Rebellion by Livi Michael Page B

foolish?’
    â€˜No,’ said the duke, though in fact he
     wondered, then said, ‘The mind can offer no wisdom to the heart.’
    â€˜No,’ said the king and there was a silence
     of a certain quality, infused with pain. The duke registered with some surprise the fact
     that the king seemed to be serious.
    â€˜But you cannot marry her,’ he said, and
     there was a further silence.
    For once the duke forgot that he and the
     king had been on different sides. ‘It would be a mistake,’ he said, groping for the
     words to convince the king. ‘She is a widow and not – not of a high enough rank. You –
     your majesty – will be expected to marry some foreign princess.’
    â€˜His majesty is rather tired of doing what
     is expected of him.’
    â€˜But I understood that the Earl of Warwick
     was already making plans to that effect?’
    â€˜The Earl of Warwick,’ said the king, ‘is
     always making plans.’
    The duke was silently amazed that the king
     could even contemplate such a step. It would divide the whole nation, turn the people
     against him. Not to mention the lords. But all he said was, ‘You say she will not sleep
     with you?’
    â€˜You think that will make a difference?’
    â€˜It might.’
    Silence. Then the king said, ‘I do not know
     that it will make a difference.’
    The duke thought of saying that between the
     sheets all women were the same, but restrained himself, remembering the woman who for
     him was different. The king gave a small sigh. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘we shall see.’ And he
     yawned and turned over, releasing a prodigious fart as he did so, and mumbled that he
     was sorry and something about the pork. The duke had also eaten the pork, of course, but
     he did not suppose that he would be able to fart in the king’s bed at any point during
     the night. He lay awake as the kingbegan to demonstrate his earlier
     point, about his capacity to snore.
    Since his defection, when he had given away
     vital information about his former king and queen, and all their plans, the duke had
     often lain awake, seeing with closed eyes the ghosts of his father, his uncles and all
     his ancestors, who had been such stalwart supporters of the House of Lancaster, glaring
     at him accusingly. Also he could see the queen’s face, gazing at him with that startling
     directness, those fierce eyes, that soft mouth. At such moments the pain of what she’d
     said to him, that she could not or would not ever look at him
that
way, burned
     in him afresh, along with the shame of his desertion, so that he would suddenly weep.
     Now, however, these memories were overlaid with thoughts of an entirely different
     nature. For if the new king married inappropriately it would damage him more effectively
     than any war. It would be the first political disaster of his reign. Many things would
     depend on the lady that he loved, on what her true motives were, though the duke could
     not help but fear the worst. If she wanted him to leave her alone she had only to sleep
     with him. But it seemed apparent to the duke that she was playing a different game.

13
Elizabeth Woodville Plays a Different Game
[King Edward] was licentious in the
     extreme: moreover it was said he had been most insolent to numerous women after he
     had seduced them, for as soon as he grew weary of dalliance, he gave up the ladies
     much against their will to other courtiers. He pursued with no discrimination the
     married and unmarried, the noble and lowly; however he took none by force. He
     overcame all by money and promises, and having conquered them, he dismissed
     them.
    Dominic Mancini
    Her father had often said that uncertainty
     was what made a game worth playing, and certainly she was far from sure that she could
     win this one. She had not seen Edward, her suitor and her king, for several weeks.
    On the last occasion his face had