“He’s given me his blessing if I can convince the ladyto marry me,” Andrew replied. “I think that’s more than enough, Grandsire.”
“He should have given you coin,” the old mangrumbled.
“I can’t stay,” Andrew said. “I want to reach Stanton by nightfall. Farewell, Grandsire.”
“He gave you coin,” Robert said as he walked with his brother back to the courtyard where his horse was waiting.
“He did,” Andrew admitted, “but I may need it myself.”
“Aye, you may,” his brother said. “The old man doesn’t need it. He’s just a greedy bugger.” Robert chuckled. “Do you think the girl will marry you if you ask her?”
“My first order of business,” Andrew answered, “is to see to the proper defense of Stanton. I barely know the girl, nor she me. Good marriages, I have seen, come about when friends marry friends, as you and Allis did.”
“You’ll be an earl if you can wed her,” his brother remarked.
“And I’ll be a Radcliffe, for it was her father’s request of the king, and he agreed. Any man who marries Adair Radcliffe must take her surname. Grandsire will hardly take kindly to that.” Andrew chuckled. He mounted his horse. “Farewell, Robert.”
“Farewell, my lord,” Rob gently mocked him.
And now in the same day he found himself standing before Adair Radcliffe as she read the Duke of Gloucester’s missive. He watched as her brow darkened in annoyance. Then she looked up at him. “You know what is written in this letter?”
“I do, my lady,” Andrew said politely.
“I do not like it,” Adair said, looking him straight in the eye.
“Nay, I imagine that you do not,” he agreed pleasantly. “Nonetheless, it is the duke’s wish that StantonHall be better fortified, as the Scots are becoming more active again along the borders. Had the hall been better fortified in your parents’ time it might not have been taken then. The duke feels it is important that all the great homes in this area be protected better. He desires your safety above all, my lady.”
“How is he?” Adair’s tone had softened.
“Well, and the Lady Anne too. He is content being his brother’s voice here in the north. He keeps his own court at Middleham.”
“Have you eaten?” Adair asked him, and when he answered in the negative she ordered food be brought and led him to the high board to sit down, pouring liquid into his goblet. “My uncle Dickon does not like the queen or her family. He thinks them upstarts, and the queen has proven most greedy, as have her relations. He loves the king, but he has never been one for the court his brother keeps. And since their brother George was slain four years back, he has stayed away almost entirely. He blames the queen for that death. They say the Duke of Clarence drowned in a vat of malmsey, but he was imprisoned in the Tower at the time for the latest of his rebellions against the king. I would not have thought they had so large a supply of malmsey in the Tower,”
Adair mused. “But Uncle Dickon loved his brother for all his imperfections. He was always attempting to teach him the same loyalty that he practices. But George would not learn, and his spirit was so restless. Three such different brothers. The king a man who indulges his lusts, loves luxury and having his own way in everything to the point that he wed an unsuitable wife. Yet he has proven a good king, and the people love him un-questioningly. Then George of Clarence, jealous of Edward’s every accomplishment and possession except perhaps the queen. And always in the midst of some plot or scheme to bring down the king so he might have his crown. And finally Uncle Dickon, totally devoted to his eldest brother. A man of discipline, strong faith,ethics, and deep loyalties. He would never betray the king, or any he loved.
“Did you know that when Lady Anne was widowed of her first husband, Prince Edward of Lancaster, George, who was wed to her older sister, Isabel, attempted to prevent Uncle Dickon from wedding Lady Anne? And why? Because he didn’t want to share the Warwick inheritance, which had been divided between the two sisters. But Uncle Dickon and Lady Anne had been in love with each other since a shared childhood.
Only that her father insisted, and made her wed Henry VI’s son, were they separated.
“I was not sorry to see George dead. Few were except Uncle Dickon. He always believed that he could help his brother to change his ways, but of course he could not. Uncle Dickon believed the queen and her minions were responsible for Clarence’s death. After that he came rarely to court, preferring to remain here in the north. The queen would bring him down if she could, but she can’t. Everything he does is for the benefit of King Edward. He is no rebel like Clarence.”
“Aye, and there is a matter upon which we will always agree,” Andrew Lynbridge said quietly. “The duke is an honorable man.”
“How long were you in his service?” Adair asked.
“Many years, and now it seems I am again,” he answered her.
“Dark Walter has trained his men at arms well,”
Adair said. “We can defend ourselves against the Scots.
Did you not tell the duke that?”
“Call Dark Walter and Albert to you, my lady,” Andrew said. “Let me explain to you exactly what it is the duke wants. Then see what they have to say.”
“That is fair enough,” she agreed, and sent for the two men.
Andrew Lynbridge plunged a spoon into the trencher of rabbit stew that had been placed before him. Used to eating on the run, he had it finished by the time DarkWalter and Albert had arrived. He sat back and listened as Adair began to explain.
