“Did you tell her that she was to wed Jasper Tudor’s bastard, Edward?” the duke asked his elder brother.
“Aye, I did,” the king said. “And the sooner the better.”
“And what was her reaction to such news?” the duke pressed his sibling.
“She said she didn’t want to marry yet. That she wanted to go home to Stanton Hall and reacquaint herself with her lands and her people,” the king said.
“A reasonable request,” the duke murmured, “but knowing you, Edward, you persisted in impressing your will upon Adair. Unfortunately, Adair is much like you in temperament.” He chuckled. “You would have your way, but so would she.”
“Adair is my brat, and should be grateful that we took her in when her family was slaughtered,” the king snapped. “She is almost sixteen, and ripe for bedding. It is time she was married, Richard. And it is time she begin repaying her debt to me by taking a husband of my choosing, helping me to unite once and for all York and Lancaster.”
“I will not disagree with you, Edward, but a touch more diplomacy would have served you better here than your iron determination to be obeyed. You know little about Adair other than that you fathered her on Jane Radcliffe in a bout of lust. The girl is intelligent,and she is devoted to the house of York. The only thing she knows about the house of Lancaster is that some of its adherents murdered her mother and foster father.
That she was driven from her home at a tender age. Yet you chose for her husband the bastard of one of the most important men of Lancaster. While I understand your reasoning, Adair did not.
“You did nothing, Edward, to prepare her for this event. To explain to her the small part she would play in helping to unite the two warring houses. She is very fond of Lady Margaret. Admires her. If you had spoken with Mags and told her of your plan, she could have aided you in readying Adair for this marriage. You did not treat your daughter with the respect that she is due, and now she has run away. The fact that she took none of her possessions but for the dog who was hers to begin with tells me she has washed her hands of you, would not be beholden to you again in any manner,”
the duke concluded. “Would you like me to go after her for you?”
“Nay!” the king snapped. His younger brother’s words had stung him deeply. Adair had no right to attempt to dictate to her king what she would or she would not do. “She will marry the FitzTudor lad, and I do not need her presence to manage that union,” the king said. “I am Adair’s legal guardian. I have agreed to the match, and the marriage will be celebrated by proxy.
One of my daughters can stand in for the bride.”
Richard of Gloucester shook his head. “Edward, do not do this,” he advised his older brother. “You can accomplish what you want if you will just wait a short while and let me speak with Adair. Why must you rush this union?”
“Because I would have Jasper Tudor satisfied that Lancaster and York can live peaceably, Richard,” the king said. “A union with our houses will accomplish that. I have made my decision!” Then he turned and stormed from the queen’s privy chamber.
“Am I wrong?” the Duke of Gloucester addressed Lady Margaret Beaufort.
“Nay, you are not. But neither is the king,” she answered him. “My brother-in-law is an impatient man, my lord. He wants a wedding, and he wants it now. He will not be pleased to learn it is to be a proxy wedding.
I will tell him that her ladyship the Countess of Stanton has gone north to prepare her long-deserted hall properly for the arrival of her bridegroom,” Lady Margaret said, her dark blue eyes twinkling.
The Duke of Gloucester laughed in spite of himself.
“Now, you, madam, show great promise as a diplomat,”
he told her. “As for me, I had best ride north myself so that my niece is made aware of her fate before it arrives on her doorstep. How old is the bridegroom?”
“Fourteen,” Lady Margaret said softly.
“Christ’s bones,” the duke swore softly. “She will eat him alive, Mags. No lad, even Jasper Tudor’s son, will be able to control Adair. She needs a man grown.” He sighed. “I think I shall not tell her that he is a mere stripling. Let her discover it herself.”
“I would agree with your decision, my lord,” Lady Margaret Beaufort said.
“Could you not convince your brother-in-law to wait for this union?” the duke wondered.
“He is every bit as stubborn as the king,” she replied.
“He wants what he wants.”
“You are both giving me a headache,” the queen announced. “My lord husband has made his decision. You will both help him to see it is carried out.” She waved them impatiently from her privy chamber.
Together the Duke of Gloucester and his female companion walked from the queen’s apartment and into one of the castle’s small gardens, speaking together in low and confidential tones.
“I shall do what I can to delay my brother-in-law,”Lady Margaret said. “There should be a negotiation of Adair’s dower portion to be agreed upon. And, ofcourse, her possessions must be taken north to Stanton, and she should have a small trousseau.”
“And while the marriage may take place sooner than later,” the duke noted sagely, “the winter could come before young FitzTudor can go north. He might not be able to reach Stanton until the spring, when the snows have gone.”
