“I haven’t eaten so well since I left Stanton in April, lovey,” he told her. “I suppose you’ll want to know everything that has happened.”
“Don’t tease me,” Adair pleaded.
His eyes grew warm. “But teasing you is so much fun,” he said.
“There will be none ofthat, my lord, until I have heard everything,” she threatened him mischievously.
And the tip of her tongue played a moment with her upper lip as their eyes met.
“Jesu, you’re a wicked wench,” he said low, feeling the tightening in his groin.
“Speak, my lord!” she commanded him. “And speak loudly, for everyone would hear your adventures.
Gather around, Stanton folk, and hear what your earl has to tell you,” she called to the servants and others in the hall.
“Richard, formerly Duke of Gloucester, has been crowned your king, the third of that name,” the earl began, and there was a collective gasp of astonishment from those assembled listening. Andrew then went on to explain exactly how this had come about. Those gathered were slightly confused by what they were hearing, especially the canon law that would bastardize the former king’s children and disinherit them.
“Why wasn’t this previous contract brought up when King Edward first wed his queen, and before she spawned all her bairns?” Albert asked candidly.
The earl shrugged. “I am not privy to the reasoning of the church,” he replied. “I believe it was decided among the powerful lords that having a boy king could lead to many difficulties, given his mother and her family. They wanted an excuse to set the lad aside and offer the crown to the duke. They found it.”
“Where are little Edward and Dickie?” Adair asked.
“King Richard had them sent to Middleham, although this is not widely known. He felt they would be safer away from the seat of his influence. The queen managed to suborn several important men. They were caught and arrested. It was at that point the boys were removed from the Tower. Parliament and the powerfulfamilies need the king to be entirely secure. No one wants a civil war, but Elizabeth Woodville and her co-horts cannot see that there will be one if she continues to persist in her efforts to hold on to the reins of power through her sons. They think that by having her bottled up in sanctuary they can contain her. But I will wager she continues to plot and scheme.”
“He’s a strong and honorable man who will brook no nonsense,” Albert remarked. “That will be good for us all. Say on, my lord.”
The Earl of Stanton continued his recitation of his adventures. He told them about the coronation, and how just about every noble family of note in England had been in attendance. Even Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry of Lancaster, had been there. “I stayed no longer than to see the crown placed upon his head, and our good duke anointed and declared the rightful king of England,” Andrew said. “Then my men and I took horse to return to Stanton. So now, all of you, hail King Richard the Third,” he concluded. Three loud huz-zahs erupted from those in the hall. There was no doubt that Stanton would stand for the new king.
Adair’s violet eyes were shining. “Uncle Dickon will make a fine king,” she said.
“He still has much to overcome, I fear,” Andrew answered her. “Elizabeth Woodville hates the king with every fiber of her being. She will continue to cause trouble, and will not rest until one of them is dead. And he is too much of a gentleman to see the bitch killed.”
“I would poison her,” Adair said. “But tell me, was the new queen there in London? And what about little Neddie?”
“She was there, and crowned with him,” the earl told his wife. “The little prince, however, remains at Middleham. You know how fragile his health has been since his birth, poor child.”
Adair’s eyes filled with tears. “I wonder if he will live to manhood,” she said. “And poor Lady Anne has neverconceived again. Uncle Dickon may have to one day declare Henry of Lancaster or one of my half brothers his heir, for he will have no other choice, though Buckingham thinks his claim is equal or greater.”
“Enough, lovey, of things that do not really concern us,” the earl said. “I would take my wife to bed after so long an absence from her.”
“You need a bath, my lord,” Adair told him. “I know you have not had one since you left Stanton, for you are rank. Let me bathe you, and then we will go to bed.”
“Only if you will bathe me with your own little hands,” he told her, his eyes twinkling lustfully. “Elsbeth is too rough with me.”
Adair giggled. “It is my duty to care for you in all ways, my lord.” She arose from the high board where they were still seated. “Let me order that the water be heated before we leave the hall.” With a seductive smile and a curtsy she hurried off.
He sat watching the gentle swing of her hips beneath her gown as she went, thinking to himself that he was a fortunate man indeed to have been given such a wife.
And he would have had her even without the title she brought him. He tilted his goblet in the direction of the standing server, and it was filled again with ale. He sipped it slowly, awaiting her return, but instead it was Elsbeth who came and murmured in his ear.
“My mistress awaits you in the bathing room, my lord,” she said.
Without a word Andrew got up from the high board and, leaving the hall, climbed the stairs to the corridor above. Opening the door to the bathing room, he was greeted by a cloud of scented steam. The fire in the little hearth leaped with the draft from his entrance. He quickly shut the portal. “Adair?” he called to her.
“I am here,” she answered him.
He peered through the steam. “Where, lovey?”
