De la Londe could see, in that moment, that convincing Wellesbourne to join Edward’s cause was not going to be a simple thing. Not that he believed it would be, but he had hoped the gloom and doom of the defeat at Towton might give Wellesbourne pause to think. De la Londe sipped at his wine.
“I suppose you have to think about it from the point of view for the good of England,” he said, smacking his lips at the tarttaste. “Henry is quite mad. We know he is quite mad. Because he is mad, his wife, Margaret rules for him. That means, essentially, a French whore rules England. That does not sit well with me or many other men. Edward, at least, is not mad and he does not have his French wife ruling in his stead. He is skilled, an excellent warrior, and possesses a keen mind. Those are all attributes of a man I would wish to have sitting upon the throne of England.”
Andrew should have sensed something was afoot but he did not; he simply viewed de la Londe’s statement as his opinion. He shrugged his big shoulders.
“Possibly,” he said. “But the fact remains that he is not the rightful king.”
De la Londe cocked an eyebrow to make a point. “Edward has a very strong claim to the throne. More than that, he has more support than Henry does. It is only a matter of time before Henry, and his supporters, are completely wiped out.”
Andrew considered that for a moment. More than that, he was now starting to suspect something. He wasn’t sure yet, but it was clear that de la Londe was advocating Edward for the sake of the argument. Calmly, he poured himself more wine.
“Is that what you truly believe, Simon?” he asked.
De la Londe nodded, glancing at de Troiu, who hadn’t imbibed any alcohol the entire meal. De Troiu’s mind was still quite clear and when he caught de la Londe’s expression, he spoke up.
“Towton was a disaster,” he said. “So many dead, including Titus de Wolfe. It was a horrible scene. There are not many Lancastrian supporters left and there is a great deal of talk among those who remain about ending these wars and throwing their support behind Edward. Now with Northumberland gone, his ranks of knights are discussing what is to be done now. There is now a twelve-year-old boy at the helm of Northumberland’sarmies and the lad is not a military leader like his father was. It has caused the Northumberland knights to rethink their loyalties, including Adam.”
Andrew’s head came up and his dark eyes focused intensely on de Troiu. “My son?” he questioned. “What has Adam said?”
De Troiu cast de la Londe a long look, a purposeful move, as if to imply he did not want to tell Andrew the truth. It was an obvious gesture that only made Andrew more suspicious of their motives.
“Like the others, he is considering supporting Edward,” de Troiu said softly. “He has sent us here to ask you to consider the same.”
Andrew sat back in his chair, surprised. “He has?” he asked. “Why did he not come personally?”
De la Londe spoke, an off the cuff answer because he had not expected Andrew’s question, nor had he expected de Troiu’s suggestion that Adam had asked them to approach his father on a change in loyalties. That was not how he and de Troiu had originally discussed approaching the subject and he silently cursed de Troiu for changing the rules of the game mid-stream. Now, they were forced to come up with believable answers in a hurry.
“Because he was injured at Towton,” de la Londe lied. “He cannot travel. He asked us to come in his stead.”
Andrew looked stricken. “Why did you not tell me he was injured when you first arrived?”
De la Londe shook his head. “It is not a terrible injury,” he assured the old man. “But it is best that he not travel for a time. The physic wants him to rest. We are all considering swearing fealty to Edward’s cause, Andrew. In fact, Declan and I have already sworn fealty to him. Adam and the others will soon follow. We need you with us, Andrew. As it is, you support a mad king who has very little support. If you attend battle for himagain, you will be terribly overwhelmed. I do not want to see you slaughtered if I can help it and neither does your son.”
Andrew simply sat there, digesting everything he’d been told. His son had been injured, the king’s supporters had been defeated at Towton, and now knights that he had known and fought with for years were telling him that, out of necessity, their loyalties were shifting. That in of itself held warning for Andrew; he had accepted these knights into his home as allies. Now, they were telling him that it might not be the case. If they were not allies, they were enemies. He was very concerned with enemies in his home.
The more he thought about it, the more it disturbed him. Why did they not tell him of Adam right away? Why wait until the end? The manner in which the news was delivered suggested that de la Londe and de Troiu were trying to play on Andrew’s sympathies. In fact, the entire conversation seemed to be designed to play on his sympathies. Death, destruction, and a mad king… as Andrew pondered all of these factors, he realized that he was becoming enraged. Quite enraged. How dare these men come to Wellesbourne under the flag of friendship, only to inform him that they were, in fact, traitors to Henry? Was anything they had told him even true?
Andrew Wellesbourne was many things but he was not a fool. He was a warrior and warriors knew what needed to be done. With that in mind, he began to carefully lay his trap.
“Then I suppose I must consider it,” he finally said, regarding his cup. “It sounds as if Henry’s cause is dying.”
De Troiu nodded, relieved that Wellesbourne wasn’t up in arms over the course the conversation had taken. He had suspected resistance, anger at the very least, but Andrew seemed to be seriously pondering their offer. Perhaps their coercion had worked, after all.
“After Towton, there is not much hope,” he replied. “I suppose it is good that you were not there. You may have known serious casualties among your own men.”
Andrew pretended to contemplate that statement when, in fact, he was contemplating much more that had nothing to do with switching loyalties to Henry. He glanced up, seeing two men-at-arms at the door to the great hall of Wellesbourne but he knew there were more armed men about, including his two knights, Juston de Royans and Jasper de Llion. De Royans and de Llion had been part of the meal at the onset but had soon left to complete their duties for the night. It was rather unfortunate, for Andrew wished the knights had remained to hear what de Troiu and de la Londe had to say. But they would hear it soon enough.
“You could be right,” Andrew said, peering into the wine pitcher and pretending it was empty when it was really about a quarter full. “It is certainly something I shall think about, especially if Adam is so inclined. Let me summon a servant to fetch more wine and we shall continue this line of conversation. I am also interested to know how badly my son was injured.”
He stood up, taking the wine pitcher with him. As he headed for the entry, presumably to summon a kitchen servant when the hall seemed to have several of them lingering about, de la Londe turned his head slightly in de Troiu’s direction.
“Why did you tell him Adam had asked us to demand his change in loyalty?” he hissed, covering it up by lifting a cup to his mouth. “He will want to send word to Adam. What then?”
De Troiu pushed a piece of candied fruit into his mouth. “Hopefully by that time it will not matter,” he muttered. “Hopefully Norfolk will have extracted complete loyalty from Wellesbourne and the matter will be settled. You know that Norfolk will want to come and visit Andrew if the man shows any interest in Edward’s cause.”
De la Londe sighed heavily with doubt, and took a couple of big gulps of wine. Then he looked around the great hall of Wellesbourne, a two-storied monstrosity with a minstrel gallery above.
“Have you thought about what you are going to do when these wars are over?” he asked quietly, his mind wandering to something other than war. “My family is originally from Rouen. I’ve no desire to return there. Norfolk promised Titus lands in Westwick but since Titus cannot accept, mayhap he will give them to me. I would be happy to settle in Norfolk.”
