Part 9 (1/2)
I did not think it well to tell her the conversation I had overheard the night of the great ball; for it could have done no good, and should but have alarmed her
”And dost thou then think that the Duke of Gloucester is not honest?”
asked Hazel ”Why, he seems to be most honourable and just, so far as I have seen”
”So far as thou hast seen,” I replied ”That distance is not great
My father--rest his soul--saw this same Richard stab to the heart, without provocation, and in the coldest blood, young Edward, son of Henry I've heard my father, with tears upon his cheeks, tell the tale of that foul deed
”The young Prince, after Tewkesbury, was brought before King Edward and his brothers
”'What land and her Sovereign, by thus taking up arms to disturb the peace of this thy native land?' asked our now dead King
”'Proud and rebellious York,' replied the youth; 'by what right dost thou question us, thy true and lawful Sovereign? Hadst thou the loyalty equal to thine i our pardon for this show of force before us, England's only King'
”My father said 'twas grand to see the young Prince, as he did finish this speech, so full of dignity and power His face was flushed with excitement, and with pride; and as he raised his hand to Heaven, as though asking of the powers there to bear hih he were inspired
”Then Richard of Gloucester, now our _pro tenation, with his steel gauntlet, struck young Edward on that tender cheek This proud bud of the noble flower of Lancaster could ill brook this insult; especially froer Gloucester, who knew full well that this was but an ier on its tender prey, buried his weapon in that noble flesh, and, as the body fell upon the ground, he spurned it with his armoured foot
This,” I continued, ”doth show the tenderness of Richard, and the treathness, the Protector His words and his actions are of but distant kin”
”Then dost thou not think he will be bound by his oath,before his Majesty deceased?” asked Hazel
”Indeed who can tell?” I replied ”Mayhap a year will show, mayhap two He may be honest, and he may be not Which course he doth find to be most profitable, it is mine opinion, he will follow”
Thus we spentthe policy of the new Protector; andin the park turned out to be as true as the great majority of the prophecies which are, even now, so prevalent in this glorious and enlightened reign of his hth, which, despite his faults--and we all must have our own--is a most noble master
CHAPTER X
I AM SENT TO LUDLOW
So the King was buried, with a great show of po, in the splendid chapel of Windsor Castle, by those which had followed hih his career of alternate sunshi+ne and shadow Many of these friends, who had basked in the rays of the sun of York, when the sky was clear, but hen a cloud had coenial weather elsewhere, were now the loudest in their lamentations, as they followed the noble Edward's body to its last resting place
The Queen scarce ate or slept for hts; but walked her rooht, as Hazel told aze upon the articles which Edward so had loved But when the King's body had been buried she seearment It was now her duty to protect the interests of her son He ht from Ludlow Castle, whither he had been sent by his father, that his presence there ; for this was a habit that they had always had, and one which seeet
”Would that I had a faithful er to carry a letter to my brother
I cannot tell who ht be sent; but yet I need him here to counsel me”
”I know of one whom you may trust,” said Hazel, as present when the Queen had thus spoken to herself
”Thou hast ever been a true girl, Hazel, and I love thee well Tell me who this champion is, for ould I like to see a true man about this court”