richard. Come back whole,” Anne whispered as he kissed her. “We shall pray for you hourly.” Eighteen-month-old Ned giggled as his father nuzzled his neck, and Rufus pinned back his ears and regarded Richard with soulful eyes.

“I shall be back soon,” he told them all, bending down one more time to pet his dog.