“Alix,” he said softly, firmly. “I need your calm attention, not your hysterics. Please do this. It is important.”
She nodded, though she was struggling. “Please tell me.”
John passed a glance at Caroline before continuing. “The missive was written by Viscount Lovell. Henry met Richard south of Leicester almost three weeks ago in a massive battle.”
“What happened?”
John did not know where to begin. He was still reeling from the news, making it difficult to relay. “Richard was defeated,” he said, hardly believing it as he said it. “We have a new king.”
“What about Matthew?” Alixandrea practically shouted. “Where is he?”
John patted her hands to calm her. “As near as Lovell can tell, he survived the battle.”
“What do you mean as near as he can tell?”
John sighed heavily again, grasping for words. “He saw him towards the end of the battle and he was still alive, as was Mark. But Luke…,” John abruptly faltered, wiping at the tears that suddenly sprang to his eyes. “Luke fell towards the beginning of the battle. Struck down by archers.”
Caroline sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes. Alixandrea, strangely, seemed to calm though there were tears on her face.
“Luke,” she murmured. “God be with him. What more did Lovell say?”
John struggled to compose himself. “He said that Matthew and Gaston sided with the Stanley brothers and came charging in when Henry took the field. They fought for Tudor, Alix. The Wellesbournes fought against Richard.”
Alixandrea’s eyes widened to the point where they threatened to pop from her skull. “That is not possible.”
“Lovell would not lie.”
“But… why? I do not understand any of this.”
John let go of her hands and stood up, agitation in his manner. “Oh, Alix, it was a mess. I do not know why my brothers changed their fealty on the day of battle, but the fact remains that they did so. Together with Gaston and the Stanleys, they turned the tide in Henry’s favor. Richard fell and Thomas Stanley took the crown off the dead king and crowned Henry right there on the field.”
“But Matthew is alive,” Alixandrea said as if she had not heard anything else. “We are sure that he survived?”
John snapped at her. “Is that all you are concerned with? Do you not understand that we now have a new king?”
She met his fury. “Of course that is all I am concerned with. I care not who rules this country so long as my husband is still alive and we are allowed to raise our family in peace. To the Devil with this battle for the throne. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t glad it was over.”
John was clearly upset. He was reeling over the death of Luke and the change in loyalties.
“Matthew must have made the decision to support Henry,” his tone was almost accusing. “He always makes the decisions;the rest of us merely following, trusting that the great White Lord of Wellesbourne knows what is best. Well, I do not know if I would have changed so easily. I do not know if I would have followed Matthew.”
“Do you not trust your brother?”
“I trust him, but I have my own mind as well,” John was twitching with anger, bewilderment. “Matthew must have promised Mark and Luke something great if they would change their loyalties.”
“Are you saying that he bribed them?”
“What else could he have done? Or… or perhaps he was bribed himself by Henry. Perhaps The White Lord was bought.”
Alixandrea struck him across the face, a sharp slap that echoed off of the garden walls. It was a brutal, sudden action and completely unexpected.
“You will never again express such doubts of my husband’s honor,” she hissed. “If he did in fact change loyalties, then he must have had a very good reason. You will not doubt him.”
John glared at her, but in the same breath, he knew she was correct. If Matthew sided with Henry, it must have been a sound and wise decision as he saw it. John adored Matthew; upon reflection, he knew there could be no other possibility.
“I must send word to my father,” he turned away from Alixandrea, evidently not wanting to discuss it further. “He does not know what has happened.”
Alixandrea grasped his arm before he could get away. “Did Lovell say where my husband is?”
