“Stop this, Richard!” Kate said, shaking him. “God knows you did not order their demise, you just said so. You must put it behind you. It is over, and you are king. Nothing will change that now, and so you must get on with the business of governing. Your people need you; they need to know what a good and just man you are.”

Despite his present self-loathing, Richard was desperate enough to listen. Kate’s advice was sound, and her passionate conviction that he was indeed a good man helped convince him. He patted her hand. “You are right, my rose. I do need to look to England’s welfare. Doing my duty has not been easy, I admit, but I have sworn an oath and I must fulfill that promise. I thank you for reminding me.” He smiled for the first time.

Kate smiled back. “That’s better,” and she changed the subject. “Indeed, ’tis I who should thank you for the mercy you showed my cousin Haute for his part in the rebellion. How can I ever show my gratitude?” She picked up his hand and kissed it.

“You have given me two beautiful children, Kate,” Richard said softly. “That is payment enough,” and gently releasing her hand, he rose to pace, heartened by their talk.

“Three…” Kate said without thinking. “Three children.”

The king stopped mid-pace and stared at her. “What are you saying?” He went to her. “Three? Tell me truly, was there…is there a third child?”

As his reaction was sheer loving surprise, Kate continued, “Aye, I bore you another son six months after your marriage to Anne, and he is named for you. Please do not be angry with me.” Flustered by his silence, she plunged on. “You were not to know you got me with child on our last night together, and I chose not to tell you because I knew you had promised God you would go to Anne with our affair at an end. I could not burden you with having to lie to her.”

Richard sat down hard in his chair. He had another child—another son. “Does Johnny know? Katherine? They have…they have never said aught about another brother. All…all these years and nary a word…sweet mother of God…”

Kate chuckled at his stunned stuttering. “Dickon was born in secret at my family home in Kent. The children did not know. As you must recall, my husband died before John was born, but his family believed our two children were their grandchildren. They never knew the truth about us, and they had been too kind for me to visit this scandal on them—that this child could not have been George’s. I traveled to Kent before my belly gave me away, stayed until I gave birth, and my brother John and his wife agreed to raise our son as their own.” She sighed. “He does not know me, and only my brothers and the Howards know of him.”