The King's Secret Matter by Jean Plaidy Page A

should dare
think
such thoughts, let alone express them. And in the hearing of servants, so that those words could be repeated in the streets, in taverns, wherever men congregated! This was treason.
    And what care I, thought Henry, if this be a noble duke! Am I not the King?
    For the first time he had realised the extent of his power. He was going to show all those about him that none could speak treason against the King with impunity. He was greedy forblood – the blood of any man who dared oppose him. He could shed that blood when and where he wished; he was the supreme ruler.
    Norfolk came to him in some distress. Henry had never felt any great affection for Norfolk. The Duke seemed so ancient, being almost fifty years older than the King; his ideas were set in the past, and Henry thought that the old man would have liked to censure him if he dared. He had been young and daring in the days of Henry’s maternal grandfather, Edward IV, but those days of glory were far behind him.
    â€˜Well, well?’ Henry greeted him testily.
    â€˜Your Grace, I am deeply disturbed by the imprisonment of my kinsman, Buckingham.’
    â€˜We have all been deeply disturbed by the treason he has sought to spread,’ growled the King.
    â€˜Your Grace, he has been foolish. He has been careless.’
    â€˜Methinks that he has too often repeated his treason to offer the excuse that he spoke in an unguarded moment. This is a plot . . . a scheme to overthrow the Crown, and there is one word for such conduct; that is treason. And I tell you this, my lord Duke, there is but one sentence which right-minded judges can pronounce on such a man.’
    Norfolk was startled. He knew the King was subject to sudden anger, but he had not believed that he could be so vehemently determined on the destruction of one who had been in his intimate circle and known as his friend. And for what reason? Merely a carelessly spoken word repeated by a dissatisfied servant!
    Norfolk had never been noted for his tact; he went on: ‘Your Grace, Buckingham is of the high nobility.’
    â€˜I care not how high he be. He shall have justice.’
    â€˜Your Grace, he has erred and will learn his lesson. I’ll warrant that after the trial he will be a wiser man.’
    â€˜It is a pity that there will be so little time left to him to practise his new-found wisdom,’ said the King venomously.
    Then Norfolk knew. Henry was determined on the death of Buckingham.
    But even so, he could not let the matter end there. He and Buckingham were not only friends but connected by the marriage of his son and Buckingham’s daughter. He thought of the grief in his family if Buckingham should die; moreover he must stand by the rights of the nobility. This was not rebellion against the King; Buckingham had not set out to overthrow the Crown. The King must be made to understand that, powerful as he was, he was not entitled to send the nobility to death because of a careless word.
    â€˜Your Grace cannot mean that you demand his
life
!’
    The King’s eyes narrowed. ‘My lord Norfolk,’ he said significantly, ‘do you also seek to rule this realm?’ Norfolk flinched and Henry began to shout: ‘Get from here . . . lest you find yourself sharing the fate of your kinsman. By God and all His saints, I will show you, who believe yourselves to be royal, that there is only one King of this country; and when treason stalks, blood shall flow.’
    Norfolk bowed low and was glad to escape from the King’s presence. He felt sick at heart. He had received his orders. Buckingham was to be judged guilty by his peers; he was to pay the supreme penalty.
    The pleasure-loving boy King was no more; he had been replaced by the vengeful man.

    He stood at the bar, the reckless Buckingham, facing the seventeen peers, headed by Norfolk, who were his judges. His arms folded, his head held high, he was ready to throw away his life rather than